Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- General introduction and acknowledgements
- Introduction générale et remercients par
- Introduction (English)
- Introduction (français)
- The sea and seapower within the international system
- Germany, 1870–1914: a military empire turns to the sea
- The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1937–1942
- The US as a new naval power, 1890–1919
- World war suspended and resumed: Russia, 1919–1940
- Freedom and control of the seas, 1856–1919
- Unclos and the modern law of the sea
- New navies and maritime powers
- Britain, 1815–1850: naval power or sea power?
- Free trade, industrialization and the global economy, 1815–1914
- Coal and the sea
- Shipbuilding and power: some reflections
- Maintaining naval hegemony in the industrial age: Britain, 1850–1889
- Naval armaments races, 1889–1922
- The British Empire and the war at sea, 1914–1918
- Steaming worldwide waters: adaptation and transformation in the Netherlands
- Austria-Hungary: an inland empire looks to the sea
- The Ottoman Empire and the sea, 1789–1922
- Empire and trade without a major navy: Portugal
- Italy, 1861–1914: did the sea build a state and an empire?
- Imperial failure of the industrial age: Spain, 1805–1898
- Denmark: a small power with a growing shipping industry
- Sweden and the sea in the 19th century
- Navies, internal order and trade in South America, 1830–1914
- The sea and the American Civil War
- The wider Caribbean during the 19th and 20th centuries
- Ship canals
- Oil and water
- Imperial failure in the industrial age: China, 1842–1911
- China turns to the sea, 1912–1990
- India and the sea
- Les Îles d'Océanie et l'ouverture sur la mer à l'heure de la première mondialisation contemporaine
- Maritime labour
- Fisheries
- Geographical determinism and the growth of the American whaling and sealing industries
- La France et la mer, 1815–1914
- Russia tries the new naval technologies, 1815–1914
- The First World War and Japan: from the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to the Washington Treaty
- The sea in the Great War
- The Mediterranean and World War I
- Germany in World War One: naval strategy and warfare
- The sea in German grand strategy, 1919–1939/40
- The case of Germany in the first part of World War II, 1939–1942
- Britain on the defensive, 1939–1942
- Britain and the sea, 1943–1945
- The Washington Treaty era, 1919–1936: naval arms limitation
- The Washington Treaty era: neutralising the Pacific
- The United States and the Second World War
- The sea as a decisive factor in the Second World War
- The sea and the rise of the dictators: Italy, 1919–1940
- The Italian offensive, 1940–1941
- The sea and the Cold War
- NATO as a maritime alliance in the Cold War
- The sea and the Soviet Empire
- The sea and the economic slump, 1919–1939
- Océans et globalisation depuis 1945
- America's Pacific power in a global age
- Les nouvelles ressources océaniques
- Hiérarchies portuaires dans le monde et changements régionaux de connectivité maritime, 1890–2010
- Between empires and institutions: non-state actors and the sea since 1945
- The narcotics trade and the sea
- Climate change and world trade
- La France et la mer depuis 1945: une mutation inachevée
- Changes in naval power and seaborne trade in postwar Asian waters
- Looking to the future
- Conclusion(English)
- Conclusion(français)
- General conclusion
- Conclusion générale par
- Miscellaneous Endmatter 1
- Miscellaneous Endmatter 2
Britain on the defensive, 1939–1942
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2017
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- General introduction and acknowledgements
- Introduction générale et remercients par
- Introduction (English)
- Introduction (français)
- The sea and seapower within the international system
- Germany, 1870–1914: a military empire turns to the sea
- The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1937–1942
- The US as a new naval power, 1890–1919
- World war suspended and resumed: Russia, 1919–1940
- Freedom and control of the seas, 1856–1919
- Unclos and the modern law of the sea
- New navies and maritime powers
- Britain, 1815–1850: naval power or sea power?
- Free trade, industrialization and the global economy, 1815–1914
- Coal and the sea
- Shipbuilding and power: some reflections
- Maintaining naval hegemony in the industrial age: Britain, 1850–1889
- Naval armaments races, 1889–1922
- The British Empire and the war at sea, 1914–1918
- Steaming worldwide waters: adaptation and transformation in the Netherlands
- Austria-Hungary: an inland empire looks to the sea
- The Ottoman Empire and the sea, 1789–1922
- Empire and trade without a major navy: Portugal
- Italy, 1861–1914: did the sea build a state and an empire?
