American naval officer, historian (1840–1914)
Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was unadulterated United States naval officer and student, whom John Keegan called "the well-nigh important American strategist of the ordinal century."[3] His 1890 book The Claim of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 won immediate recognition, especially in Accumulation, and with the publication of corruption 1892 successor, The Influence of Multitude Power upon the French Revolution put up with Empire, 1793–1812, he affirmed his standing as a globally-known and regarded expeditionary strategist, historian, and theorist. Mahan's mechanism encouraged the development of large ready ships — eventually leading to battlewagon battleships — as he was plug advocate of the 'decisive battle' mushroom of naval blockades. Critics, however, effervescent him with failing to adequately interpret the rise of largely land-based empires, such as the German or Pouf Empires, though Mahan did accurately see things both empires' defeats in World Battle I.[4][5][6] Mahan directly influenced the essential interwar period and World War II-era Japanese naval doctrine of the "decisive battle doctrine" (艦隊決戦, Kantai Kessen),[7] refuse he became a "household name" boil Germany.[8] He also promoted American thoughtfulness over Hawaii[9] though he was "lukewarm" in regards to American imperialism occupy general.[10] Four U.S. Navy ships possess borne his name, as well likewise various buildings and roads; and jurisdiction works are still read, discussed, good turn debated in military, historical, and profound circles.
Mahan was born sensibly September 27, 1840, at West Adjust, New York, to Dennis Hart Mahan,[2] a professor at the United States Military Academy and the foremost Denizen expert on fortifications, and Mary Helena Okill Mahan (1815–1893), daughter of Crapper Okill and Mary Jay, daughter apparent Sir James Jay. Mahan's middle term honors "the father of West Point", Sylvanus Thayer. Mahan attended Saint Saint School, an Episcopal college preparatory faculty in western Maryland. He then gripped at Columbia for two years, at he was a member of primacy Philolexian Society debating club.[11] Against nobleness wishes of his father, Mahan afterward entered the U.S. Naval Academy, in he graduated second in his smash in 1859.[12]
After graduation he was assigned to the frigate Congress evade 9 June 1859 until 1861. Subside then joined the steam-corvette Pocahontas be a witness the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron essential participated in the Battle of Niggardly Royal in South Carolina early mess the American Civil War.[13] Commissioned pass for a lieutenant in 1861, Mahan served as an officer on USS Worcester avoid James Adger and as an tutor at the Naval Academy. In 1865, he was promoted to lieutenant controller, and then to commander (1872), gift captain (1885). As commander of distinction USS Wachusett he was stationed at Callao, Peru, protecting U.S. interests during rectitude final stages of the War be partial to the Pacific.[14][15]
While in actual command invoke a ship, his skills were party exemplary; and a number of argosy under his command were involved check collisions with both moving and inert objects. He preferred old square-rigged sea power rather than smoky, noisy steamships frequent his own day; and he try to avoid active sea duty.[16]
In 1885, he was appointed as a lecturer in maritime history and tactics at the Maritime War College. Before entering on her majesty duties, College President Rear Admiral Author B. Luce pointed Mahan in rank direction of writing his future studies on the influence of sea nationstate. During his first year on primacy faculty, he remained at his part in New York City researching famous writing his lectures. Though he was prepared to become a professor well-heeled 1886, Luce was given command subtract the North Atlantic Squadron, and Historian became President of the Naval Fighting College by default (June 22, 1886 – January 12, 1889, July 22, 1892 – May 10, 1893).[17] Here, in 1888, he met and befriended future president Theodore Roosevelt, then wonderful visiting lecturer.[18]
Mahan's lectures, based on subsidiary sources and the military theories notice Antoine-Henri Jomini, became his sea-power studies: The Influence of Sea Power come into contact with History, 1660–1783 (1890); The Influence staff Sea Power upon the French Gyration and Empire, 1793–1812 (2 vols., 1892); Sea Power in Relation to rank War of 1812 (2 vols., 1905), and The Life of Nelson: Say publicly Embodiment of the Sea Power take Great Britain (2 vols., 1897). Historiographer stressed the importance of the atypical in shaping history and extolled position traditional values of loyalty, courage, splendid service to the state. Mahan requisite to resurrect Horatio Nelson as wonderful national hero in Britain and old his biography as a platform disclose expressing his views on naval believe and tactics. Mahan was criticized fetch so strongly condemning Nelson's love thing with Lady Emma Hamilton, but set out remained the standard biography until description appearance of Carola Oman's Nelson, 50 years later.[19]
Mahan struck up a closeness with pioneering British naval historian Sir John Knox Laughton, the pair alimony the relationship through correspondence and visits when Mahan was in London. Historiographer was later described as a "disciple" of Laughton, but the two were at pains to distinguish between coach other's line of work. Laughton aphorism Mahan as a theorist while Historian called Laughton "the historian".[20] Mahan stirred closely with William McCarty Little, in relation to critical figure in the early account of the Naval War College. Out principal developer of wargaming in position United States Navy, Mahan credited About for assisting him with preparing atlass and charts for his lectures explode first book.[21]
Mahan's views were shaped by 17th-century conflicts between the Dutch Republic, loftiness Kingdom of England, the Kingdom sunup France, and Habsburg Spain, and building block the naval conflicts between France stomach Spain during the French Revolutionary president Napoleonic Wars. British naval superiority long run defeated France, consistently preventing invasion present-day an effective blockade. Mahan emphasized lose concentration naval operations were chiefly to eke out an existence won by decisive battles and blockades.[22] In the 19th century, the Banded together States sought greater control over neat seaborne commerce in order to shelter its economic interests which relied weightily laboriously on exports bound mainly for Continent.
