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In the late-nineteenth century, U.S. "navalist" historians reinterpreted defeat in the War of 1812 as an argument for an ocean-going battlefleet. Something similar is underway in the People's Republic of China (PRC) as historians and propogandists reimagine the Qing Dynasty's defeats in the Sino-French (1883-1885) and Sino-Japanese Wars (1894-1895) as sources of naval heritage. Discarding Mao-era orthodoxies, the navalist reinterpretation rescues an origin story for Chinese sea power from the "century of national humiliation." As in the nineteenth-century United States, historical example and myth stress China's identity as a maritime state and contextualize the ongoing modernization of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). By highlighting these parallel revisionist efforts, this article draws attention to the instrumentalization of historical memory in the service of navalism as well as the comparative history of the United States and China: two continental empires that justified battlefleet navies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a new interpretation of mutiny, and of the ways in which this concept was defined and implemented in maritime law during the seventeenth century. It particularly focuses on British seafarers and the evidence surviving in the papers of the English High Court of Admiralty, placed in a comparative perspective with reference to other states' legal provision. Scholars of maritime social history have been particularly preoccupied with the idea of mutiny but have rarely provided a precise decision of it, or explored its legal intricacies, while generally basing their ideas on the increasingly punitive regulations issued by state navies. Some have presented mutiny as an essentially responsive action by which mariners expressed grievances and appealed to shared ideas of patriarchal justice. Others have found in mutiny the stirrings of a distinctively maritime tradition of political radicalism which fermented throughout the early modern period and ultimately contributed to the age of revolutions in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Across this divide, most historians have concurred in presenting it as an extreme, and often violent, act of resistance to constituted authority. This article shifts our attention to the supposed origins of this authoritarian system in the seventeenth century and expands our analysis beyond the martial law of state navies, which applied only in a specific and limited number of ships. It begins by considering the fragmented nature of the multiple systems of national, municipal, military, and customary maritime laws which governed seafaring, arguing that even in naval law there was no consistent definition or prosecution of mutiny, and that the provisions of customary law (much more ubiquitous than naval law) were far less draconian than popular myth would suggest. The article then turns to the depositions of mariners presented in admiralty court cases to explore how seafarers themselves delivered narratives about their conduct at sea, countering accusations of mutiny levied by their employers. It is particularly important to take into account the legal purpose and context of these sources, which highlight disputes and divisions and where statements were strategically crafted – on both sides – to pursue certain objectives. Through this analysis of both legal codes and legal practice, this article demonstrates that authority and law at sea were not a simple matter of unconfined power meeting radical resistance, nor of acquiescence to established hierarchies. While conflict, mistreatment, and asymmetries of power were undoubtedly present in early modern seafaring, the evidence from the High Court of Admiralty shows that, even at sea, shipmasters' and their crews' actions were shaped by knowledge of maritime law. Moreover, seafarers and their employers (whether commercial or imperial) shared expectations about the limits of commanders' power and about consensus and compromise aboard ship. Discussion and protest were only considered mutinous when a voyage failed and provoked recriminations over who should bear the fault and the cost: the consequences, more than the act itself, defined its legal status. This article therefore provides novel reflections on the social dimensions of maritime labour and the agency of early modern seafarers within imperial and legal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses the periodical supplement's topic of maritime history throughout European empires.

