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NAVY LEAGUE (IMPERIAL GERMANY)

The Navy League in Imperial Germany was formed in 1896 by Kaiser Wilhem II.

HISTORY

It is said the Navy League of Imperial Germany had been formed at a time when England was looking for alliance with Germany and Wilhem wanted to worsen relations between England and Germany. The German government helped fund the German Navy League. The league managed to attract over one million members before the First World War. It aimed to mobilize popular sentiment in favor of the German Navy and to work on behalf of its expansion. The early propaganda of the Navy League contained an array of economic slogans which were aimed at gaining the support of industry and commerce. Soon, the threat of the working class movement was added to the arguments.

By June 15, 1897 Tirpitz presented the Kaiser with a revision of Wilhelm's naval construction bill. By October 29, 1897, Tirpitz had obliged the Reichstag to pass the bill with minor modifications. Debates over final approval of the bill, however, extended from June 1897 to April 1898. The joint efforts of the Kaiser and the mercantile class paid off. Despite a large opposition in the Reichstag against passage of the bill, it was passed on April 10, 1898.

Although the nationalist associations claimed to be non-political, the gradual radicalization of their political positions was their most distinctive characteristic. At the turn of the century, leaders and members naively claimed that the League was a “supra-party” organization devoted to rallying all patriotic forces in general support of the Kaiser’s naval and world policy.

In 1898, the Navy League had over 300,000 fee paying members and 770,000 affiliated through other organizations. This became the largest organization of it’s kind in Germany and incomparably one of the largest or all naval organizations elsewhere. Germany’s aim was to strengthen the understanding and interest of the German people for the importance and duties of the fleet. It was also to be pursued by the dissemination of the information through the written and spoken word.

Alfred von Tirpitz, who was the driving force behind the German naval efforts, introduced the First Fleet Act in 1898. This was followed by the Second Fleet Act in 1900, to construct a fleet capable of matching the British Royal Navy, with a 17-year deadline for the construction of a fleet of 2 flagships, 36 battleships, 11 large and 34 small cruisers.

At the onset, Germany's efficient new naval endeavors were viewed by the British, French and Russians more with financial worry than national defense concern. While Britain, with its own expansionist, colonialist and nationalist zeal (and whose homicidal conduct in the Boer War of 1899 should have in any case disqualified her from passing judgment on Germany's desire for a place in the sun) would soon have people believe that Germany "wanted to take over the world" by forming a strong navy. The German building of fleets provided the excuse for Great Britain's reconciliation with France and Russia and led to the formation of the anti-German coalition, the Triple Entente. As the media in Germany and England began to harangue each other, tensions increased over Germany's naval build up.

In 1905, when the British introduced the Dreadnought battleship class, Germany was prompted to increase the size of her battleships as well. Despite opposition within Germany, even from Von Bulow, the Chancellor from 1900-1909, naval expansion continued with construction costs increasing proportionally. Support provided by the Navy League, founded partly to influence the passage of pet naval bills, combined with large industrial concerns made this possible.

The Navy League was influential in other causes, however. Between 1890 and 1913, Germany's population swelled by 40%. Meanwhile, Germany had become the premier producer of steel in Europe and large shifts in the population throughout the country created not only a new consumer class but a large and growing working class.

Germany's mercantile class, composed mainly of economically progressive liberals, represented for the most part the left wing of the Reichstag. In opposition to this party, the old Prussian aristocracy stood on the right. The Catholic Center party was center, with members who tended to be either neutral or conservative. Marxist organizations both within and beyond Germany that were instigating fierce resistance to "Prussianism" grew rapidly in the late 1800s. Communists advocated a wave of strikes intended to paralyse the economy and gain workers’ solidarity by 1907.

By 1912, the left had managed to win a third of all votes cast. As in the rest of Europe, Germany's rising working class became more militant, with union-led strike movements and class tension arising. This resulted in a legitimate fear of a break down in society, a weakening of government and general anarchy. As a reaction, groups like the Pan-German League and the German Navy League tried to curb the influence of the left wing. Nationalistic groups were nothing unusual anywhere at the time, and certainly Germany was no exception.

REFERENCES

A Soldier’s Story, Omar N. Bradley, 1951 Imperial Germany, Volker R. Berghahn, 1994 Krupp and the Imperial German Navy 1898-1914 Reshaping the Right: Radical Nationalism and the German Leave 1898-1908, Geoff Eley The German High Command at War, Robert B. Asprey, 1991