June 21, 1918.
On this day, the German High Seas Fleet anchored in Scapa Bay, England, and issued a radio code: "Section 11, confirm".
The battleship Bavaria was about to sink.
After receiving this codeword, all ** opened the sea valve and sank themselvesThis is how the once glorious German High Seas Fleet ended its life, which is the famous Scapa Bay self-sinking incident
Let's talk about returning to Scarpa Bay to sink himself, and there are many military fans, especially naval fans, who feel that this matter is really a pity.
As the second largest navy in the world at that time, the High Seas Fleet was supposed to go head-to-head with the British Royal Navy and fight wonderful battlesAs a result, he squatted in the harbor for almost four years, the only few times I went to sea was to see the British and go back, and finally ended up in the way of self-sinking, how to look at it and feel pity.
But in fact, a little study of the history of the Second German Reich's naval construction can be foundIn fact, this ending is not a pity at all.
The end of the High Seas Fleet, in fact, began as early as the day it was formed, and it was doomed, let's talk about this today.
The German Navy arose from the emperor's hobby
Generally speaking, when a country builds its navy, it is based on its national strategy.
For example, in England, I had to build a navy to protect my colonies; In other words, it is not pleasing to look at small Japan, and in order to defend its interests in East Asia, it has to build a navy; Even the Qing ** built the Beiyang Naval Division because they didn't want foreigners to easily drive into the Bohai Sea.
But in Germany, the biggest reason for building a navy,It is the personal preference of His Majesty the Emperor
William and his father Frederick III.
Kaiser Wilhelm II has been fond of the navy since he was a child, and he has collected dozens of naval uniforms and personally participated in the design**.
In 1887, when he was still the grandson of the emperor, he attended the 50th anniversary celebration of his maternal grandmother, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, at which a military parade was held by the Royal NavyWilliam's heart was full of envy, jealousy, and hatred.
At this time, Germany was implementing the continental policy of Chancellor Bismarck, and when Wilhelm II became emperor, he immediately began to build a navy.
The German Empire before World War I in 1914] also known as the Second German Reich, refers to Germany from the unification of the Germanic regions by the Kingdom of Prussia on January 18, 1871, to the abdication of Wilhelm II, the last emperor of the Hohenzollern dynasty, in November 1918.
However, Germany is a continental country, surrounded by strong enemies, France, Austria, and ** are not fuel-efficient lamps, especially France is still feuding.
So at this time, Germany actually had no reason to build a navy at all, the construction of the navy can almost be said to come entirely from the emperor's hobby.
Two people who influenced the emperor
On the way of Wilhelm II's construction of the navy, there were two figures who had a great influence on himThe first was Tirpitz, known as the "father of the German Navy".
In 1891, Wilhelm II had dinner with a senior officer, Tirpitz was only a naval colonel at the time, but he was the chief of staff of the Baltic Fleet, and his rank was not low, so he also attended the banquet.
Alfred von Tirpitz (10 May 1849 – 6 March 1930) was Field Marshal of the Imperial German Navy.
At the banquet, the emperor asked these officers, how will Germany's national defense develop in the future?
The generals of the army said that the head is the truth, after all, the Prussian army is invincible, and the generals are all fighting with the tip of the knife.
The admirals were not good, and all they said was nonsense, and the emperor was very unhappy when he heard it. At this time, Tirpitz stood up and talked eloquently, saying a lotThe core meaning is probably that we have to go to the far seas and build capital ships.
The emperor was very happy to hear this, and in January of the following year, Tirpitz was promoted to chief of the general staff of the German Navy, commanding the overall development of the navy.
Another person is even more famous, the author of "The Theory of Sea Power".American Alfred Mahan, Listening to the name, this guy should also be a German.
Alfred Thayer Mahan (27 September 1840 – 1 December 1914).
What Mahan said in "On Sea Power" is that if you want to become a world power, you must have a big navy. This set of theories has made Mahan a large fan base in Europe, including Wilhelm II.
In 1894, Mahan visited England as the captain of a cruiser, and William II made a special trip to England to listen to his idol **, and said to Mahan very sensitively:"I'm not just reading your book, I'm gobbling it up. ”
After this meeting, Wilhelm II was even more determined to build a navy.
At this time, Tirpitz also put forward the sloganSay "big navy, overseas interests, world powers".He also led Krupp and other arms giants to fund the establishment of the Naval Association, whose members included elites from all walks of life in Germany.
