![]() ![]() ![]() Unfortunately, there was one problem: the Germans had bigger and better submarines than the British, who were backward in understanding their potential, but a submarine can’t easily board and sail off a vessel like the British ships were doing. Basically, the German above sea fleet was restricted to cat and mouse operations, but their submarines were told to go out and blockade the British by stopping any Atlantic trade reaching them. Germany also decided to blockade Britain, but not only did they cause upset they caused their own destruction. Of course, Britain had the advantage, as it was between Germany and the Atlantic shipping routes, so US purchases were effectively cut off. To do so they seized the shipping of neutral countries and caused a lot of upset, but Britain was able to soothe ruffled feathers and come to agreements with these neutral countries. The British knew that their navy was the only part of their military who could lose the war in an afternoon and decided not to use it in a massive battle but to blockade all the shipping routes to Germany and try and starve their enemy into submission. In fact, this only ever almost happened at Jutland, and that was inconclusive. When this war began, many expected the resulting navies to sail out and fight a great naval battle. In the build-up to the First World War, Germany and Britain were involved in a naval race to see how many bigger and better battleships could be created. ![]()
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