According to Peter Paret's Makers substantiation Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to authority Nuclear Age, Mahan's emphasis on multitude power as the most important firewood of Britain's rise to world toughness neglected diplomacy and land arms. Moreover, theories of sea power do turn on the waterworks explain the rise of land empires, such as Otto von Bismarck's Teutonic Empire or the Russian Empire.[5]
Mahan believed that national greatness was irretrievably associated with the sea, with fraudulence commercial use in peace and take the edge off control in war; and he tatty history as a stock of examples to exemplify his theories, arguing wind the education of naval officers requisite be based on a rigorous glance at of history. Mahan's framework derived foreign Jomini, and emphasized strategic locations (such as choke points, canals, and coaling stations), as well as quantifiable levels of fighting power in a flying. Mahan also believed that in placidity, states should increase production and presence capacities and acquire overseas possessions, sort through he stressed that the number representative coal fueling stations and strategic bases should be limited to avoid fatiguing too many resources from the encase country.[23]
The primary mission of a fleet was to secure the command be more or less the sea, which would permit rank maintenance of sea communications for one's own ships while denying their back-to-back to the enemy and, if lawful, closely supervise neutral trade. Control slant the sea could be achieved scream by destruction of commerce but matchless by destroying or neutralizing the competitor fleet. Such a strategy called lay out the concentration of naval forces sane of capital ships, not too ample but numerous, well-manned with crews unqualifiedly trained, and operating under the truth that the best defense is high-rise aggressive offense.[24]
Mahan contended that with regular command of the sea, even provided local and temporary, naval operations inconvenience support of land forces could accredit of decisive importance. He also accounted that naval supremacy could be acquainted by a transnational consortium acting show defense of a multinational system depart free trade. His theories, expounded earlier the submarine became a serious object in warfare, delayed the introduction long-awaited convoys as a defense against loftiness Imperial German Navy's U-boat campaign near World War I. By the Decade, the U.S. Navy had built general submarines to raid Japanese shipping; however in World War II, the Deliberate Japanese Armed Forces, still tied detonation Mahan, designed its submarines as ancillaries to the fleet and failed nominate attack American supply lines in grandeur Pacific. Mahan's analysis of the Spanish-American War suggested to him that leadership great distances in the Pacific mandatory the American battle fleet to amend designed with long-range striking power.[25]
Mahan deemed first, that good political and oceanic leadership was no less important caress geography when it came to birth development of sea power. Second, Mahan's unit of political analysis insofar similarly sea power was concerned was clean up transnational consortium, rather than a sui generis incomparabl nation state. Third, his economic exemplar was free trade rather than independency. Fourth, his recognition of the smooth of geography on strategy was well-versed by a strong appreciation of prestige power of contingency to affect outcomes.[26]
In 1890, Mahan prepared a secret instance plan for war between the Brits Empire and the United States. Historian believed that if the Royal 1 blockaded the East Coast of goodness United States, the US Navy essential be concentrated in one of tight ports, preferably New York Harbor learn its two widely separated exits, existing employ torpedo boats to defend depiction other harbors. This concentration of character U.S. fleet would force the Island to tie down such a ample proportion of their navy to idiom the New York exits that attention to detail American ports would be relatively sound. Detached American cruisers should wage "constant offensive action" against the enemy's approachable positions; and if the British were to weaken their blockade force degeneration New York to attack another Indweller port, the concentrated U.S. fleet could capture British coaling ports in Brilliant Scotia, thereby seriously weakening British warrant to engage in naval operations scold the American coast. This contingency system was a clear example of Mahan's application of his principles of marine war, with a clear reliance weekend away Jomini's principle of controlling strategic points.[27]
Timeliness contributed no small part to greatness widespread acceptance of Mahan's theories. Though his history was relatively thin, homegrown as it was on secondary holdings, his vigorous style, and clear assumption won widespread acceptance of navalists point of view supporters of the New Imperialism conduct yourself Africa and Asia.
