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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

Sea Power and Maritime Affairs. Lesson 9: the Dawning of the Age of Mahan, 1890-1898. Learning Objectives:. Comprehend the historical background to the popularization of the doctrine of sea power in the late 19th century.

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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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  1. Sea Powerand Maritime Affairs Lesson 9: the Dawning of the Age of Mahan, 1890-1898

  2. Learning Objectives: • Comprehend the historical background to the popularization of the doctrine of sea power in the late 19th century. • Comprehend (explain) Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan's viewpoint of sea power as a geopolitical and naval concept. • Comprehend the distinctive British interpretation of sea power as expounded by Sir Julian Corbett. • Comprehend Alfred Thayer Mahan's influence on European and American naval history between 1890 and 1898.

  3. Background: • Commerce Raiding • Naval War College- Mahan was assigned there. • The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783

  4. Sea Power: • Sea • Common over which people can pass in all directions. • Great medium of communication established by nature. • Important to the extent that men use it. • Sea Power • Possession of a powerful navy • Colonies • Increasing Wealth • Increase in Strength and Capacity. • “Command of the Sea”

  5. Elements of “Sea Power”: • Geographic Position • Physical Conformation • Extent of Territory • Number of Population • National Character • Character of the Government • Strategic principles “remain as though laid on a rock.”

  6. Tactics versus Strategy: • Tactics • Aspects of operations occurring after the beginning of combat. • Dynamic due to changes in technology of armaments and propulsion. • Strategy • Should remain constant through periods of technological change.

  7. Mahan’s Strategic Questions: • What is a navy’s function? • Answer: Command of the seas. • How should a navy be deployed? • Answer: Battle fleets.

  8. Mahan’s Strategic Questions • Where should the coaling stations needed to support them be established? • Answer: Near geographic "choke-points”. • What is the value of commerce destruction, and should this be a primary or secondary goal of naval action? • Answer: It cannot win wars (CSS Alabama) -- secondary mission.

  9. Mahan’s Views: • U.S. needs to build a battleship navy capable of defeating enemy fleets. • Colonies • Valuable locations for coaling stations. • Vital to a steam-driven battleship navy. • Panama Isthmus passage necessary for U.S. naval power. • Will become a critical maritime "choke-point”. • U.S. Navy must be a ”Two-Ocean" Navy - Atlantic and Pacific.

  10. Mahan’s Views • Need to enlarge the merchant marine. • Essence of Mahan: U.S. needs a “Great Navy”. • Mark of and prerequisite for national greatness. • Designed to fight an enemy in fleet engagements. • In order to win command of the sea. • Not designed for commerce raiding (guerre de course) or protection.

  11. Sir Julian CorbettSome Principles of Maritime Strategy (1911) • Points of agreement with Mahan: • Command of the sea is of prime importance. • Commerce raiding is the strategy of the weaker power. • Development of naval strategy related to Clausewitz: • Relationship of naval strategy to government policy. • Interdependence of all elements of national power.

  12. Differences from Mahan: • Interdependence of land and sea forces is crucial to the success of a national military effort. • Strategic thinking itself may have to be changed. • A Navy's main purpose may be sea control, combined operations, or commerce war.

  13. Impact of Mahan: • Validates naval and colonial policies of European powers, Russian Empire, and Japan. • Increasing naval arms race in Europe until World War I, especially between Germany and Great Britain. • Building large fleets of capital ships in late 1800’s. • Writings become required reading of naval officers. • Further colonization of Africa and Asia.

  14. Mahan in the United States: • Not as quick to accept Mahan’s teachings as other countries. • President Theodore Roosevelt will use them as the foundation of his naval policy in the early 1900’s.

  15. 1889-1898 Mahan’s Decade: • Concept of Sea Power • Strategic conclusion • Operational conclusion • Impact Nations • Britain, Germany, Japan, US • Naval Developments (Review from Lesson 8) • Foreign Policy Developments • Samoa (1889), Hawaii (1891-1898), Venezuelan crisis (1895-1896), Cuban Revolution (1895-1898) • Spanish-American War (1898)

  16. Learning Objectives: • Comprehend the historical background to the popularization of the doctrine of sea power in the late 19th century. • Comprehend (explain) Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan's viewpoint of sea power as a geopolitical and naval concept. • Comprehend the distinctive British interpretation of sea power as expounded by Sir Julian Corbett. • Comprehend Alfred Thayer Mahan's influence on European and American naval history between 1890 and 1898.

  17. Reading Assignments: To Review Today’s Class: - Potter: chapter 15 - Hagan: chapter 7 To Prepare For Next Class: - Potter: Chapter 17 / 18 • Hagan: Chapter 8 MIDTERM EXAM WILL BE 01 MARCH 2006!

  18. Discussion Next time: The U.S. Navy and American Imperialism, 1898-1914

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