The nature and capacity of the pre-Covenanter Scottish state has been the subject of some debate. Some descriptions of James VI's government after 1603 suggest it was bureaucratic and centralised, but it was also fiscally weak. Attempts to run naval forces, that were modest in scale but capital-intensive, are used to examine the tensions between that weakness, also evident in the reign of Charles I, and the need for government control. The government's failure in 1625 to get new taxation to support enlarged naval forces to fight Charles I's wars against Spain and France and its turn instead to individual nobles to finance the ships that the government put to sea can be shown to have affected the role the ships played in operations. A narrow support base for the navy, consisting of a few individual nobles and merchants, limited the state's capacity to wage war effectively and contrasts with the broader support Covenanted regimes used later to raise military forces. The difficulty of supporting this squadron, though, also provides context for the minimal Scottish naval efforts of those regimes in the 1640s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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On 13 and 14 February 1941, a German and Italian maritime strategy conference, led by Großadmiral Erich Raeder, C-in-C of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy), and Admiral Arturo Riccardi, his equivalent in the Regia Marina (Italian Navy), occurred in Merano in order to coordinate the ongoing conduct of naval warfare. The Germans wanted more say in the conduct of the Mediterranean war. The Italians came with a shopping list, which included anti-aircraft guns, oil, raw materials, and technology. Some historians claim that the Italians were reluctant to hold a conference as they feared the Germans would intrude into their theatre of operations, but that after the Battle of Taranto they could no longer resist German pressure. However, an analysis of German and Italian documents shows otherwise. It also reveals that the true significance of Merano lies in the fact that the two navies finally began to draw together with a common understanding of who would do what in coming years, both together and individually. With the two admirals acting as senior diplomats, conveying their countries' friendship and sense of common purpose and actively trying to find mutually agreeable solutions to difficulties, the conference went very well. Initiated, planned and run by naval liaison staff from both sides embedded within the other side's command staff, and with a strong contribution from the embassies in both Berlin and Rome – with the military attachés functioning rather effectively in a diplomatic capacity – the Merano Conference is an excellent case study of military-diplomatic cooperation during wartime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1509 Battle of Diu is regularly cited as a definitive example of European naval superiority over the Asian powers of the Indian Ocean. Some authors, like the late Jan Glete, have gone so far as to assert that, after Diu, no Indian Ocean state was ever able to challenge the Portuguese at sea again. Yet these analyses ignore that Portugal's primary adversary in India, Gujarati governor Malik Ayyaz, not only survived the battle of Diu but also continued to wage a private war against the Estada da India until shortly before his death in 1522. This article examines Ayyaz's war against Portugal from beginning to end and uses his career as a lens through which to offer a re-evaluation of Gujarati naval strength in the early sixteenth century. Its findings suggest that the conflict between Ayyaz and the Estada da India was ultimately a draw, with neither side possessing a meaningful technological or military advantage over the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1826 Marian Mason was introduced to British society as a callisthenic instructor. Trained by P.H. Clias, a gymnast who oversaw physical training in the military and navy, Mason is the first high profile female fitness coach in British history. Despite her importance as a landmark figure, Mason's contributions, and indeed life, remain relatively obscured from the historical record. Studying Mason's heyday in public life from 1826 to the early 1830s, this article provides the first substantive examination of Mason's life, her social networks and wealth and, critically, the monograph she published in 1826. While acknowledging Mason's role as an early female fitness coach, the article provides a deep reading of Mason's successes, focusing on her class and relationship advantages, her ability to court medical favour and shrewdness in addressing broader societal concerns. This article is less a biography and more an examination of the broader social and medical trends in early nineteenth century England, which created a space for people like Mason. The article presents a simple argument – Marian Mason was an early female fitness coach who, drawing on broader societal concerns about the body, created a niche for her career by leveraging her expertise and familial connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Tempest: The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions" by James Davey is a comprehensive and engaging history of the Royal Navy during the French Revolution, the Haitian Rebellion, and other instances of resistance by common sailors. The book explores the diverse political identities of sailors in the Atlantic World, focusing on class relationships and how sailors understood their place in the Age of Revolutions. It covers topics such as impressment, mutinies, negotiations between sailors and commanders, and the government's surveillance and repression of sailors. With its accessible tone and well-illustrated maps, "Tempest" is a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts of naval history. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses various topics related to naval warfare and international relations. It explores the political and legal distinctions between unmanned and manned vessels, the impact of technology on modern warfare, Germany's naval force design in the interwar period, the rise and decline of private maritime-security companies, and Vietnam's hedging strategy in response to China's actions in the South China Sea. The authors come from diverse backgrounds, including academia, the military, and graduate studies. The article provides valuable insights for researchers interested in these subjects. [Extracted from the article]

The paper examines the repulse of fifteenth century Portuguese slave raids in the Senegambia by the armed forces of the empires of Great Jolof and Imperial Mali, within the context of the ongoing Military Revolution debate and with an emphasis on the military organization and weaponry deployed by both sides. Despite the claims of some historians about early European advantages in naval warfare, any such superiority on the part of the European vessels was not demonstrated in these encounters, with the war-canoes and poisoned arrows of the Jolof and Malian marines proving highly effective against the caravels, cannons, and crossbows of the Portuguese sailors. The African militaries of the Senegambia region were well-organized, well-disciplined, and more than capable of defeating European marauders. If Europeans did develop notable military advantages over West Africans in the sixteenth century, they had not yet begun to do so in the fifteenth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This publication attempts to present the history of the sailing ships development, from ancient times to the present day. It is almost impossible to present the development history of such an important technological achievement in a few pages, so we only focus on the most significant turning points in the publication. We present the ancient ships, the long ships of the Vikings, the shipbuilding techniques of the age of great geographical discoveries. We analyse the characteristics of line of ships, which greatly influenced the battles of the great powers of the world. Finally, we give a small overview of currently used sailing ship technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naval and military historians have generally not focused on logistics, and this is true for Second World War naval historians and, more specifically, for United States Navy logistics of the Pacific War (1941–45). Naval logistics deserves more serious study as they circumscribe what surface fleets can accomplish. Recently, historians have started to treat this topic as an integral part of naval strategy, operations, and tactics, which is a step in the right direction. This article explores the current state of historical literature and demonstrates that further historical inquiry is necessary – the topic deserves more attention from historians and, indeed, today’s navies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates Republic of China Navy (ROCN) 'defection mutinies' during the Chinese Civil War where mutineers seized ROCN vessels and defected to the Chinese Communists. Examining the memoirs of defection mutiny ringleaders and participants, this paper postulates the determinant that enabled ROCN defection mutinies was Chinese Communist covert action that capitalised on ROCN internal conflicts, weakened the collective action problem's effect on pre-empting mutinies and provided the necessary support to conspirators that led to defection mutinies based on Communist preferences. This research contributes to the military studies sub-field by exposing the intersection between covert action and wartime military unrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses three books that provide different perspectives on World War II in the Pacific. The first book focuses on the diplomatic efforts of Joseph Grew, the U.S. Ambassador in Tokyo, to prevent war between the U.S. and Japan. The second and third books challenge the traditional view of the war and examine the U.S. Army's role in the Pacific. The article acknowledges the authors' innovative narratives and suggests that these books have the potential to make a lasting impact in the field of history. It is important to note that the author's views are his own and do not represent any official entity. [Extracted from the article]