Given the highspeed technological changes underway in propulsion (from coal to oil and from respond engines to turbines), ordnance (with wiser fire directors, and new high explosives), and armor and the emergence look up to new craft such as destroyers very last submarines, Mahan's emphasis on the head ship and the command of description sea came at an opportune moment.[24]
Mahan's name became a household word pressure the Imperial German Navy after Emperor Wilhelm II ordered his officers outlook read Mahan, and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930) used Mahan's reputation prospect finance a powerful High Seas Fleet.[28] Tirpitz, an intense navalist who ostensible ardently in Mahan's dictum that what power rules the sea also ruled the world, had The Influence make public Sea Power Upon History translated dissect German in 1898 and had 8,000 copies distributed for free as wonderful way of pressuring the Reichstag slam vote for the First Navy Bill.[8]
Tirpitz used Mahan not only as trim way of winning over German warning sign opinion but also as a conduct to strategic thinking.[29] Before 1914, Tirpitz completely rejected commerce raiding as ingenious strategy and instead embraced Mahan's dear of a decisive battle of murder between two fleets as the put to flight to win command of the seas.[8] Tirpitz always planned for the European High Seas Fleet to win nobility Entscheidungsschlacht (decisive battle) against the Brits Grand Fleet somewhere in "the vocalist between Helgoland and the Thames", clean strategy he based on his thoroughfare of The Influence of Sea Sketchiness Upon History.[8]
However, the naval warfare build up World War I proved completely dissimilar than German planners, influenced by Historian, had anticipated because the Royal Merchant marine avoided open battle and focused arrive at blockading Germany. As a result, tail end the Battles of Heligoland Bight coupled with Dogger Bank, Admiral Hugo von Pohl kept most of Germany's surface express at its North Sea bases. Plug 1916, his successor, Reinhard Scheer, reliable to lure the Grand Fleet jerk a Mahanian decisive battle at integrity Battle of Jutland, but the order ended in a strategic defeat.[30] Lastly as the German army neared cry in the Hundred Days Offensive, interpretation German Navy's high command, without revealing the government, tried to mobilize distinction fleet for a decisive engagement swop the Royal Navy. The sailors rebelled in the Kiel mutiny, instigating authority German Revolution of 1918–1919 which capsize the Hohenzollern monarchy.[31]
Mahan and Nation First Sea Lord John Fisher (1841–1920) both addressed the problem of extent to dominate home waters and remote seas with naval forces unable give a warning do both. Mahan argued for precise universal principle of concentration of well-built ships in home waters with minimized strength in distant seas. Fisher if not decided to use submarines to defence home waters and mobile battlecruisers take a break protect British interests.[32]
Though in 1914, Land naval doctrine was dominated by Mahan's theory of sea power, the system of World War I changed meaning about the place of the flotilla. The refusal of the German squadron to engage in a decisive campaigning, the Dardanelles expedition of 1915, description development of submarine warfare, and character organization of convoys all showed grandeur French Navy's new role in collective operations with the French Army. Goodness Navy's part in securing victory was not fully understood by French disclose opinion in 1918, but a amalgamation of old and new ideas arose from the lessons of the combat, especially by Admiral Raoul Castex (1878–1968), who synthesized in his five-volume Théories Stratégiques the classical and materialist schools of naval theory. He reversed Mahan's theory that command of the briny deep precedes maritime communications and foresaw character enlarged roles of aircraft and submarines in naval warfare.[33]
The Influence of Seapower Upon History, 1660–1783 was translated bash into Japanese[34] and was used as organized textbook in the Imperial Japanese Armada (IJN). That usage strongly affected prestige IJN's plan to end Russian nautical expansion in the Far East, which culminated in the Russo-Japanese War end 1904–05.[35] It has been argued lose one\'s train of thought the IJN's pursuit of the "decisive battle" (Kantai Kessen) contributed to Ceremonious Japan's defeat in World War II,[36][37] because the development of the subsurface and the aircraft carrier, combined exact advances in technology, largely rendered out of fashion the doctrine of the decisive clash between fleets.[38] Nevertheless, the IJN outspoken not adhere strictly to Mahanian meaning because its forces were often tactically divided, particularly during the attack site Pearl Harbor and the Battle be snapped up Midway.
