454 * The Atlantic 



Naturally over so large an area and with so many different national, 

 racial and religious groups participating in a common adventure, ex- 

 tended over so great a period o£ time, there are wide variations in the 

 accepted and standard patterns. But even variations are a sort of 

 admission that there are standards or central tendencies o£ a basic 

 Atlantic culture. 



Warfare is often a test of basic relationships and ultimate alle- 

 giances. It is often assumed that the Atlantic Ocean has been a kind 

 of buffer separating Europe from America in times of peace and serv- 

 ing as a line of protection or defense in times of war. This seems 

 to be based on a general misunderstanding of how mankind reacts to 

 an ocean. An examination of cultural history shows that, once the 

 ocean was crossed, Europe and America combined to use it contin- 

 ually as a highway for commerce. 



An examination of Atlantic warfare shows that even in the earliest 

 colonial times, when ships were small and Atlantic crossings relatively 

 difficult, there was hardly a colony that enjoyed any immunity from 

 recurring European wars. Thus the English colonists fought the 

 Spanish colonists when England and Spain were at war, and when 

 England and the Netherlands were at war New Amsterdam became 

 New York. Even so domestic a struggle as our Civil War deeply 

 affected the economy of Europe. At one stage England's sympathy 

 for and possible assistance to the South vitally influenced the war 

 plans of the Union. At the close of the war England paid a large 

 indemnity for acts hostile to the United States committed by her 

 citizens. 



Again, it is usually taken for granted that war is always a totally 

 hostile opposition of irreconcilable interests or philosophies. There 

 were certainly wars of this kind in the past and there may be again 

 in the future. There are also wars that are admissions of common 

 interests. There is even agreement that certain things are worth 

 fighting about. Thus in the Revolution the Americans were seeking 

 for themselves economic and political freedoms that England in large 

 measure already granted to her citizens and denied only to the colo- 

 nists. Insofar as the freedom of ships and seamen were involved this 

 was true also of the War of 1812. 



In modern times the Atlantic did not protect the United States or 

 the other western nations from involvement in two World Wars. In 

 each case, with the passage of time, it became apparent that it was 

 the Atlantic itself which had to be protected. Once it was so pro- 

 tected it became the path of ultimate victory. Even more important 



