Germany Doubles Its Navy: The Naval Arms Race with Britain Begins
Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz didn't just want a bigger navy. He wanted one big enough to make Britain too scared to fight — but not big enough to actually beat them. That knife's edge was the whole plan. The Second Naval Law of 1900 would double the Imperial fleet to 38 battleships. Britain responded by building faster than anyone thought possible. And the arms race that followed didn't deter war. It made war feel inevitable before a single shot was fired.
June 14, 1900
126 years ago
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