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Wilhelm, Tirpitz & the Origins of the Naval Race

🕑 Added 2025-01-18 21:17:30 +0000 UTC

Comments

Old Britannia

It's perhaps my British bias seeping in, but I think the High Seas Fleet was the stupidest act of the pre-war world. There's a coming section where I'll talk a lot more about the Naval Arms Race, but I think the whole strategy was flawed from the start. ( Paul Kennedy wrote a very good critique of the strategy, the article's free online I'll see if I can find it later). In fact, I think it's telling that the laymen defence of the strategy you tend to find online these days (that the fleet was meant to protect trade and nothing to do with Britain) completely ignores everything Tirpitz actually said. I assume this is basically because it's self evident that trying to compete with Britain was insane. Britain could build faster, cheaper, and had better access to capital. No I think blackmailing Britain was always sheer delusion. If the Germans had mopped up at the Marne in 1914 and demanded the French and Russian navy's as reparations, then Britain might have been in trouble. But Germany ever outbuilding Britain was always going to fail (granted Tirpitz seems to have been unsure about what the actual objective was: Risk Theory didn't necessarily imply outbuilding Britain. But in other documents he hinted that a 60 battleship force was the minimum he wanted so who really knows).

Lovable Snowman

I'm no expert on Tirpitz some I'm wondering where you stand on him. Do you think he genuinely believed Germany could gain parity with the Royal Navy (at least in the north sea) or was he just an Admiral that wanted more ships? Also do you think he was really so naive to think that effectively blackmailing the UK with the threat of the German navy forcing the UK into a perverse alliance with Germany had any chance of success or was it sheer delusion? Because as we know the UK did not take the threat of a German navy lightly and it pushed the UK further away from Germany not further towards it

Old Britannia

Thanks Psycho! I'm not completely sure, as some chapters in the script might get split/combined when I come to record them. But there's definitely a few yet - maybe 8 *gulp*.

Old Britannia

Thanks Chris, really pleased you liked them!

Old Britannia

Thanks Cody, I do my best 😂!

Old Britannia

Thanks William, glad you enjoyed!

William Baumgartner

Two wonderful videos. You do great work.

Cody Miller

Two videos? Old Britannia spoils on this day

Chris R

Wonderful! Two videos in one day. Outstanding work.

Pyschohistorian

Wow I was thinking today when the next one of these would come and two appeared as if by magic. They're both great OB , how many more are you thinking of doing before realising the main video on YT