| Description |
xvii, 258 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm. |
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text txt rdacontent |
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unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Series |
Total war |
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Total war (Unnumbered)
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary |
"This compelling book explores Germany's campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare in World War I, which marked the onset of total war at sea. Noted historian Lawrence Sondhaus shows how the undersea campaign, intended as an antidote to Britain's more conventional blockade of German ports, ultimately brought the United States into the war. Although the German people readily embraced the argument that an undersea blockade of Britain enforced by their navys Unterseeboote (U-boats) was the moral equivalent of the British navy's blockade of German ports, international opinion never accepted its legitimacy. Sondhaus explains that in their initial, somewhat confused rollout of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915, German leaders underestimated the extent to which the policy would alienate the most important neutral power, the United States. In rationalizing the risk of resuming the unrestricted campaign in 1917, they took for granted that, should the United States join the Allies, German U-boats would be able to stop the transport of an American army to France. But by bringing the United States into the war, while also failing to stop the deployment of its troops to Europe, unrestricted submarine warfare ultimately led to Germany's defeat. Because US manpower proved decisive in breaking the stalemate on the Western Front and securing victory for the Allies, Sondhaus argues that Germany's decision to stake its fate on the U-boat campaign ranks among the greatest blunders of modern history."--Jacket. |
| Contents |
Origins. 22 September 1914: context and consequences -- Commerce raiding: from the privateer to the torpedo era -- The advent of the submarine -- Toward unrestricted submarine warfare -- False start. "Threat of great submarine war made by naval chief of Germany" -- Unrestricted submarine warfare: the first months -- "Heinrich" -- The sinking of the Lusitania -- From the Lusitania to the Arabic pledge -- Interlude. Tirpitz's last stand -- The Mediterranean (1916) -- More minelayers -- Antisubmarine warfare: detection, destruction, containment -- Preparation. Scheer, U-boats, and the shift in German strategy -- U-boat construction (1915-17) -- The decision -- The sharpest weapon. "An effect as strong as possible" -- April 1917: American intervention and the record month -- The United States, Britain, and the Allied convoy system -- Hopeful spring -- Falling short. The peace resolution, the navy, and unrestricted submarine warfare -- Diminishing returns -- Antisubmarine warfare and escalating U-boat losses -- Anxious months. The tonnage war -- The final Allied counterattack: convoys, countermeasures, and barrages -- The navy and the turning point in the war on land -- Defeat. The Scheer program: reality or fantasy? -- The end of the war in the Atlantic -- The end of the war in European waters -- Reform, revolution, and running for home -- Aftermath. U-boats, the armistice, and the Treaty of Versailles -- Former submariners under the Republic -- Former submariners under the Third Reich -- Unrestricted submarine warfare in two world wars -- Conclusion. |
| Subject |
World War (1914-1918) (OCoLC)fst01180746
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World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Submarine.
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World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations, German.
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Military operations, Naval -- German.
(OCoLC)fst01710247
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Military operations, Naval -- Submarine.
(OCoLC)fst01710248
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| Chronological Term |
1914-1918
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| ISBN |
9781442269545 (hardcover ; alkaline paper) |
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1442269545 (hardcover ; alkaline paper) |
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9781442269552 (ePub ebook) |
| Standard No. |
40027466968 |
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