Russian Caucasus In Africa






World War I on the Oceans



At the outbreak of World War I, Germany faced the BRITISH BLOCKADE, ships of the Royal Navy preventing any supplies from overseas reaching Germany's ports. The bulk of Germany's fleet, which had been so costly to built and which had been a major reason for Britain to join the Entente, was confined to the North and Baltic Seas.
However, a number of German warships were, at the time odf the outbreak of World War I, spread over the world's oceans. These ships were hunted by the Royal Navy; on December 8th 1914 the German cruisers Emden, Karlsruhe and Koenigsberg were sunk in the BATTLE OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS.
The German main fleet was, for most of the war, inactive. On May 31st/June 1st 1916, the German and the British Navy fought the BATTLE OF JUTLAND, which was indecisive. The German side sunk mor British tonnage than it lost, but the German fleet was unable to break the blockade.

Germany had another response on the British Blockade - submarines (U-Boats). The Germans declared the waters around Britain unsafe and sunk both warships and merchant ships destined for Britain, causing a strain on the British economy. On May 7th 1915 the liner LUSITANIA was sunk, a passenger ship en route to the U.S., over a thousand lives were lost, among them 128 US citizens. The U.S. government protested strongly.
On February 1st 1917 Germany declared UNLIMITED SUBMARINE WARFARE against Britain, intensifying it's campaign to cut Britain off from overseas supplies. Despite heavy losses, supplies kept coming through.
In the final days of the war (Oct. 29th 1918) the German fleet was ordered to sail out for a final showdown. The sailors mutinied, took over the fleet as well as city hall in WILHELMSHAVEN, where they established an Arbeiter- und Soldatenrat (Soviet), thus initiating the GERMAN REVOLUTION. A few days later, on November 11th 1918, the German High Command requested an Armistice - the war was over.


EXTERNAL
FILES 		Links to World War I Marine Warfare, from Looksmart
Battle of Jutland (Skaggerak) by Glendon Pryor
Für Kaiser und Reich. His Imperial German Majesty's U-Boats in World War I, from u-boat.net
DOCUMENTS Beatty's Report on the Battle of Jutland, from World War I Document Archive
Kipling : The Battle of Jutland, from World War I Document Archive
Battle of Jutland, Order of Battle, from the World War I Document Archive
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 16th 2004

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