Post by Diarist on Dec 21, 2014 12:11:43 GMT 1
This afternoon Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden arrived back in London after two days in Berlin which included a conversation with the German chancellor Adolf Hitler. The main topics were German foreign policy and naval policy.
Background
In 1933, Admiral Erich Raeder of the Reichsmarine advised the Chancellor that Germany would be best off by 1948 with a fleet of three aircraft carriers, 18 cruisers, eight Panzerschiffe, 48 destroyers and 74 U-boats. Admiral Raeder argued to Hitler that Germany needed naval parity with France as a minimum goal, whereas Hitler from April 1933 onwards, expressed a desire for a Reichsmarine of 33.3% of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy. In November 1934, the Germans formally informed the British of their wish to reach a treaty with Britain, under which the Reichsmarine would be allowed to grow until the size of 35% of the Royal Navy (the figure was raised because the phrase of a German goal of “one third of the Royal Navy except in cruisers, destroyers, and submarines” did not sound well in speeches). Admiral Raeder felt that the 35:100 ratio was unacceptable towards Germany, but was overruled by Hitler who insisted on the 35:100 ratio. Aware of the German desire to expand their Navy beyond Versailles, the First Sea Lord Admiral Chatfield, repeatedly advised it would best to reach a naval treaty with Germany, so to regulate the future size and scale of the German navy. Though the Admiralty described the idea of a 35:100 tonnage ratio between London and Berlin as “the highest that we could accept for any European power”, it advised the government that the earliest Germany could build a Navy to that size was 1942, and that though they would prefer a smaller tonnage ratio than 35:100, a 35:100 ratio was nonetheless acceptable.
In December 1934, a study done by Captain Edward King, Director of the Royal Navy’s Plans Division suggested that the most dangerous form a future German Navy might take from the British perspective would be a Kreuzerkrieg (Cruiser war) fleet. Captain King argued that guerre-de-course German fleet of Panzerschiffe, cruisers, and U-boats operating in task forces would be highly dangerous for the Royal Navy, and that a German “balanced fleet” that would be a mirror image of the Royal Navy would be the least dangerous form the German Navy could take. A German “balanced fleet” would have proportionally the same number of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, etc. that the British fleet possessed, and from the British point of view, this would be in the event of war, the easiest German fleet to defeat.
Though every government of the Weimar Republic had violated Part V of Versailles, in 1933 and 1934, the Nazi government had become more flagrant and open in violating Part V. In 1933, the Germans started to build their first U-boats since World War I, and in April 1935, launched their first U-boats. On April 25, 1935, the British Naval attaché to Germany, Captain Gerard Muirhead-Gould was officially informed by Captain Leopold Bürkner of the Reichsmarine that Germany had laid down twelve 250 ton U-boats at Kiel. On April 29, 1935, the Foreign Secretary informed the British House of Commons that Germany was now building U-boats.
Current Discussions
In his meeting with Anthony Eden, Hitler stated his intention to formally reject the naval disarmament section of Versailles, but was prepared to discuss a treaty regulating the scale of German naval rearmament. Hitler has no intention of engaging in a pre-1914 style naval race with Britain, and stated: “The German Reich government recognizes of itself the overwhelming importance for existence and thereby the justification of dominance at sea to protect the British Empire, just as, on the other hand, we are determined to do everything necessary in protection of our own continental existence and freedom”. The Foreign Secretary stated that Britain is prepared to negotiate a naval agreement with Germany but only within a broader agreement with other naval powers. A separate Anglo-German agreement is not on the negotiating table.
Source: Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-German_Naval_Agreement
Background
In 1933, Admiral Erich Raeder of the Reichsmarine advised the Chancellor that Germany would be best off by 1948 with a fleet of three aircraft carriers, 18 cruisers, eight Panzerschiffe, 48 destroyers and 74 U-boats. Admiral Raeder argued to Hitler that Germany needed naval parity with France as a minimum goal, whereas Hitler from April 1933 onwards, expressed a desire for a Reichsmarine of 33.3% of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy. In November 1934, the Germans formally informed the British of their wish to reach a treaty with Britain, under which the Reichsmarine would be allowed to grow until the size of 35% of the Royal Navy (the figure was raised because the phrase of a German goal of “one third of the Royal Navy except in cruisers, destroyers, and submarines” did not sound well in speeches). Admiral Raeder felt that the 35:100 ratio was unacceptable towards Germany, but was overruled by Hitler who insisted on the 35:100 ratio. Aware of the German desire to expand their Navy beyond Versailles, the First Sea Lord Admiral Chatfield, repeatedly advised it would best to reach a naval treaty with Germany, so to regulate the future size and scale of the German navy. Though the Admiralty described the idea of a 35:100 tonnage ratio between London and Berlin as “the highest that we could accept for any European power”, it advised the government that the earliest Germany could build a Navy to that size was 1942, and that though they would prefer a smaller tonnage ratio than 35:100, a 35:100 ratio was nonetheless acceptable.
In December 1934, a study done by Captain Edward King, Director of the Royal Navy’s Plans Division suggested that the most dangerous form a future German Navy might take from the British perspective would be a Kreuzerkrieg (Cruiser war) fleet. Captain King argued that guerre-de-course German fleet of Panzerschiffe, cruisers, and U-boats operating in task forces would be highly dangerous for the Royal Navy, and that a German “balanced fleet” that would be a mirror image of the Royal Navy would be the least dangerous form the German Navy could take. A German “balanced fleet” would have proportionally the same number of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, etc. that the British fleet possessed, and from the British point of view, this would be in the event of war, the easiest German fleet to defeat.
Though every government of the Weimar Republic had violated Part V of Versailles, in 1933 and 1934, the Nazi government had become more flagrant and open in violating Part V. In 1933, the Germans started to build their first U-boats since World War I, and in April 1935, launched their first U-boats. On April 25, 1935, the British Naval attaché to Germany, Captain Gerard Muirhead-Gould was officially informed by Captain Leopold Bürkner of the Reichsmarine that Germany had laid down twelve 250 ton U-boats at Kiel. On April 29, 1935, the Foreign Secretary informed the British House of Commons that Germany was now building U-boats.
Current Discussions
In his meeting with Anthony Eden, Hitler stated his intention to formally reject the naval disarmament section of Versailles, but was prepared to discuss a treaty regulating the scale of German naval rearmament. Hitler has no intention of engaging in a pre-1914 style naval race with Britain, and stated: “The German Reich government recognizes of itself the overwhelming importance for existence and thereby the justification of dominance at sea to protect the British Empire, just as, on the other hand, we are determined to do everything necessary in protection of our own continental existence and freedom”. The Foreign Secretary stated that Britain is prepared to negotiate a naval agreement with Germany but only within a broader agreement with other naval powers. A separate Anglo-German agreement is not on the negotiating table.
Source: Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-German_Naval_Agreement