the British Nation.
The writer explains that England cannot be self-supporting, and,
strangely enough, admits that recognition of this fact justifies British
naval policy. He proceeds:
The time, however, has passed in which even the strongest
squadron of battleships or cruisers can protect England's
frontiers and secure imports from oversea. Technical progress,
in the shape of submarines, has put into the hands of all
England's enemies the means at last to sever the vital nerve
of the much-hated enemy, and to pull him down from his
position of ruler of the world, which he has occupied for
centuries with ever-increasing ruthlessness and selfishness.
What science has once begun she continues, and for every
shipbuilder in the whole world there is now no sphere which
offers a stronger stimulus to progressive activity than the
sphere of the submarines. Here an endless amount of work is
being, and will be, done, because the reward which beckons on
the horizon is an extraordinarily high one, an extraordinarily
profitable one, a reward containing the most ideal blessings
for humanity--the destruction of English world supremacy, the
liberation of the seas. This exalted and noble aim has today
come within reach, and it is German intellect and German work
that have paved the way.
It will be noted that Professor Flamm, as other contemporary German
writers, believes that submarines, like Shakespeare, are a German
invention. He is also, notwithstanding the experience of two and a half
months, confident that the German "submarine blockade" will both be
successful and become popular with neutrals. Building upon the German
myth that Captain Weddigen's submarine, U-29, was destroyed while saving
life, Professor Flamm "expects" that the neutrals will stop all traffic
with England, "in view of the cowardly and cunning method of fighting of
the English."
Professor Flamm then discusses Germany's prospects, as follows:
Anybody who wants to fight England must not attempt it by
striving to bring against England larger and more numerous
battleships and cruisers. That would be not only unwise but
also very costly. He must try another method, which makes
England's great sea power completely illusory, and gives it
practically no opportunity for activity. This method is the
cutting-off of imports by submarine
|