The World Crisis, Volume 1 (of 6)

by Winston Churchill

CHAPTER			PAGE
I	The Vials of Wrath		[1]
II	Milestones to Armageddon		[19]
III	The Crisis of Agadir		[38]
IV	Admirals All		[68]
V	The German Navy Law		[95]
VI	The Romance of Design		[125]
VII	The North Sea Front		[149]
VIII	Ireland and the European Balance		[179]
IX	The Crisis		[203]
X	The Mobilisation of the Navy		[228]
XI	War: The Passage of the Army		[247]
XII	The Battle in France		[281]
XIII	On the Oceans		[305]
XIV	In the Narrow Seas		[330]
XV	Antwerp		[355]
XVI	The Channel Ports		[391]
XVII	The Grand Fleet and the Submarine Alarm		[413]
XVIII	Coronel and the Falklands		[442]
XIX	With Fisher at the Admiralty		[479]
XX	The Bombardment of Scarborough and Hartlepool		[502]
XXI	Turkey and the Balkans		[522]
	Appendix A	Naval Staff Training	[552]
	Appendix B	Tables of Fleet Strength	[558]
	Appendix C	Trade Protection	[562]
	Appendix D	Mining	[566]
	Appendix E	First Lord’s Minutes	[570]
	Index		[579]

TABLE OF MAPS

		AT PAGE
I	Home Waters	[224]
II	The Escape of the “Goeben”	[274]
III	On the Oceans	[328]
IV	Antwerp and the Belgium Coast	[360]
V	Coronel and the Falklands	[476]
VI	The 16th December, 1914	[518]

OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS

The Seventeen Points of the First Lord		[206]
Facsimile of Admiralty’s Instructions to the Commander-in-Chief at Devonport	facing page	[474]

CHAPTER I
THE VIALS OF WRATH
1870–1904

“To put on record what were their grounds of feud.”

Herodotus.

The Unending Task—Ruthless War—The Victorian Age—National Pride—National Accountability—The Franco-German Feud—Bismarck’s Apprehension—His Precautions and Alliances—The Bismarckian Period and System—The Young Emperor and Caprivi—The Franco-Russian Alliance, 1892—The Balance of Power—Anglo-German Ties—Anglo-German Estrangement—Germany and the South African War—The Beginnings of the German Navy—The Birth of a Challenge—The Anglo-Japanese Alliance—The Russo-Japanese War—Consequences—The Anglo-French Agreement of 1904—Lord Rosebery’s Comment—The Triple Entente—Degeneration in Turkey and Austria—The Long Descent—The Sinister Hypothesis.

It was the custom in the palmy days of Queen Victoria for statesmen to expatiate upon the glories of the British Empire, and to rejoice in that protecting Providence which had preserved us through so many dangers and brought us at length into a secure and prosperous age. Little did they know that the worst perils had still to be encountered and that the greatest triumphs were yet to be won.