MARITIME DOMINION and the Triumph of the Free World
Peter Padfield, £30
978-07195-62976
Throughout this trilogy, the thesis has been that it is the mercantile trading domination of nations which has led to their naval pre-eminence within the world, with the Dutch and British – largely by dint of their geographical positions – reigning supreme. In this final volume, Peter Padfield investigates the period from 1852 to 2001, concluding that America has now assumed the mantle of responsibility from Britain’s dominion – but with Japan making its mark – and rather bucking the trend of his argument.
Indisputably, in the mid-nineteenth century, Britain ruled the waves, her empire extending over more than a quarter of the globe and her navy matching the collective total of warships owned by the next two largest – France and Russia. Some fifty years later, Britain understood that quality not just quantity would win out in the end, (leading to the development of the Dreadnoughts) and by 1918 Britain had a navy equal in size to all the other navies of the world combined. But World War I took its toll, with America displacing Britain as the industrial and financial super-power, with naval superiority soon following.
As devotees of naval history will be aware, Peter Padfield is a master at painting the scene of sea battles and this volume is no exception - but it could be argued that the book proper ends in 1945, with the signing by the Japanese of instrument of surrender: “The baton had passed. A new and mightier power had risen as mistress of the seas to give the law to the world”. The final chapter – The ‘Cold War’ and After – skims post-war political events, but is virtually devoid of further maritime involvement, possibly underlining the comparative lack of British naval muscle. Concluding thus – “not with a bang, but a whimper” – is possibly an intentional reflection of how the mighty are fallen?
Notwithstanding the last section, this is an articulate and evocative history of the period; scholarly without being dull but ending on a rather sombre note – as perhaps it ought, given the current world-wide turmoil: maybe the Free World isn’t quite so Triumphant after all?