- Imperial failure of the industrial age: Spain, 1805–1898
- Denmark: a small power with a growing shipping industry
- Sweden and the sea in the 19th century
- Navies, internal order and trade in South America, 1830–1914
- The sea and the American Civil War
- The wider Caribbean during the 19th and 20th centuries
- Ship canals
- Oil and water
- Imperial failure in the industrial age: China, 1842–1911
- China turns to the sea, 1912–1990
- India and the sea
- Les Îles d'Océanie et l'ouverture sur la mer à l'heure de la première mondialisation contemporaine
- Maritime labour
- Fisheries
- Geographical determinism and the growth of the American whaling and sealing industries
- La France et la mer, 1815–1914
- Russia tries the new naval technologies, 1815–1914
- The First World War and Japan: from the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to the Washington Treaty
- The sea in the Great War
- The Mediterranean and World War I
- Germany in World War One: naval strategy and warfare
- The sea in German grand strategy, 1919–1939/40
- The case of Germany in the first part of World War II, 1939–1942
- Britain on the defensive, 1939–1942
- Britain and the sea, 1943–1945
- The Washington Treaty era, 1919–1936: naval arms limitation
- The Washington Treaty era: neutralising the Pacific
- The United States and the Second World War
- The sea as a decisive factor in the Second World War
- The sea and the rise of the dictators: Italy, 1919–1940
- The Italian offensive, 1940–1941
- The sea and the Cold War
- NATO as a maritime alliance in the Cold War
- The sea and the Soviet Empire
- The sea and the economic slump, 1919–1939
- Océans et globalisation depuis 1945
- America's Pacific power in a global age
- Les nouvelles ressources océaniques
- Hiérarchies portuaires dans le monde et changements régionaux de connectivité maritime, 1890–2010
- Between empires and institutions: non-state actors and the sea since 1945
- The narcotics trade and the sea
- Climate change and world trade
- La France et la mer depuis 1945: une mutation inachevée
- Changes in naval power and seaborne trade in postwar Asian waters
- Looking to the future
- Conclusion(English)
- Conclusion(français)
- General conclusion
- Conclusion générale par
- Miscellaneous Endmatter 1
- Miscellaneous Endmatter 2
Summary
ABSTRACT.In a complex and fast-changing situation, Britain suffered repeated defeats and the loss of all her allies, but the flexibility and defensive depth offered by naval power allowed her to avoid the worst consequences, draw on support overseas and rebuild her strength. The German submarine force, which might have been a serious threat, was neglected by Germany until far too late.
RÉSUMÉ.Dans cette situation complexe et en perpétuel changement, la Grande-Bretagne essuya de nombreuses défaites et souffrit de la perte de tous ses alliés. La flexibilité et l'ampleur défensive que lui offrait son pouvoir maritime lui permirent cependant d'éviter des conséquences désastreuses en s'appuyant sur des soutiens outre-mer, et de retrouver sa puissance. La force sous-marine allemande, qui aurait pu constituer une menace sérieuse, fut jusqu'à bien trop tard négligée par l'Allemagne.
INTRODUCTION
In the beginning it is necessary to define two terms: “Britain” and “defensive”. Britain was, naturally, the focus of the Eurocentric war, but it was also at the centre of the British Empire, which took in nations in all significant continents and consequently brought huge resources of manpower, food and raw materials to bear on the conflict. To be sure these also implied commitments too, but these were not fully called in until late in 1941 with the entry of Japan into the war. Much, if not most, of this strength was accessed by the sea.
The main meaning given to “defensive” in the Oxford English Dictionary is “Having the quality of defending against attack or injury; serving for defence; protective”. On land, its campaigns and warfare, this lends itself to easy comprehension. Broadly “I want to keep this piece of ground”(defensive): “my enemy wants to take it”(offensive). The fluid nature of the sea, both literally and conceptually, renders such easy definition diffuse at best. This is further muddied by the nature of maritime operations and warfare. One aspect of this is the differing outcomes of offensive and defensive events at different levels of warfare, and, indeed, the possibility of differing perceptions by the participants. Thus the German invasion of Norway in 1940 was fairly clearly offensive and the British(and French) reaction to it was obviously defensive at the strategic level.
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- The Sea in History - The Modern World , pp. 479 - 488Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2017