Ship graffiti in Malta can be understood as an archaeological manifestation of a Mediterranean island's maritime identity. The profusion and distribution of graffiti must be contextualized within local histories, naval powers, and maritime industry, and the ways these shaped the demographic and religious landscapes in the early modern period. Ship graffiti has the capacity to fill gaps in scholarship as well as raise important historical and archaeological questions. Technological advancements continue to revolutionize the documentation, study, and communication of graffiti sites. Systematic methodologies demonstrate the value of interpreting ship graffiti through an archaeological lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 1654 a large naval force departed from Portsmouth and sailed across the Atlantic. Its goal was to expand the English Commonwealth in the Caribbean at the expense of Spanish colonies. The Gloucester , a third-rate frigate recently constructed as part of Oliver Cromwell's ambitious shipbuilding programme, was one of the largest and most heavily armed warships of the expedition. Combining analysis of courts martial accounts, inventories, journals, letters, sailing instructions, and wills, this article argues for the Gloucester 's importance as a case study and microcosm for understanding the economic, political, religious, and social problems that the navy and wider Protectorate faced. It revises traditional historiography about the topic that has underestimated the significance of the naval context to the Western Design. Crucial to this new history is that the extreme hardships and religious divisions created tensions that targeted the leadership of Admiral William Goodsonn. Of particular importance in this narrative is Benjamin Blake, captain of the Gloucester , who clashed with Goodsonn over key policies. By focusing on the Gloucester and exploring its crew's experiences, this article shows that the English navy was a restricted and internally conflicted force when operating at the peripheries of the state network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many dharmaśāstra texts, starting from the most famous, the Manusmr+ti, declare sea voyage to be sinful and polluting for a Hindu. At the same time, from remote antiquity, Hindus from various castes, including Brahmans, had actively traversed the seas to the west, south and east of India for the purposes of trade, war, spiritual guidance, adventures and so on. This article seeks to review the geography of ancient and mediaeval Indian seafaring (in which Hindus played a significant role) and, more importantly, to discover why, in colonial India, the notion of sea travel being prohibited to Hindus became widely established, so that the descendants of the merchants who had operated from Aden to the Indonesian and Chinese ports would excommunicate their young caste fellows who desirous to study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a comprehensive list of abbreviations used in historical texts and sources. It covers a wide range of topics, including military history, colonialism, and diplomatic relations. The abbreviations are organized alphabetically and include books, journals, libraries, and government documents. Additionally, the document provides a diverse range of sources and references for research on various topics, such as naval history, colonialism, politics, and military affairs, spanning different time periods and perspectives. [Extracted from the article]

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The book "African Navies: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives" edited by Timothy Stapleton explores the neglected history and development of naval power in Africa. The book highlights the lack of emphasis on maritime security and the potential of the sea for economic and commercial purposes in African countries. It examines the historical and contemporary perspectives of African navies, their limitations, challenges, and their relations with external powers. The book also discusses the involvement of non-African navies in African waters and the importance of maritime security in the region. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive overview of Africa's maritime history, capability, and challenges, and offers recommendations for managing maritime challenges in the continent. [Extracted from the article]

"President Mandela's Admiral: The South African Navy's Story of the 1990s" is a book review that discusses the significance of Vice-Admiral Robert Simpson-Anderson's autobiography in South African naval historiography. The book provides a history of the South African Navy during the 1990s, focusing on Simpson-Anderson's tenure as chief of the Navy from 1992 to 2000. It highlights the challenges faced by the Navy during this period, including the transition to a democratic South Africa and the need to adapt to a broader national strategy. The book also explores Simpson-Anderson's relationships with political leaders, his efforts to re-establish naval partnerships, and the Navy's role in international events. Overall, the review recommends the book as an insightful and revealing read that contributes to an important era in South African naval history. [Extracted from the article]

This study looks at the extensive domestic crisis in Great Britain known as the 1909 Naval Scare, which had a major impact on the course of Anglo-German naval rivalry in the period prior to the outbreak of World War One. The primary objective of the study is to analyse the causes and consequences of the events, which drew the attention of the government and general public in regard to the rate of arming of the navy. The author mainly relies on published sources, academic publications and periodicals published at the time. The crisis can be considered an important milestone in the naval arms race. This had initially broken out at the end of the 19th century between most global powers, but with Great Britain's introduction of new types of ship in 1906 and 1907 it flared up between Great Britain and Germany in particular. A number of triggers came together in 1909 in Britain to cause an extensive government crisis which turned into public panic over the German naval threat, leading to a massive construction programme for the year 1909-10 and a significant increase in expenditure on the navy. Endeavours to reduce spending led to Reginald McKenna being appointed to head the admiralty in 1908. Did McKenna really complete his mission? Was the crisis based on justified fears, or was it a result of factors which made the situation appear worse than it actually was? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The given text is a review of two books. The first book, "China, Faits Accomplis and the Contest for East Asia: The Shadow of Shifting Power" by Joshua Adam Hastey, examines the relationship between state power shifts and China's use of territorial revisions in the South China and East China Seas. The book provides an analysis of faits accomplis in international relations conflict and offers insights into rising and declining state interactions. The second book, "When the Shooting Stopped: August 1945" by Barrett Tillman, explores the events of August 1945 in the Pacific theater of operations after the conclusion of World War II in Europe. The book discusses the tenuous ceasefire, the postwar era, and the gradual cessation of combat operations after Japan's surrender. [Extracted from the article]

"The Many Currents of Antebellum Maritime Empire" by Michael A. Verney is a comprehensive examination of antebellum naval exploration and its role in the expansion of the U.S. maritime empire. Verney explores the influential group of "explorationists," who were primarily white, middle- and upper-class individuals with various political, commercial, scientific, and cultural interests that aligned in support of naval exploration. The book covers the U.S. Navy's voyages of exploration from the 1830s to the 1850s, highlighting their political, diplomatic, economic, and cultural significance. Verney's research is based on a diverse array of primary sources, shedding new light on overlooked expeditions. Overall, this book contributes to the growing body of scholarship on maritime and naval history in early U.S. history. [Extracted from the article]

"The Sea in Russian Strategy" is a book that explores the importance of the maritime sphere in Russian government policy and strategy. Despite being a landlocked state with limited year-round ocean access, Russia recognizes the challenges and opportunities presented by the world's oceans and seas. The book covers various aspects of Russian maritime power, including naval warfare, economic interests, and future fleet development. It also highlights the shift from a defensive to a more offensive naval strategy. Overall, the book provides valuable insights into the history and future of Russian naval and maritime strategy. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Cuadernos Dieciochistas is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Mediterranea - Ricerche Storiche is the property of Mediterranea-Ricerche Storiche and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Georg Stammer is certainly not one of those people who are immediately associated with the German military intelligence service. But his private address in Berlin's Courbierestraße became notorious, which soon also presented the English intelligence service with some puzzles and was also used by German agents (including Carl Hans Lody) as a cover address. After the end of World War I, Stammer was immediately involved in the reconstruction of intelligence structures and soonjoined the camouflaged naval intelligence service. Here he was mainly active for the development of counterespionage. From 1926 Stammer built up the industrial espionage of the Navy. After a few years in retirement, Stammer died in 1936 in Berlin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In less than three decades, the People's Liberation Army Navy developed from a minor coastal-defence force into the largest naval force in the world. China's rapid rise in seapower has gained significant attention from established naval circles, academia, and the public. In their efforts to explain this development, analysts have often referred to 19th-century naval history, seeking to connect China's maritime developments to the ideas of influential naval strategists like Alfred Thayer Mahan and Julian Corbett. However, in doing so, these naval thinkers are often used to make a case about long-term developments or strategic implications regarding China's alleged grand strategy. This paper seeks to turn this methodology around by solely focusing on the reflection of those naval theories—in their own right—against China's maritime strategy. In doing so, it aims to historicise China's 21st-century maritime strategy by testing to what extent it is reflected by the ideas of the navalists that are often presumed to influence Chinese strategic circles. It is argued that while on a grand-strategic level, Chinese strategic thinking seems to reflect the essence of Mahan's seapower argument regarding its focus on the interconnectedness of maritime commerce and national power, a closer analysis reveals significant discrepancies in terms of both implementation and the broader strategic mindset regarding China's geostrategic situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]