German Naval Laws

He initially leaned toward cruisers because they could go to all corners of the globe and display the German flag wherever they went, while battleships were large and cumbersome and thus needed to stay in the Baltic or North Sea.

However, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the leading proponent of battleships for the German Navy, argued that because Germany did not have many colonies or overseas coaling stations, cruiser warfare did not make sense.

[5] Tirpitz's plans were predicated on "risk theory" – even if the German fleet was smaller than that of Britain, it had to be able to inflict damage on the Royal Navy that was severe enough to endanger British dominance of the seas.

[8] The standard, long accepted unofficially, was made official by the Naval Defence Act 1889, and designated the French and Russian navies as the most likely adversaries for Britain on the high seas.

The First Naval Law, introduced to the Reichstag in late 1897, outlined the composition of the fleet by vessel class and the number of ships to be constructed by 1904 and also set a cost limit.

In January 1900, British cruisers on patrol detained three German mail steamers off the coast of Africa to search them, suspecting them of carrying materiel to the Boers.

Although the British quickly apologized, the Germans were outraged, and Admiral von Tirpitz took advantage of the anger to introduce a new naval bill, which passed through the Reichstag with very little opposition on 14 June of that year.

The Fourth Naval Law of April 1908 pared down the age at which battleships were to be replaced from 25 to 20 years, and was sparked by a feeling that King Edward VII and Great Britain were trying to encircle Germany.

From 1902 onward, an Anglo-German naval arms race developed as the Admiralty advocated the Two-Power Standard plus an additional six battleships over and above parity with the French and Russians.

[17] Diplomatically, the British forever abandoned Splendid Isolation by concluding the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902, then followed it two years later by signing the Entente cordiale with their long-time rivals, the French.

[19] Since the autumn of 1902, Fisher had viewed Germany as Britain's principal naval enemy, and so he redistributed the Fleet such that the biggest and most powerful ships were situated for battle against the Germans.

[25] Approved 27 March 1908; authorized strength of fleet remained unchanged, but decreased replacement age of battleships to 20 years (thereby speeding up the construction of modern vessels) and mandated new large cruisers be battlecruisers.