Blockade is presented as a state instrument for controlling sea lanes and restricting an opponent's commerce, a much broader undertaking than dramatic action around a single port. Steve Dunn's account of the Royal Navy in the First World War describes the unglamorous and often dangerous patrols behind that strategy. British warships had to protect the imports feeding Britain's economy while denying Germany access to comparable trade. That pressure reached beyond factories and military supply into food availability, civilian morale, and confidence in the German state. Its cumulative economic effects could help decide a conflict without a climactic fleet action.
Chapter · 3:54-5:38
Blockade as economic warfare
A definition of blockade leads into the Royal Navy's First World War effort to preserve British trade while denying Germany the imports that sustained its industry and food supply.