The Great War at Sea - 1916, the Year of Decision? - Dr. John Kuehn

This lecture was delivered at the National World War I Museum and Memorial's Symposium -- 1916 | Total War -- which was held in Kansas City, Mo. November 4-5, 2016.

For more information about the National WWI Museum and Memorial visit http://theworldwar.org

This talk looks at the war at sea during the Great War during perhaps its pivotal year, 1916. It will discuss the dynamics of the Allied blockade, the ongoing escalation of German actions leading to the Battle of Jutland, and the decision by the Germans to turn again to unrestricted submarine warfare as a means to end the war in late 1916. These actions occurred against the backdrop of horrific campaigns on land—and the mounting sense of frustration by naval officers with the war they had, not the one they wanted.

John T. Kuehn, Ph.D. is currently Professor of Military History at the US Army Command and General Staff College and has served on the faculty there since July 2000, retiring from the Navy 2004. He earned a Ph.D. in History from Kansas State University in 2007. He is the author of Agents of Innovation (2008) and co-authored Eyewitness Pacific Theater (2008) with D.M. Giangreco, A Military History of Japan (2014) as well as numerous articles and editorials. He was awarded a Moncado Prize from the Society for Military History in 2010. His latest book is Napoleonic Warfare: The Operational Art of the Great Campaigns.(2015) His next book, entitled America’s First General Staff about the General Board of the US Navy will be published by Naval Institute Press next year.