British Naval Policy in the Gladstone-Disraeli Era, 1866-1880 / John F. Beeler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beeler, John F., Author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (376 p.) : 17 illus, 13 tables

Place of Publication:

Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, [2022]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This book examines British naval policy during the mid-Victorian period, with an emphasis on the political, economic, and foreign relations contexts within which naval policy was formulated. This period has sometimes been characterized as the “dark age” of modern British naval history, reflecting not only the comparative lack of research on the period, but also the marginal role played by the Royal Navy during a time of peace. The author takes a fresh look at the navy’s role, which traditionally has been viewed negatively in the wake of the reconceptualization of naval strategy brought about by Mahan and the changed global circumstances of the 1890’s. Against a background of rapid industrialization and economic transformation, the author describes the structure of British naval administration in the Gladstone-Disraeli era, assesses the important reforms of that structure by the Liberal politician Hugh Childers, and examines the strategic and operational contexts of the navy itself. The comfortable foundations upon which were erected the world views and assumptions of mid-Victorian politicians and naval administrators were swept away with disconcerting swiftness by the mechanization of naval warfare. The author shows how this transformation went far beyond the realm of technology, profoundly influencing naval tactics and strategy, government finance, political discourse, and public opinion. This book is therefore as much a case study in human responses to the process of modernization as it is an investigation of mid-Victorian British naval policy.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Acknowledgments

Contents

Tables

A Note on Quotations

CHAPTER 1 Introduction: The Industrial Revolution and the Navy

CHAPTER 2 Strategic Parameters

CHAPTER 3 Administration, Politics, and Economics

CHAPTER 4 Derby, Disraeli, and a Mutinous Admiralty, 1866-1868

CHAPTER 5 Hugh Childers at the Admiralty, 1868-1870

CHAPTER 6 Of Captains and Lords

CHAPTER 7 Collapse and Recovery, 1870-1874

CHAPTER 8 Politics, Finance, and the Navy, I874-I880

CHAPTER 9 Admiralty Administration: Childers, Goschen, and the Historians

CHAPTER 10 Rivals

CHAPTER 11 Strategic Planning and Imperial Defense

CHAPTER 12 Conclusion

CHAPTER 13 Epilogue: The End of an Era

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 31. Jan 2022)

ISBN:

1-5036-1661-4