Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



63 



\x(;lo-german naval rivalry 



Shall Wisdom Prkvaii. ? 

 In the Corrcspitndanl of June 10 M. L. de St. Nictor 

 de St. ULinciird has an article on Anglo-German Naval 

 Rivalry. 



1900-1911. 



The writer begins by pointing to a number of recent 

 events— Lord Haldane's visit to Berlin, the elaboration 

 of an amended naval programme by Germany, the 

 new formula of British naval supremacy, and the 

 appointment of Haron Marschall von Bieberstein — 

 and says the\' all bear on the one conclusion, that the 

 evolution of Anglo-German naval competition will 

 remain one of the decisive factors of the peace of the 

 uorld for many years to come. The factor which has 

 dominated all European policv from the beginnin^ .ii 

 the century is the abandonment by Great Britain of 

 her splendid isolation, and the essential factor of this 

 new policy is the revelation of a new peril of the sea. 

 .\s soon as Germany began to seek e.xpansion and 

 turned to the sea, England began to realise that her 

 maritime supremacy might be threatened, and com- 

 mercial rivalry at once means naval rivalry. Yet 

 England was at first slow to move. In 1900 she 



( /<-.| ll.r.l 



All Hail I 



ijarun M.ti->L)iiill lurivrs in Kn^hind s.iltitol l>y twenty 

 Lirami new Dreadnoughts. 



regarded with the ironical smile of tranfjuil superiority 

 Germany's significant naval programme. I'he German 

 programme of 190S, however, caused a veritable panic, 

 and the British Cabinet had to abandon the system 

 of economy followed during the three previous years. 

 Jn 1909, 1910, and 1911 the naval conflict between 

 the two Powers continued in every branch — ships, 

 torpedoes, artillery, etc. — and those years marked 

 veritably the zenith of the competition. Equally 

 significant was the progress in new types of ships, the 

 conception of the two navies of armament, speed, 

 etc., and the evolution of strategical positions of the 

 ri\-al navies. 



" B.-VCK TO THE L.\ND." 



In 1912 a change comes over the scene. The essential 

 characteristic of the German programme is, if one 

 may say so, a return to the land. That does not mean 

 that Germany has abandoned her naval expansion, 

 but that she has slackened the pace. Instead of 

 increasing the fleet at the rapid rate which had been 

 inaugurated, she is endeavouring to assure a better 

 utilisation of existing material. Her naval programme 

 is a programme of transition, but her military pro- 

 gramme is a programme of immediate action. The 

 ^ 0.000 men required to increase the land forces can 

 be found, but alas I the financial problem is a much 

 more delicate matter, Germany.'s weak point being 

 that she cannot make her receipts balance with her 

 expenditure. 



CO-OPERATION VERSUS RIVALRY. 



One thing is clear. It is no exaggeration to say, 

 continues the writer, that the naval competition of 

 the two nations is entering on a new phase. Germanv 

 appears to ha\-e abandoned, for the moment at least, 

 her attempt to dispute with Great Britain the blue 

 ribbon of the sea. \\'hilc Great Britain is limiting \vx 

 efforts to the strict maintenance of her supremacv 

 she is endea\()uring to make her existing forces as 

 cdicacious as possible. There is no such thing as 

 disarmament possible in the present condition of the 

 wiitld. TIk- economies practised by the two Powers 

 are {|uile relative, but they are perfectly real. It is 

 an error to pretend that no agreement as to the 

 conditions of naval balance is realisable between 

 the two Powers. Should :". be a formal lasting agree- 

 ment ? Perhaps. Meanwhile, a tacit provisional 

 consent exists by the simple ni/>l^ru(iifiiiciil of the two 

 ii.ival programmes. Will the proportion adopted be 

 ■-Irii ll\ adhered to .' At the present time the mentalitv 

 iif the Germans, their methods, constitute perhaps 

 the cliief (ibstaile to a lasting arrangement. Would 

 it not be wiser to end for ever the ruinous hostility 

 of the two Powers by substituting co-opir;iiinn fnr 

 rivalry ? 



Frankness Our Only Weapon. 



Mr. .Austin Harrison, in the linglish Review for fuly, 

 writes on the German opportunity marked by the 



