THIS STUDY offers a significant new interpretation of the emergence of Germany as a world power. While other histories have focused on the era of Tirpitz and William II--accepting Adm. Alfred Tirpitz's own contention that little of importance happened before he came into office--this book considers the evolution of German sea power within the broader context of German history in the nineteenth century. In doing so, it exposes the myth that German seapower and its connection to Weltpoltik, Germany's drive for world power, originated with Tirpitz in the 1890s. Arguing that Tirpitz merely exploited factors that predated his rise to prominence, the author demonstrates that the central role of the navy in the Second Reich's assertive military posture was the culmination of a long process.

A comprehensive operational history, an institutional history, and a political history, the book chronicles the fluctuating fortunes of Germany's navy. It covers the involvement in the German-Danish wars of the 1848-1849, Otto von Bismarck's wars for German unification in 1864, 1866, and 1870, the claiming of the German colonial empire in Africa and the Pacific after 1884, and various instances of gunboat diplomacy.