Then it became a logical thing to build a battleship.
"Afraid of death" is the second in the world
By the time World War I broke out in 1914, the German Home Fleet had 15 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 7 armored cruisers, and 89 destroyers, the second largest in the world, second only to Britain, which was founded on the navy.
Of course, the name Home Fleet is certainly not appropriateIt was changed to the High Seas Fleet, which was clearly intended to compete for world hegemony on the high seas.
However, such a powerful fleet not only failed to help Germany in the struggle for sea dominationInstead, it became a huge burden.
Flag of the German Empire.
Because Germany is a country with both land and sea, the army cannot be lost. In the past, the development of the army alone was financially supportable, but now the navy and army are both hard-handed, and the country's money bag is not enough, and there is no wayOnly taxes could be collected from the common people, and in the end, the fleet was majestic, and the people were miserable.
In addition, Wilhelm II, Tirpitz, and Mahan, these two people's ideas about the navy are not very reliable, or at least not applicable to Germany.
Let's talk about Wilhelm II first, although he likes the navy and capital ships, but in fact, in his eyes,**Not the decisive victory in the deep sea**, but his beloved model ornaments, Put it in front of him every day, I can't wait to put it in the bedroom, if you tell him that this ** is used to go to sea for combat, and if you don't do it, you have to be sunk, then he can't stand it, it's terrible.
The picture shows the German Navy battlecruiser "Seydlitz" participating in the Battle of Dogle Sandbank.
In 1915, the Anglo-German fleet broke out in the Battle of Dogger Sandbank, and the Germans were sunk an armored cruiser, which distressed the emperorIngnoll was immediately removed from the fleet commander at the time and replaced with the more conservative Bol as commander
You say that such an emperor, don't say give him a high seas fleet, even if you give him 10 aircraft carriers, you have to be confined to the house.
So this emperor is not reliable at all.
Success fooled the Kaiser
And then Tirpitz,He's actually a perfect propagandist, fooling the whole country of Germany with enthusiasm for the navy, but he was definitely not a strategist.
In the end, he didn't understand what Germany should do when it built such a large fleet.
The theory he proposed was called the "risk fleet", which meant that as long as the strength of the German navy reached two-thirds of that of the British, the British would be afraid of going to war with Germany.
Tirpitz with a trident.
To put it bluntly, this set of theories cannot be called strategy at allIt's really a gambling strategy, betting that the British don't dare to do itBut what if he did do it, he had no plan at all.
Finally, let's take a look at Mahan, the author of "On Sea Power", his book is regarded as the truth by many people, but to be honest, the theory of this book really has little to do with Germany.
Why is the Theory of Sea Power popular in EuropeThe reason is that Britain was the most powerful country in Europe at that time, and the main point of this book is that the navy is the fundamental reason for Britain's rise.
For example, the book says that the rise of great powers is inseparable from the sea, and yes, the British are inseparable from the sea. He said that the fleet should be used intensively, annihilating the opponent through a decisive battle, threatening the opponent's coastline, and yes, the British and the French and the Spanish and the Dutch did the same.
Britain's Overseas Colonies.
But what if you don't have the UK? Does this theory still work for you? For Germany, one of the biggest differences from Britain is that people in Britain can do without an army, can you do it in Germany? In addition, Britain is highly unified, and there are more than 20 large and small states in Germany, all of which are relatively independent, and even the tax standards are different, how to build a navy?
So, this book is actually a success essay written with reference to the success of the United Kingdom.
The most common mistakes to make in successologyIt's about taking the result as the causeThe navy is the result of the rise of Britain, not the cause of its rise, and the development of industry and commerce is the reasonOnly when industry and commerce are developed can there be overseas demand and navy
That industry and commerce are developedThe fundamental reason is that the British system is more advanced than the rest of EuropeCan you learn this in Germany? So this is a book of success, and Germany still uses it to copy it, so in the end, the failure of the High Seas Fleet was actually predestined.
It's a pity that later generations did not accept this lesson, and the Germans almost did the same thing during World War II, of course, not so much.
Fortunately, there are submarines that have made some achievements, and the surface ships are even more aggrieved than in the First World War.
The most ironic thing is that the battleship named after Tirpitz did not dare to go out to fight a single battle, and it was blown up and sunk in the harbor.