How far was the war at sea the most important reason for the Allied victory in 1918?

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There were many factors in the war which contributed to the Allied victory in 1918, one of these being the war at sea. It is important to compare the effectiveness of the war at sea with the other factors affecting the victory of the Allies in the First World War; these factors being the American entry into the war, the war on land, the war in the air and the development of weapons. I will be trying to evaluate the extent to which the war at sea was the most important reason for the Allied victory, because I believe that it was the most significant factor that aided the Allies in winning the war in 1918. The naval tactics used by both sides played a very significant role in the First World War. The British navy, which was stronger than the German navy, went to great lengths to maintain control of the sea, pinning German fleets at their ports, as Germany isolated parts of the British fleet in order to weaken them. The only key naval battle between 1914 and 1918 occurred in May 1916: the battle of Jutland, which is often considered a British victory due to the fact that after the battle, the German fleet ‘fled’ and remained at their ports for the remainder of the war. Despite this, Britain suffered the loss of approximately thrice as many men and lost more ships than Germany. However, Britain was far more successful in using blockades to their advantage, stopping supplies getting into Germany, weakening the country’s army and civilians. Convoy systems were also effective in making sure that Germany would not be able to retaliate against this action. The war fought at sea was described by John Laffin in ‘Butchers and Bunglers of the First World War’ as playing ‘the most decisive part in winning the war.’ He claimed that it had ‘impo... ... middle of paper ... ... Allies. In 1933, Prime Minister Lloyd George wrote in his war memoirs, ‘The conclusion is inescapable that Germany and her allies were defeated in the field.’ Even so, I believe in contradiction to the Prime Minister, without an already unstable Germany due to a lack of resources and food, the war on land would not have been so successful in driving Germany to surrender. From the evidence I have used, I have drawn the conclusion that each factor was of importance in winning the war and without each of them the Allies may not have been victorious. Nonetheless, in my researched opinion, the war at sea was the most important reason that the Allies won the war, followed by the USA entering the war and the war on land respectively, because each factor would not have been as effective if it wasn’t for the devastation of Germany by the naval tactics used by the British.

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