The Jeune École tried to devise a naval strategy for the world war that late nineteenth-century planners expected. France could not match a maritime rival's battle fleet while also funding an army for vulnerable land frontiers. Its proposed answer combined attacks on the enemy fleet with commerce warfare and powerful armoured cruisers able to operate worldwide. Those cruisers would show the flag and exercise sea control after the principal battle fleet had been neutralized. A skeptical aside exposes the flaw: a richer opponent could copy the cruisers while continuing to build battleships.
Notable Point · 41:04-42:40
Jeune École as a theory for fighting a world war
French naval theorists tried to reconcile army-first budgets with worldwide naval war through attacks on battle fleets, commerce, and imperial communications.