46 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



March 1, 1913. 



TO CONTROL THE INLAND SEA. 



In an article on the " Naval Situa- 

 tion in the Mediterranean," in the 

 Deutsche Revue, M. Maxime Laubeuf 

 explains the enormous importance of 

 this sea. From the earliest times the 

 Mediterranean, he says, has witnessed 

 terrible conflicts, many of which have 

 completely changed the position of the 

 civilised world, and in the nineteenth 

 century events have taken place which 

 have raised it to the very highest rank 

 in importance. 



THE CENTRE OF INTEREST. 

 Among the events which have contri- 

 buted to make the Mediterranean the 

 centre of interest at the present time 

 the writer names Italian unity and the 

 independence of Greece, Roumania, Ser- 

 via and Bulgaria ; the making of the 

 Suez Canal ; and the colonisation of 

 North Africa by Europeans, so that the 

 Mediterranean has become almost a 

 European sea entirely, and is more than 

 ever an object of concern to the Euro- 

 pean nations. From the standpoint of 

 naval warfare, consequently, it occupies 

 the foremost place in present combina- 

 tions. The interests of France in main- 

 taining free access to Algeria and Tunis, 

 of England in guarding the route to 

 India, of Italy in regard to Tripoli, of 

 Spain in regard to Morocco, and of Ger- 

 many as a result of her alliances, have 

 brought in their train developments 

 which have greatly changed the naval 

 balance of power in the Mediterranean. 

 These are extensions of the naval pro- 

 grammes of Italy and Austria since 

 1908, the new Spanish Navy, the French 

 naval programme of 1910, the concen- 

 tration of the French squadrons in the 

 Mediterranean towards the end of 191 2, 

 and the proposed increase of the naval 

 forces of Great Britain in the Mediter- 

 ranean in 191 3. 



THE NAVAL RACE. 



The writer then argues that the in- 

 crease of the German Navy by the naval 

 law of 1900 compelled Great Britain 

 to undertake a great new building pro- 

 gramme, and that -until the execution 

 of this programme was sufficienth' ad- 



vanced Great Britain had to withdraw 

 her fleet from the Mediterranean to pro- 

 tect her shores at home against the Ger- 

 man danger — an opinion not shared by 

 the editor of the Deutsche Revue. 

 Meanwhile the other nations have felt 

 under obligation to follow the example 

 of Germany and Great Britain. Since 

 1908 Italy has been busy increasing her 

 navy, and in 1910 Austria began the 

 execution of a naval programme drawn 

 up to be completed in 1920. Spain also 

 has been drawn into the movement, and, 

 after considerable hesitation, has been 

 building new ships since 1908. France 

 could not remain indifferent to the ac- 

 tivity of Italy and Austria. The 

 strengthening of the Italian and Aus- 



111 



trian navies on the one hand, and the 

 weakness of the Russian fleet after the 

 war with Japan on the other, had greatly 

 disturbed the balance of power in the 

 existing groups. In 1910, therefore, a 

 new naval programme was drawn up, 

 and France is expected to complete it 

 by 1 91 9. 



THE POSITION, JULY, 1913 — 



In conclusion, the writer has insti- 

 tuted a comparison of the naval forces 

 of the Great Powers which b\- the 

 middle of 191 3 will l)e in the Mediter- 

 ranean. In his reckoning he includes 

 only the ships built within the last six- 

 teen years and possessing guns with a 

 calibre of at least 9 inches or 234 milli- 

 metres — a method unfavourable to 

 France, since it excludes all the French 

 ironclads armed with 194-millimetre 

 guns. The naval strength of the Great 

 Powers in 191 3 is anticipated to be as 

 follows : — 



Great Britain.— 4 armed cruisers and 3 small 

 cruisers, with 32 305-millimetre guns and 18 234- 

 millimetre g-uns. 



France. — 18 battlesliips with 86 305-millimetre 

 guns, 2 274-millimetre guns, aJid 72 240-millimetre 

 guns. 



Italy. — 12 battleships and 7 armed cruisers, 

 with 67 305-millimetre guns and 27 254-millimetre 

 guns. 



Austria. — 11 battleships ajid 2 armed cruisers, 

 with 36 305-millimetre guns and 49 240-millimeti-e 

 guns. 



In addition, France would have a 

 flotilla of smaller ships, including 36 

 destroyers and 16 submarines. 



