The elements and definitions discussed above account for what is almost certainly the most widely read portion of Influence: the introduction and first chapter. This was a profound geopolitical insight based on an understanding of the impact of geography on history. However, both of . Like the Netherlands, the U.S.S.R. must maintain an army strong enough to win a defensive war against potential enemies. In the case of the Soviet Union, it faces the united power of Western Europe and China. In his last months, Mahan took an understandable interest in both events; friends declared that over study of the war contributed to his death. . [63] Nicholas Spykman, The Geography of the Peace (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1944), 40-41. [30] Drawing from his experience in the Civil War, Mahan noted that the sparsely populated inlets and harbors of the Confederacy were not a source of strength, but rather highways for riverine penetration by Union gunboats. William P. Dickson (London: R. Bentley, 1862-1866). In a virtuous cycle, physical access to the sea, commercial trade, and colonial possessions created national wealth. [15] See also: George Grote, A History of Greece, Vol II, 2nd Edition (London: John Murray, 1849), 152; Andrew Lambert, Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires, and the Conflict that Made the Modern World (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018), 2. He called for a more active U.S. role in world affairs to support Britain's efforts to contain Russian expansion. population growth had finally led to the closing of the American frontier, The dominant evidence was Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan's book, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660- 1763 (1890). This essay leverages Mahans personal correspondence, archival sources, and an extensive body of commentary to explore the content, creation, and reception of Influence. 1898, the United States gained control of territories that could serve Put briefly, Mahan as grand strategist argued that Britains sea power underwrote its rise to strategic preponderance in the European system from 1650 to 1780. To wit: element four, population, should be read in direct relation to element three, extent of territory. Historians have offered equally sharp critiques of Mahan and his methods. [61] Mackinder, Geographical Pivot of History, 421-437. who believed in sea power endorsed Mahan's doctrine. Yeah, reviewing a books Battleship Victory Principles Of Sea Power In The War In The Pacific could grow your close friends listings. The basic principles of Mahan's maritime strategy were instrumental in evolution of the United States Navy and shaped its operations across two World Wars, the Cold War, and violent peace of the 20th and 21st centuries. Large landmasses with small populations and weak naval establishments are a liability for sea power, whereas heavily populated, long coastlines (like the U.S. East Coast) are a source of strength. Though originally published in 1890, this essay has cited the 1898 version throughoutthe edition most readily available via Google. The German Navys adoption of U-boat operations in 1917 reflected the eighteenth-century French reliance on cruisers, as did the failure of both efforts to cripple British shipping. from the meridian of western Asia Minor, until to the eastward it overpasses that of Japan. He envisioned an expansionist Russia needing to be contained by an alliance of the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Japan, which is precisely what happened between 1945 and 1991. Sea power describesanation's ability to by Kevin Baker 8/30/2017. Beyond this, an Outer Crescent and Outer Insular Crescent of the World Island includes the Western Hemisphere (including the United States), Britain, Australia, and Japannot coincidentally states that have historically invested a great deal in Sea Power. Chapter 1 analyzes the ideas of the naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan. Mahan transformed his lectures into book format, publish-ing The Inluence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 in 1890. As he stressed, the safety and independence of [the United States] can be preserved only by a foreign policy that will make it impossible for the Eurasian landmass to harbor an overwhelmingly dominant power in Europe and the Far East.[64] Though critical of what he called the extraordinary Anglo-Saxon predilection for thinking that only naval warfare is important, Spykman agreed that a pillar of this balancing act was sufficient maritime power to sustain relations on either end of Eurasia. 7. [79] Wayne P. Hughes, Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1986/2000/2018). Mahan begins with a discussion of the elements he considers to be the key to a nation's . Lambert resurrects the concept of seapower (one word), defining it as a form of cultural identity mixed with geopolitical ambitions that allows marginal sea states to leverage asymmetric-maritime advantages against great power hegemons. Further, he postulates that maritime commerce is not only the guarantor of naval sea power, but also the reason to sustain a navy.3. If so, does the Soviet Union have the necessary prerequisites to become a seapower? The danger inherent in shifting forces over a distance as great as that existing between the Black Sea and Far East fleets was amply proven by the Japanese victory at Tsushima Strait in 1905. The four Soviet fleets (Baltic, Black Sea, Northern, and Pacific), therefore, must be virtually self-sustaining in any major conventional conflict. of the Department, Mahans The Influence of Sea Power upon History: Securing International [51] After defeating Peru in a decisive naval battle in 1879, Chile leveraged its maritime preponderance to cut off Peruvian trade, finance war spending, and move amphibious armies along the Peruvian coast. 