Tirpitz: Architect of the German High Seas Fleet

Description

Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930), who joined the Prussian Navy in 1865 as a midshipman, was chiefly responsible for rapidly developing and enlarging the German Navy, especially the High Seas Fleet, from 1897 until the years immediately prior to the First World War. Epkenhans uses newly discovered documents to provide a fresh treatment of this important naval leader. In 1897, Tirpitz became the Secretary of State of the Imperial Navy Department. In four major building acts of 1898, 1900, 1908, and 1912, and, in working closely with Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tirpitz expanded the Imperial Navy from a small coastal force into a major blue-water navy. Great Britain, reacting with alarm to this challenge to its overseas trade and naval supremacy, accelerated the naval arms race by launching a revolutionary type of battleship, the Dreadnought, in 1906 and entering into strategic alliances with France and Russia. By the start of the First World War in 1914, the British Royal Navy still held a sizable advantage in capital ships over Germany, so that only one notable fleet action, Jutland in 1916, took place during the war. Tirpitz, who had become the German Navy commander with the outbreak of the war, thereafter became a staunch advocate of unrestricted submarine warfare. This policy did not differentiate between neutral and belligerent shipping and proved so controversial with the neutral United States that Germany was forced to retract it, albeit only temporarily. In the meantime, Titpitz tendered his resignation to the Kaiser, who surprisingly accepted it. Tirpitz remained a minor figure thereafter, later serving the right-wing Fatherland Party as a deputy in the Reichstag.

Michael Epkenhans, Ph.D., is director of the Otto Von Bismarck Foundation, in Hamburg, Germany. He is the author of several works on the Imperial Germany Navy, including Die wilhelminische Flottenrustung, 1908-1914: Weltmachtstreben, industrieller Fortschritt, soziale Integration [The Wilhelminian fleet buildup, 1908- 1914: The drive for world power, industrial progress, social integration] and a forthcoming full-length biography of Tirpitz. He lives in Hamburg, Germany.

Epkenhans has produced an excellent account of Tirpitz s role in German naval and domestic policy. [This] brief, but satisfying biography which will appeal to both general and academic audiences of Alfred von Tirpitz fills a great historiographical need. This is another in the superb series of short, fact-packed, and highly readable biographies whose main purpose is to provide the reader with enough basics to encourage more in-depth research, and in this it succeeds spectacularly. "Epkenhans masterfully synthesizes the major historiography of the Tirpitz controversy and outlines the extent of Tirpitz's failure in his strategic assumptions and ultimately life's work. . . . Epkenhans's portrait of Tirpitz is convincing and provocative, contributing to a new engagement with this significant period of history." In building the High Seas Fleet that challenged Britain s Royal Navy, Tirpitz sought greater freedom and glory for Germany. Yet his strategic mirror-imaging reflected his own failings. His fleet bottled and then scuttled, Tirpitz escaped into Rightist fantasy. Epkenhans offers a devastating portrait of a life s work gone wrong, one deserving of careful scrutiny by today s military and strategists. William Astore, Associate Professor of History, Pennsylvania College of Technology--William Astore (08/26/2008)" This important book concisely tackles an emblematic figure of the early twentieth century and perceptively synthesizes Admiral Alfred Tirpitz s place in history. Michael Epkenhans has not only written a biography of Tirpitz, but has given us a lens for understanding the mess of German military rationalizations that led to the First World War. It is highly recommended for students of German history. Sarandis Papadopoulos, Naval Historian--Sarandis Papadopoulos (08/26/2008)" "In building the High Seas Fleet that challenged Britain's Royal Navy, Tirpitz sought greater freedom and glory for Germany. Yet his strategic mirror-imaging reflected his own failings. His fleet bottled and then scuttled, Tirpitz escaped into Rightist fantasy. Epkenhans offers a devastating portrait of a life's work gone wrong, one deserving of careful scrutiny by today's military and strategists."--William Astore, Associate Professor of History, Pennsylvania College of Technology--William Astore (08/26/2008) "This important book concisely tackles an emblematic figure of the early twentieth century and perceptively synthesizes Admiral Alfred Tirpitz's place in history. Michael Epkenhans has not only written a biography of Tirpitz, but has given us a lens for understanding the mess of German military rationalizations that led to the First World War. It is highly recommended for students of German history."--Sarandis Papadopoulos, Naval Historian--Sarandis Papadopoulos (08/26/2008) -In building the High Seas Fleet that challenged Britain's Royal Navy, Tirpitz sought greater freedom and glory for Germany. Yet his strategic mirror-imaging reflected his own failings. His fleet bottled and then scuttled, Tirpitz escaped into Rightist fantasy. Epkenhans offers a devastating portrait of a life's work gone wrong, one deserving of careful scrutiny by today's military and strategists.---William Astore, Associate Professor of History, Pennsylvania College of Technology--William Astore (08/26/2008) -This important book concisely tackles an emblematic figure of the early twentieth century and perceptively synthesizes Admiral Alfred Tirpitz's place in history. Michael Epkenhans has not only written a biography of Tirpitz, but has given us a lens for understanding the mess of German military rationalizations that led to the First World War. It is highly recommended for students of German history.---Sarandis Papadopoulos, Naval Historian--Sarandis Papadopoulos (08/26/2008) -Well conceived, thoroughly researched, and masterfully argued, this superb book cuts through decades of apologias for Germany's challenge to British mastery of the seas during the 'cold war' that led to July 1914. This is biography at its best by Germany's most eminent naval historian.---Holger Herwig, Canada Research Chair in Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary, and author of The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914-1918--Holger Herwig (08/26/2008) "Well conceived, thoroughly researched, and masterfully argued, this superb book cuts through decades of apologias for Germany's challenge to British mastery of the seas during the 'cold war' that led to July 1914. This is biography at its best by Germany's most eminent naval historian."--Holger Herwig, Canada Research Chair in Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary, and author of The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914-1918--Holger Herwig (08/26/2008) Well conceived, thoroughly researched, and masterfully argued, this superb book cuts through decades of apologias for Germany s challenge to British mastery of the seas during the cold war that led to July 1914. This is biography at its best by Germany s most eminent naval historian. Holger Herwig, Canada Research Chair in Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary, and author of The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914 1918--Holger Herwig (08/26/2008)"