Kramer: Blockade and Economic Warfare Flashcards
When was it impossible for Germans to ignore ‘growing threats to the food supply of the population and the army”?
Quickly: Within a year of the July 1914 crisis. In 1915: (1) March introduced bread rationing, and (2) by June, the costs of feeding a family had gone up by 50%, and (3) by August meet, eggs, and butter were frequently unobtainable.
When was German hunger at its worst?
The Winter of 1916-7. A wet autumn ruined the potato crop, and rutabagas were a poor substitute (nutritionally and taste-wise).
How many German civilians likely died of hunger (directly, or indirectly because they were weakened and unable to survive other diseases, like tuberculous and influenza)?
Jay Winter’s standard work calculates 478,500, but some German estimates were as high as 800,000.
What was traditionally cited as the cause of those hundreds of thousands of deaths?
What has been called “The British hunger blockade”
Why is it unfair to call it “The British hunger blockade”?
(1) It was an allied policy, not just a British policy (2) It was aimed not only at the Germans, but the Austro-Hungarians, Turks, and Bulgarians (3) Germany attempted to cut off supplies reaching the Entente as well, mostly with U-Boats.
Kramer puts blockades in a larger context. What is his larger context?
Economic Warfare, which also includes trying to deny the enemy access to international credit markets and attempting to seize or at least deny the enemy access to its assets.
Until August, 1914, what was Britain’s preferred strategy?
Economic Warfare (including blockades). Britain had always been a naval power, so it fit.
Who broadened Britain’s strategy from a focus on Economic Warfare?
Kitchener, who became War Minister in August 1914, persuaded the Cabinet to turn Britain into ‘a nation in arms’, and to raise a mass army to fight in France.
What was the internal cost of Britain adopting a policy of total war?
When Loyd George and Winston Churchill adopted state intervention (called ‘New Liberalism’) Britain had to abandon Laissez-faire.
A blockade traditionally blocks the enemy’s ports. How was the British blockade different?
Because of the development of naval mines, torpedoes, and more powerful coastal artillery, the British could not patrol close to the coast. Instead they had bock the North Sea at the English channel and between Scotland and Norway. Kramer calls this a “Distant Blockade”.
How did the British initially improve the effectiveness of their blockade?
The Royal Navy cut Germany’s telegraph cables with the rest of the world. This made it far more difficult for German merchants and banks to communicate with overseas suppliers.
Did the allies restrict their blockade to Axis vessels?
No, they also prevented neutrals from receiving and shipping certain goods. At first (August 1914) they distinguished between ‘Absolute contraband’ of forbidden cargoes, included arms, explosives, warships, aircraft and other items for use in war. ‘Conditional contraband’ included goods such as food and fuel, if they were destined for the armed forces.
When did Britain extend the blockade to all goods?
March 1915. After Germany had declared the seas around the British Isles to be a ‘military area’ (the first phase of unrestricted submarine warfare) in February 1915 did Britain announce its Order in Council of 11 March as an act of retaliation, to impose a ban on all goods of German origin or destination. The French Government made a parallel announcement.
Why did the British move slowly as they tightened the blockade.
They were aware the trade was flowing through neutrals, like Sweden, and from neutrals, like the USA, and they did not want to turn neutrals into enemies.
How did the British and French deal with trade through neutrals?
They allowed neutrals to import similar quantities during the war as they had imported before the war.