1898. Momentary superiority in tonnage or deployable warships often masks a deeper brittleness. Sea Power could contend only if used peripherally and strategically. This has resulted in the notion that military power deployed at or from the sea is the key component of a state's sea power. Markets in the, Copyright Mahan argued that maritime trade is the most important national characteristic in the development of sea power, including having a robust merchant fleet.6 At the time of his writing, this was true for the United States. Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914) was the first modern military theorist to attempt to explain the influence of sea power in a systematic way; arguably, he claimed to have coined the term itself.5 Mahan's seminal book, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, was published in 1890. expand U.S. markets overseas. Following the successful conclusion of the Spanish-American War in as the coaling stations and naval bases that Mahan had discussed, such as Puerto In 1890, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, a lecturer in naval history and the president of the United States Naval War College, published The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 16601783, a revolutionary analysis of the importance of naval power as a factor in the rise of the British Empire. For Sea Power to work, the garrison must be proportioned to the territory. economic power. Among them, commercial pursuits must be a distinguishing feature of the nations that have at one time or another been great upon the sea.[34] For Mahan, national character also influences the capacity for planting healthy colonies, which is still another component of fully realized Sea Power. [57] Sadao Asada, From Mahan to Peral Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2006), 26-27. (CGN-36). Dutton & Co., 1968), 35. Like Germany before the First World War, China in the 21st century has embraced Mahan. Without commerce, territorial infrastructure, and political will, naval preponderance is unsustainable. Margaret Tuttle Sprout, Mahan: Evangelist of Sea Power, in Makers of Modern Strategy: Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler, ed. Finally, he attempted to ratify a treaty with the Colombian Government that John Hattendorf (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 1991). [75], That last charge is true up to a point, and Mahan the historianpresident of the American Historical Association (AHA) in 1902, no lesswould have likely acknowledged it. It is worth repeating, in closing, that Sea Power is not naval power or the capacity to wage war. Andrew Lambert, Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires, and the Conflict that Made the Modern World (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018). [73] Andrew Lamberts ambitious and engaging Seapower States (2018) is the most critical and provocative of this vein (though Lamberts larger project is much more than a refutation of Mahanian sea power). Influenced by Jomini 's principles of strategy, he argued that in the coming wars, control of the sea would grant the power to control the trade and resources needed to wage war. You've read 1 out of 5 free articles of Proceedings this month. 15-30 (16 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/45236517 About this issue Mahan perceived colonies as valuable locations for coaling stations for a steam-driven battleship Navy. #ga-ad {display: none;} [56] In the Pacific, Mahan claimed (self-consciously) that more of his works were translated into Japanese than any other language (though his precise impact on Imperial Japanese Navy policy is a contested one; note work by Sadao Asada, who is careful to acknowledge that Mahans theory was often more justification for ongoing Japanese naval expansion than genuine inspiration).[57]. The decline of the U.S. Navy ended about 1880, and by 1890, a renaissance was in full swing. fought in conformity with the principles of war; and the seaman who carefully studies the . [47] Suzanne Geissler, God and Sea Power: The Influence of Religion on Alfred Thayer Mahan (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2015). In later writings, Mahan reviewed the successive moves toward European continental hegemony by the Spanish and Austrian Hapsburgs, Louis XIVs France, and Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, and the great coalitions, supported by sea power, that successfully thwarted those would-be hegemons. The U.S. Navy has chosen its next frigate; what will Chinas look like? For example, the introduction of steamships in the 19th century made previously irrelevant insular possessions essential as coaling stations; saber rattling and land grabs followed. Following the successful conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States gained control of territories that could serve as the coaling stations and naval bases that Mahan had discussed, such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. His methods Mahan and his methods to work, the U.S.S.R. must an. Of Japan his methods have the necessary prerequisites to become a seapower into book format, the... 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