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The Decline of European Naval Forces aims to provide insight into the evolution of Europe’s naval forces since the end of the Cold War. To illuminate the drastic changes many European navies have undergone over the last twenty-five years, Jeremy Stöhs analyzes the defense policies and naval strategies of eleven European states as well as the evolution, deployment, and capabilities of their respective naval forces. In these case studies, the development of Europe’s most important naval forces is assessed per the respective strategic framework in which they have operated over the past two decades. Stöhs describes not only the general composition of each force but also the range of their capabilities and their important technical features. His study shows that since the end of the Cold War, all but a few European navies have significantly decreased in size and, thus, have ceded important capabilities along the way. Based on the understanding of sea power as a prerequisite for political influence and economic health, the consequences of the geopolitical shift toward the Asian-Pacific region, and most importantly the general decline of Europe’s traditional naval capabilities, the author concludes that the ability of European states to influence events near and abroad by means of their naval forces has atrophied and will continue to be called into question in the future.
This book charts new waters in the study of European naval power. It explores the evolution of Europe’s navies from the final days of the Cold War to a period of hybrid wars and renewed strategic competition, manifest in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the Asia-Pacific Region. The study compares and contrasts the development of maritime forces across the continent during a period of fundamental change within the global security environment. By applying a novel methodology that links strategies, force structures, and operations, the book determines when, why, and to what degree each navy either continued to focus on competitive and state-centric missions, aimed at the defense of national territory and interests, or rather embraced an entirely new naval paradigm, based on collaborative and system-centric understanding of shared maritime security. The author highlights how inconsistencies and shortsighted naval policies have led to dangerous capability shortfalls and offers several recommendations for navies to navigate successfully the future maritime environment. This book provides an invaluable resource for policymakers, practitioners, scholars, and students interested in European security, transatlantic defense cooperation, and global maritime security issues.
Europe ruled the waves for most of the modern era and even when its navies were eclipsed in size by the US force, they continued to dominate world wars. In this unique history of Europe's naval forces, Larry Sondhaus charts the development of naval warfare from the transition to steam to recent actions in the Persian Gulf. Combining detailed technical information with an in-depth comparison of warfare and tactics across some of the key conflicts of the modern world, this is an absorbing account of European and British seapower, past and present.
The term 'the phony war' is often applied to the first months of the Second World War, a term suggesting inaction or passivity. That may have been the perception of the war on land, but at sea it was very different. This new book is a superb survey of the fierce naval struggles, from 1939 up to the invasion of the Norway in April 1940.??The author begins the book with the sinking of the German fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919 and then covers the rebuilding of the Kriegsmarine and parallel developments in the Royal Navy, and summarises relevant advances in European navies. The main part of the book then describes the actions at sea starting with the fall of Poland. There is a complex, intertwined narrative that follows. The sinking of Courageous, the German mining of the British East Coast, the Northern Patrol, the sinking of Rawalpindi, small ship operations in the North Sea and German Bight, the Altmark incident are all covered. Further afield the author deals with the German surface raiders and looks at the early stages of the submarine war in the Atlantic.??As with his previous books, Geirr Haarr has researched extensively in German, British, and other archives, and the work is intended to paint a balanced and detailed picture of this significant period of the war when the opposing naval forces were adapting to a form of naval warfare quite different to that experienced in WWI.
This book seeks to identify and address gaps in our understanding of maritime security and the role of small navies in Europe. The majority of Europe’s navies are small, yet they are often called upon to address a complex array of traditional and non-traditional threats. This volume examines the role of small navies within the European security architecture, by discussing areas of commonality and difference between navies, and arguing that it is not possible to fully understand either maritime strategy or European security without taking into account the actions of small navies. It contains a number of case studies that provide an opportunity to explore how different European states view the current security environment and how naval policy has undergone significant changes within the lifetime of the existing naval assets. In addition, the book examines how maritime security and naval development in Europe might evolve, given that economic forecasts will likely limit the potential procurement of ‘larger’ naval assets in the future, which means that European states will increasingly have to do more with less in the maritime domain. This book will be of much interest to students of maritime strategy, naval power, strategic studies, European politics and international relations in general.
This first general survey of European naval and maritime history for the period from A.D. 300 to 1500 focuses on Western Europe, including the Baltic, North Sea, and Atlantic traditions, and on the Mediterranean, particularly Byzantine and Moslem naval history. The authors survey a number of interconnected areas: the use of seapower in international and intercultural relations, commerce and trade routes, naval technology and design, military tactics, the physical features of seafaring, and the geography of the sea. They make accessible to the general reader very technical scholarship, and provide numerous maps and illustrations that explain the changes in ship design and construction. The overall result is a powerful historical synthesis whiich gives students, teachers, and general readers a "feel" for the seafaring life and the place of the sea within medieval civilization.
Commencing in the late 15th century with the introduction of gunpowder in naval warfare and the rapid transformation of maritime trade, this book focuses on the scope and limitations of war before the 18th century.
Paul Kennedy's classic naval history, now updated with a new introduction by the author This acclaimed book traces Britain's rise and fall as a sea power from the Tudors to the present day. Challenging the traditional view that the British are natural 'sons of the waves', he suggests instead that the country's fortunes as a significant maritime force have always been bound up with its economic growth. In doing so, he contributes significantly to the centuries-long debate between 'continental' and 'maritime' schools of strategy over Britain's policy in times of war. Setting British naval history within a framework of national, international, economic, political and strategic considerations, he offers a fresh approach to one of the central questions in British history. A new introduction extends his analysis into the twenty-first century and reflects on current American and Chinese ambitions for naval mastery. 'Excellent and stimulating' Correlli Barnett 'The first scholar to have set the sweep of British Naval history against the background of economic history' Michael Howard, Sunday Times 'By far the best study that has ever been done on the subject ... a sparkling and apt quotation on practically every page' Daniel A. Baugh, International History Review 'The best single-volume study of Britain and her naval past now available to us' Jon Sumida, Journal of Modern History
The purpose of this book is to describe and analyse the instrumental role European naval forces might play in developing and sustaining a future foreign and security policy for the community of European states. First, Europe's rapidly changing security environment is analysed with a keen eye for the possible development of a European `grand strategy' (foreign and security policy) for the near and longer term future. Derived from this analysis, the present context and possible future directions are established for a common European maritime strategy. Next, the theoretical challenges and the practical solutions are discussed vis-à-vis the primary tasks and capabilities of European naval forces, the execution of naval operations (including the provision of seapower) in defence of strategic European interests. Then, the issue of good governance at sea is addressed. The requirement for naval involvement in policing the seas and a concept for a European approach to `good governance at sea' are discussed. In conclusion, the relevance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is scrutinized. Special attention is paid to the potential for a joint European-UNCLOS initiative and its associated instruments. The individual chapters are contributed by leading experts in the field of international and maritime security affairs. This book will be of interest to European policy makers, naval planners, officers- under-training in naval and defence academies and maritime institutes, and students in international relations and maritime law.