The naval policy in the German Empire
If you deal with the time of the German Empire in your history class, you cannot avoid the subject of so-called naval policy. It was a central theme of the time and is closely related to the colonial system. But what exactly is this term and why was it so important?
The German Reich strove for world power
Colonial policy was not only a central issue in the German Reich, but also among other great powers such as England and France in the late 19th century. Century.
- By claiming overseas territories - mainly in Africa - one's own territory should be expanded. You probably know these territories as colonies. A colony is explicitly understood to mean an area outside of one's own state or empire, which is, so to speak, conquered by it and henceforth also governed.
- The occurrence of various valuable raw materials in these colonial areas was also an incentive to subjugate the foreign areas.
- This striving for the largest possible area of rule and thus also for world power is known as imperialism.
- In order to be able to claim this world power for oneself - i.e. to expand one's own territory as much as possible through as many overseas territories as possible - a strong navy is essential. The reason is obvious: without a strong fleet, there is no way of getting to the areas to be conquered. The so-called fleet policy therefore means upgrading one's own navy with as many ships as possible.
The years 1848-71 were an exciting time. The focus was on preparing the ...
The naval policy was important to imperialism
Of course, other nations were also very interested in colonies. Think primarily of the great colonial powers Great Britain and France.
- The German Reich wanted to expand its fleet through the targeted fleet policy in such a way that each another nation was deterred from the outset by a naval war and a struggle for the colonies with him is. The aim was that the risk of defeat for other nations would be so great that they would not even attempt a sea war.
- The German Reich began to take possession of colonies relatively late. So you can imagine that the empire's pursuit of greater power at sea was like an open provocation by the other great powers.
- The strong navy was a major annoyance, especially for Great Britain, which has always been an island nation could call his own by far the largest fleet and thus de facto the supremacy at sea would have. By upgrading its own navy, the German Reich challenged Great Britain to a kind of naval battle. The German Reich was ultimately able to call the second largest fleet its own, but Great Britain remained the strongest naval power.
The naval battle was one of the triggers for war
- You can see the war fleet of the German Reich as an expedient means with which the Reich wanted to enforce its claim to world power. It goes without saying that the relationship between the two great powers of the German Reich and the great sea power England deteriorated drastically as a result of this undertaking.
- Although the reasons for the outbreak of the First World War are, of course, much more diverse and very complex, this fleet rivalry, and with it, almost had it the compulsive striving for world power - and with it automatically the deterioration in the relations of the great powers with one another - quite a share in this Outbreak.
Although the term "naval policy" is mostly understood to mean the maritime armament of the German Reich, the term can also be used neutrally. In the field of air traffic, this is understood to mean, for example, the individual selection of aircraft - i.e. the fleet - of the individual airlines. This means that every airline puts together different types of aircraft for their air traffic in order to with the most suitable types with their aircraft fleet at an advantage over the competition be.
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