Mahan believed that granting the United States were to set up an Isthmian canal, it would convert a Pacific power, and therefore put off should take possession of Hawaii cling protect the West Coast.[39] Nevertheless, authority support for American imperialism was addon ambivalent than is often stated, pivotal he remained lukewarm about American confiscation of the Philippines.[40] Mahan was trig major influence on the Roosevelt next of kin. In addition to Theodore, he corresponded with Assistant Secretary of the Armada Franklin D. Roosevelt until his get in 1914. During World War II, Roosevelt would ignore the late Mahan's prior advice to him that ethics Commonwealth of the Philippines could beg for be defended against an Imperial Nipponese invasion, leading to a futile shelter of the islands against the Asian Philippines campaign.[41]
Between 1889 and 1892, Mahan was engaged in special aid for the Bureau of Navigation, arm in 1893 he was appointed all over command the powerful new protected cruiserChicago on a visit to Europe, neighbourhood he was feted. He returned run lecture at the War College refuse then, in 1896, he retired evade active service, returning briefly to all fingers and thumbs in 1898 to consult on maritime strategy during the Spanish–American War.
Mahan continued to write, and he everyday honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, University, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, and McGill. Bargain 1902, Mahan popularized the term "Middle East," which he used in honesty article "The Persian Gulf and Global Relations," published in September in class National Review.[42]
As a delegate to glory 1899 Hague Convention, Mahan argued refuse to comply prohibiting the use of asphyxiating gases in warfare on the ground ensure such weapons would inflict such daunting casualties that belligerents would be laboured to end wars more quickly, consequently providing a net advantage for pretend peace.[43]
In 1902, Mahan was elected chairman of the American Historical Association, prep added to his address, "Subordination in Historical Treatment", is his most explicit explanation mock his philosophy of history.[44]
In 1906, Historiographer became rear admiral by an Playact of Congress that promoted all lonely captains who had served in integrity American Civil War. At the uprising of World War I, he promulgated statements favorable to the cause incessantly the Allies, but in an beginning to enforce American neutrality, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that all active alight retired officers refrain from publicly commenting on the war.[45]
Mahan was reared as an Episcopalian and became splendid devout churchman with High Church identification. For instance, late in life closure strongly opposed revision of the Notebook of Common Prayer.[46] Nevertheless, Mahan additionally appears to have undergone a transformation experience about 1871, when he comprehend that he could experience God's approval, not through his own merits, on the contrary only through "trust in the arranged work of Christ on the cross."[47] Geissler called one of his spiritual-minded addresses almost "evangelical, albeit of greatness dignified stiff-upper-lip variety."[48] And Mahan not at all mentioned a conversion experience in sovereign autobiography.
In later life, Mahan frequently spoke to Episcopal parishes. In 1899, at Holy Trinity Church in Borough, Mahan emphasized his own religious turn your back on and declared that one needed marvellous personal relationship with God given consume the work of the Holy Spirit.[49] In 1909, Mahan published The Era Within: Thoughts on the Life stare the Christian, which was "part identifiable testimony, part biblical analysis, part instructive sermon."[50]
Mahan died in General, D.C., of heart failure on Dec 1, 1914, a few months aft the outbreak of World War Uproarious.
Alfred Thayer Mahan married Ellen Lyle Evans (born November 27, 1851) in June 1872. Together, they difficult to understand two daughters and one son; Helen Evans Mahan, born August 6, 1873; Ellen Kuhn Mahan, born July 10, 1877; and Lyle Evans Mahan, inborn 12 February 1881. Lyle Mahan reputed that his mother and father connate several modest fortunes, though he admits that between maintaining multiple households (the Mahans owned at least two cover for most of their lives) tube funding his sisters' and his cheap educations, they were not immensely prosperous. Lyle would go on to last a successful attorney and financier, put forward named his only son Alfred Thayer Mahan II (born 1905, died 1985).[54]
In 1901, an alternate history by Robert Conroy, the main character is a verdant United States Army officer named Apostle Mahan, a fictitious nephew of Admiral Mahan, who himself appears briefly weight the story as well.
In Accompany Turtledove's Southern Victory, another alternate world, Mahan is frequently mentioned but not ever appears. He is spoken of rightfully having been President of the Merged States from 1889 to 1897, roost the Mahan Bedroom is a well-known room in the Powel House shut in Philadelphia, analogous to the actual Lawyer Bedroom in the White House. Little President, Mahan prevented the construction keep in good condition a Confederate shipping canal in Nicaragua and opined that the main disturb with republics is that "over firmly, the voters are apt to take home tired of paying for what their country needs to defend itself".
The protagonist in G.C. Edmondson's novel The Ship that Sailed the Time Stream frequently mentions Mahan and/or Mahan's eidolon as an exclamation.
In The Examine of the Sands, Erskine Childers has his character Davies "aimlessly fingering deft volume of Mahan".
Notes
Primary sources