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HMS Dreadnought.The 1902, 1904 and 1907 agreements with Japan, France and Russia allowed Britain to refocus resources during the Anglo-German naval arms race. In explaining why Britain went to war with Germany, British historian Paul Kennedy (1980) argued that a critical factor was the British realisation that Germany was rapidly becoming economically more powerful than Britain.
Britain's duty to her Entente partners, both France and Russia, were paramount factors. The Foreign Secretary Edward Grey argued that the secret naval agreements with France created a moral obligation 'to save France from defeat by Germany. British national interest rejected German control of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
To succeed, the plans for the invasion of Britain depended on secrecy, but the German seizure of Kiao-Chow in China in August had shown that it would be impossible to prepare an invasion force in secret. The Kiao-Chow expedition had also exposed Germany's lack of resources; the effort involved in equipping and sending one battalion had ...
As early as July 1939, Schmid, the Luftwaffe's intelligence chief, had concluded that air attack alone could not defeat Britain and a land invasion would be required [120] Adolf Galland, who became commander of Luftwaffe fighters later in the war, claimed invasion plans were not serious and that there was a palpable sense of relief in the ...
From 1923, defence of British colonies and protectorates in East Asia and Southeast Asia was centred on the "Singapore strategy".This made the assumption that Britain could send a fleet to its naval base in Singapore within two or three days of a Japanese attack, while relying on France to provide assistance in Asia via its colony in Indochina and, in the event of war with Italy, to help ...
The Makers of British Foreign Policy: From Pitt to Thatcher (2002) Ranft, Bryan. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy (Oxford UP, 2002). Rodger, N. A.M. The safeguard of the sea: A naval history of Britain, 660–1649 (Vol. 1. 1998). excerpt. Rodger, N.A.M.The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815 (vol 2 2006 ...
The military history of the United Kingdom in World War II covers the Second World War against the Axis powers, starting on 3 September 1939 with the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France, followed by the UK's Dominions, Crown colonies and protectorates on Nazi Germany in response to the invasion of Poland by Germany. There was ...
After a brief threat of an invasion of Britain in 1851, France and Britain cooperated in the 1850s, with an alliance in the Crimean War, and a major trade treaty in 1860. However, Britain viewed the Second Empire with increasing distrust, especially as the emperor built up his navy, expanded his empire and took up a more active foreign policy.