The Great WarJoin now to read essay The Great WarImperialismThe late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a great deal of colonization of Asia and Africa by European powers, each trying to fulfill its own version of manifest destiny. England controlled vast holds in Africa, as well as India; the Belgians ruled the Congo; Germany, France, and Italy also held several African lands. These colonies funded a great part of the ruling countries economies and provided foreign markets for European products, and expansion became necessary and desirable to advance the glory and the wealth of each European power. However, the land available diminished as Germany, France, England, Italy, and Belgium occupied increasingly large tracts of land. Oftentimes, border disputes would break out between colonists of different nationalities; for example the Boer War in South Africa between the Dutch and the English. Furthermore, in the Middle East, the crumbling Ottoman Empire was alluring Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia.
MilitarismAn arms race punctuated the hostile feelings among the European nations. Acknowledging that Germany was the leader in military organization and efficiency, the other great powers of Europe copied the universal conscription, large reserves and detailed planning of the Prussian system. Technological and organizational developments led to the formation of general staffs with precise plans for mobilization and attack that often could not be reversed once they were begun. The German von Schlieffen Plan to attack France before Russia in the event of war with Russia was one such complicated plan that drew more countries into war than necessary.
Armies and navies were greatly expanded. The standing armies of France and Germany doubled in size between 1870 and 1914. Naval expansion was also extremely competitive, particularly between Germany and Great Britain. By 1889, the British had established the principle that in order to maintain naval superiority in the event of war, they would have to have a navy two and a half times as large as the second-largest navy. This motivated the British to launch the Dreadnought, invented by Admiral Sir John Fisher, in 1906. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had demonstsrated how effective these battleships were. As Britain increased their output of battleships, Germany correspondingly stepped up their naval production, including the Dreadnought. Although efforts for worldwide disarmament were made at the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, international rivalry caused the arms race to continue to feed on itself.
LONDON, 1892
LONDON, 1898
The Royal Navy changed its naval policy from 1868 to 1894, and it soon became clear that there was a significant opportunity for the new navy. Before its first visit to England in 1880, the British navy maintained its position as the most prominent fleet of the Second World War. It had the greatest naval output in the world during WWI and served for a number of years in World War I, but its dominance went to Edward Heath in 1921-22. It became obvious in 1931 that London was ready to engage the British Empire after its first attack in July 1933. Britain played a key role in the Allied offensive against Japan to defend Japan from Japanese attack forces and provided the first major naval and allied air base in East India in 1940.
LONDON, 1934
LONDON, 1938
In the face of the Great Depression, the U.S. government decided that Britain’s naval ability would be of great assistance for a large part of its wartime service. British companies were to be invited to join the British Navy at no cost. At first, the fleet faced up with a number of obstacles: a lack of support from the United States or to many of the same reasons cited above; the difficulty of carrying out a fleet of ships during the Depression; and the fact that the United States was, for most of the first few months of 1941, in a position to assist. From 1936 to 1940, HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first carrier with a large number of warships, served with a few additional carriers.
The Admiralty at London made its decision as to the number of ships in the new fleet, and then, at the close that year, after having held discussions on plans, a decision was taken to cancel that number of ships. This forced the Royal Navy to increase the number of its fleet. In February 1941, HMS Queen Elizabeth became the first U.S. carrier to join the British navy. She sailed to Aden at the end of June 1941.
In August, the U.S. Navy became, and continues to be, a member of the British Navy. By mid-1942, HMS Queen Elizabeth was on a mission to the Caribbean. The United States is still the only national vessel to actually fly at a distance of over 30,000 miles to the Mediterranean. In early January 1942, the ships were to attack two enemy targets with American F-18 fighter planes. U.S. Army crews were among the crew, as were about 1,000 British officers. U.S. Navy ships were to participate in the campaign, which began in July. The initial number was doubled, from 2,800 to 4,400 soldiers.
As the war progressed, the U.S. Navy was reduced from 7,500 to 5,870, the only ship left standing after the United Kingdom & Japan became independent of the United States in November 1939. The remaining two frigates served the War Department during the war and served to support America from 1941 and 1942. As a group, the USS Ponce came in second place behind the USS George Washington and then became the largest carrier squadron in the War Department. While the Ponce was the closest ship to the war effort, the U.S. Navy’s second ship was now known as USS George Washington, after the latter’s name.
USS Ponce’s first ship was renamed the USS Ponce as a gift from the Department of the Army to Admiral William Richardson, who was the former chief of naval forces for America. According to the document of his appointment, the ship was renamed to honor Richardson.
In 1942, the Pentagon proposed an award to the Navy for a portion of the U.S. $50 million award for the design, testing, test execution, and sustainment of the Ponce. Under the proposal, the Pentagon would provide the remaining portions of the $50 million to the Army until this year, at which point all remaining funds would be donated to the Office of Naval Research.
After initial success in 1942, the Navy received a grant totaling $200,000 to acquire the Ponce. The program was approved by the Congress in January 1945 that provided the Royal Navy with the option for
BENEFITS OF THE AIRCRAFT
The British Government maintained the highest operational capability in the world, using an array of aircraft carriers for its attack aircraft and for attack aircraft carriers. The fleet included the largest and most powerful aircraft carriers in the world: the HMS Prince of Wales, the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Prince of Wales, the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Queen Elizabeth II, HMS Queen Elizabeth II and HMS Queen Elizabeth V.
These aircraft carriers provided superior firepower and maneuverability. They were also more maneuverable in the air. They could carry a number of helicopters, including a helicopter from the Royal Air Force.
On the air, air defense provided effective air protection against enemy aircraft. The Royal Aircraft Board and Royal Fighter Squadron had an additional complement of air defense equipment in the form of fighter jets.
Aircraft carriers were not limited to just aircraft carriers. The Navy considered large aircraft carriers capable of carrying air power as well. Their first major carrier, HMS Northampton, was launched in 1937 and could carry up to 20 warships. In 1940-41, the HMS Northampton faced a number of logistical challenges. The navy could only support naval personnel on duty when they were on the line, as opposed to the ship’s crew members with their planes. They could not operate on land; they need a temporary boat to bring them into or out of the sea. While maintaining military personnel on duty, the air defense needed some sort of carrier protection.
When aircraft carriers were introduced into wartime service, they are best equipped to deal with the most complex and difficult military threat. They offered a better alternative to smaller carriers with more air power and greater flight capability. Their performance against ground, maritime and submarine troops enabled them to fight submarines, as well as to provide superior air support to shorelines of many nations.
FIGHTING AIRCRAFT, 1942-38
In 1942, the United States entered into a partnership with Israel. The Israeli Air Forces advanced the Israeli Air
Tangling alliances also developed whose purpose, ironically, lay in preventing the outbreak of war for conquest. German official Otto von Bismarck took advantage of Italian resentment towards France and created the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria- Hungary in 1882. In exchange for Italys agreement to stay neutral if war broke out between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary would protect Italy from France. However, after Bismarck was fired by Kaiser William II in 1890, the traditional dislike of Slavs kept Bismarcks successors from renewing the understanding with Russia. France took advantage of this opportunity to get an ally, and the Franco- Russian Entente was formed in 1891, which became a formal alliance in 1894. The Kruger telegram William II sent to congratulate the leader of the Boers for defeating the British in 1896, his instructions to the German soldiers to behave like Huns in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and particularly the large-scale navy he was building all contributed to British distrust of Germany. As a result, Britain and France overlooked all major imperialistic conflict between them and formed the Entente Cordiale in 1904.
NationalismAt the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the principle of nationalism was ignored in favor of preserving the peace. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was that France was left seething over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine