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The British Empire and the war at sea, 1914–1918

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2017

David Stevens
Affiliation:
David Stevens is Director of Strategic and Historical Studies at the Department of Defence, Canberra, Australia
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Summary

ABSTRACT.A seaborne empire naturally depended entirely on command of the sea, but by the 20th century the Dominions were no longer content to rely solely on British warships, stationed wherever the Admiralty chose. Who owned both warships and merchantmen, and where they served, became political as well as strategic questions.

RÉSUMÉ.Un empire maritime dépendait certes intégralement de la maîtrise de la mer. Mais au début du XXe siècle, les dominions ne se satisfirent plus de reposer uniquement sur les flottes de guerre britanniques, lesquelles étaient stationnées selon le choix de l'Amirauté. La possession de flottes de guerre et marchandes et l'endroit où elles servaient devinrent des questions aussi bien politiques que stratégiques.

On 16 March 1909 the First Lord of the Admiralty, Reginald McKenna, warned the British Parliament of the growing strength of foreign navies and the immediate need to order at least four new battleships, with possibly four more later in the year. Fanned by the media outcry, a sense of crisis spread rapidly across the British Empire. Within a week, New Zealand had telegraphed an offer to finance a battleship, and a second if considered necessary. Within a month, Canada, Australia and various smaller settlements had rallied to provide their own “patriotic proposals”. Even the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales offered to jointly fund a battleship, should the Commonwealth Government fail to take appropriate action.

The Empire was in a period of transition. The larger colonies had but recently become dominions, and after years of dependence were only just accepting that they must play a serious part in imperial defence. The need for intimate defence cooperation between the Empire's formal members had long been recognised, and amid the confusion of separate schemes a coordinated response was deemed essential. At the end of April the British Secretary of State invited representatives from the five self-governing dominions(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Cape Colony and Newfoundland) to an Imperial Conference in London. The gathering took place over July and August, and although its stated object was to discuss “the general question of Naval and Military Defence of the Empire”, there could be little doubt that naval defence would take centre stage.

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Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2017

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