Germany faced France, Russia, and Austria-Hungary on land, so its army remained the first call on national security resources. Britain, by contrast, combined commercial finance, imperial resources, and maritime exposure into a much larger naval foundation. Insurance, trade, capital, and imperial connections all made British sea power harder to match than a comparison of industrial output alone would suggest. German industrial growth therefore did not give Berlin the freedom to fund a Royal Navy-sized fleet.
Chapter · 0:41-3:23
Germany's land-power problem and Britain's maritime strength
The opening sets German naval ambition against a strategic position dominated by land frontiers and Britain's commercial empire.