The Dreadnought

• In 1900 the Second German Naval Law, which provided a 20-year building programme, was passed

  ▪ 38 battleships

  ▪ 8 battle cruisers

  ▪ 24 cruisers
• British Parliament approved plans for a North Sea Fleet and to adopt a new design for a dreadnought

  ▪ These had 10 12-inch guns instead of the usual 4

  ▪ They were faster

  ▪ They had thicker armour

  ▪ They would make the German fleet obsolete

  ▪ They cost £1 million
• The first dreadnought was launched in February 1906
• Britain thought that, with the dreadnought, they had secured superiority as Germany would be unable to construct an equivalent ship without widening the Kiel Canal
• For Britain naval superiority was a matter of national pride and defence
• Admiral von Tirpitz viewed the size of Britain’s fleet as a ‘direct threat to Germany’s own interests’

  ▪ This meant that he pushed for the German government to lay down a plan to widen and deepen the canal and in May 1906 they did
• In 1909 Britain increase the planned number of dreadnoughts

  • This new dreadnought fuelled the naval race and made it even more expensive than it had already been
  • By 1914 it was clear that Britain had ‘won’ the race as they had 24 dreadnoughts, while Germany had only 17
• The Naval Race was hugely expensive for both powers, did severe damage to Anglo-German relations, and public antagonism between the two countries was egged on by the press.
• The enforcement of Weltpolitik and the first German naval laws causes the naval race to get well underway.