The British navy saved the world.
Germany had for many years well understood the necessity of power upon
the sea. When the war broke out it was the second greatest of the sea
powers. Its ships were mostly modern, for its navy was a creation of the
past fifteen years, and its development was obviously for the purpose of
attacking the British supremacy. The father of this new navy was a naval
officer by the name of von Tirpitz, who, in 1897, had become the German
Naval Minister. With the aid of the Emperor he had aroused among the
Germans a great enthusiasm for maritime power, and had built up a navy
in fifteen years, which was second only to the English navy.
Von Tirpitz was an interesting character. In appearance he looked like
an old sea-wolf who had passed his life on the wave, but such a thought
would be a mistake. The great admiral's work was done on land; he was an
organizer, a diplomatist, and a politician. He created nothing new; in
all its details he merely copied the English fleet. He is tall, heavily
built, with a great white beard, forked in the middle. He is a man of
much dignity, with a smile which has won him renown. He might have been
Chancellor of the Empire but he preferred to devote himself to the navy,
to prove that the future of Germany is on the seas. His glories are the
Lusitania, the fleet safely anchored at Kiel, and the long rows of
innocent victims of the submarine.
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