Naval Scare
Naval Scare (German about "Marine-Schrecken, maritimer Schrecken") is a political catchphrase that was used especially in the United Kingdom during the existence of the Empire.
The term describes the fear of the British naval command and / or the British socio-political elite and / or population, which grew again and again during the Empire, that British supremacy at sea through the construction of the navy or the supposed or actual naval strength of another power or one Combination of other powers is endangered.
Background of susceptibility to "scares"
The increased sensitivity and fearfulness of the British with regard to the superiority of their fleet over the fleets of other powers was essentially based on the view that the existence of the British Empire and thus the power and prosperity of Great Britain primarily depend on the unequaled strength and strength depended on the irresistible superiority of his navy over the navies of other states. A - even only apparent - pulling in strength or convergence of the navies of other states with the British in quality or quantity was therefore mostly perceived as an existential threat to the welfare of the British state and the British people.
Accordingly, the British reacted extremely sensitively and irritably to grievances and deficits in the maintenance of their fleet and their naval facilities or to ambitious fleet building programs in other countries. If this sensitivity and irritability assumed panic-like traits in the press and the public, it was spoken of as a "naval scare", the fear for the navy as "the British dearest child".
Important naval scares were:
- The Naval Scare from 1884
- The Naval Scare of 1909 , the starting point of the first arms race in the 20th century, is valid.