At the end of the nineteenth century Germany had a navy, but it was a poor comparison to the vast British fleet, one that had allowed Britain to dominate the seas. In the 1890s, William II had raced sailboats against his British uncle George, Prince of Wales, at the annual Cowes Regatta. He had often visited Portsmouth and Plymouth where the grand ships of the English fleet were moored and had longed for a comparable German fleet. Tirpitz ultimately gave William what he wanted.
Navy Career of Tirpitz
Born in 1849, Tirpitz joined the German navy in 1865 at the age of sixteen and attended the Kiel Naval School, receiving his commission in 1869. From there he began a naval career of fifty-one years, climbing steadily through the ranks to Rear Admiral. He served in the Franco-Prussian War aboard a sailing ship and an armored cruiser, and later commanded cruisers. In 1877 he began working with torpedoes, and he designed and tested the weapons themselves and the torpedo boats that would carry them. He also developed torpedo boat tactics. His service in torpedo warfare brought him into contact with key German military leaders, including Crown Prince William with whom he shared a vision of a large and formidable German navy capable of challenging the greatest navy in the world, that of Britain.
Tirpitz and Battleships
In 1890 Tirpitz was given command of the Baltic Squadron as Chief of Staff. When the kaiser asked his senior officers for plans to develop a powerful navy, only Tirpitz proposed that the cruiser fleet be replaced with a fleet of battleships, exactly what the kaiser wanted. Tirpitz was soon appointed Chief of Staff to the High Command and selected by the kaiser to develop a naval strategy. Tirpitz developed new training exercises and wrote a book of naval tactics. In 1897, he was appointed Navy Minister and began work on a memorandum to the kaiser outlining a complete overhaul of the navy, including a proposal to eliminate cruiser strategy and switch to battleship strategy.
Navy Legislation
William approved the new strategy, and Tirpitz began drafting a bill for funding an aggressive shipbuilding program to be presented in the Reichstag, Germany's parliament. To obtain parliamentary support for the his navy plans, Tirpitz raised the specter of a dangerous new enemy for Germany: England.
The bill asked the Reichstag to fund a shipbuilding program for a large battle fleet. Tirpitz vigorously lobbied German leaders for passage, and in March 1898, the bill, called the First Navy Law, was approved by the Reichstag. One year later the Reichstag passed the Second Navy Law, which doubled the size of the battle fleet. Three more naval bills followed between 1906 and 1912. German shipbuilding increased substantially, transforming Germany and the world.
Risk Theory
Tirpitz based his plans on the risk theory. Tirpitz theorized that the larger British fleet would be scattered around the world protecting its far-flung interests, while Germany could concentrate its forces on the North Sea. The larger German fleet would intimidate Britain; therefore, the English would not challenge Germany at sea for fear of unacceptable losses, which would leave Britain vulnerable to Russia or France.
Alarmed by Germany's intentions, Britain responded with its own increased shipbuilding program, which produced the Dreadnought and other massive battleships, and revised its naval strategies to meet the German threat. The naval arms race was on, and the road to war was paved.
Sources
Lafore, Laurence. The Long Fuse, (New York: J. B. Lippincott Company), 1971.
Massie, Robert K. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War, (New York: Ballantine Books), 1991.
"Alfred von Tirpitz" The First World War, accessed April 19, 2010.
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