Unrestricted submarine warfare emerged as a strategic choice made from weakness. Holtzendorff was an experienced officer with little attachment to submarine technology, yet he regarded the campaign as the least bad option once Germany needed a way to force a decision against Britain. It aimed to besiege an island economy by attacking seaborne trade, despite the human, diplomatic, and military costs. The Royal Navy's experience of that threat later made anti-submarine capability a defining priority for escorts and carriers.
Chapter · 0:01-6:10
Holtzendorff and a strategy of siege
The introduction presents Henning von Holtzendorff as the reluctant architect of a submarine campaign meant to besiege Britain when Germany had few other routes to victory.