Navy essay plans:

How far can the acquisitions of strategic bases in 1815 be regarded as the most significant development in the growth of britain maritime power?

1815 bases: these were called the “Crown Colonies”

Malta- britians key Mediterranean base- allowed Mediterranean trade to be policed more closely and put a stop

Cape Town- this was important as it could be used as a coaling station + to harass/attack ships on way to india - close patrol of route to britain’s “jewel in the crown”- less important after 1869 suez built as 80% of ships that went trhough it were british

Ceylon-Protected sea routes ot bengal/pacific- areas of key importance to british/EIC activities, doubled in activitiy after Suezs’ canal

These bases allowed britian to keep a careful eye upon passing ships+ they helped them police piraracy as they became a increasingly Pax Britanicca force+ - sentance form: The 1815 settlements gave Britain a globally distributed network of strategic chokepoints that made its naval dominance permanent and self-sustaining-no single base mattered as much as the network

Not most significant- defeat of other colonial rivals helped britain establish control= maritime power

They already had powerful ships - HMS victory=”floating gun platform”,first rate ship of the line-utilised to great effect during battle of trafalgar combined with nelsons Crossing the T tactic- this victory proved decisive as it paralysed other powers abilities to have any maritime power-makign britian the most powerful

Link-this is more significant because the 1815 bases can be seen as byproducts founded after 1805

Also the financial/legal power britain had- Navigation acts forced colonies to comply with british trade- enabled a system of mercantalism-Bullionism,

Willingness to use force to expand british commerce was a key factor in british commercial success:

Gunboat diplomacy-”Let us give them a good thrashing and explain ourselfs afterwards”,HMS Nemasis used to terrifying effect in China-forced China to sign a series of unequal treaties that not only ensured that the chinise opium trade remained open- but also gave Britain the port of Shanghai as well as access into the Yangtze river-inland china

Force utilised by britian to neuralise slave trade- this was not a commercial success reason however-WAS black joke (11 in one year)

Force also utilised to neutralise piracy- pirates represented a genuine threat to commercial success as they did not comply with trade,which made britian money- as well as the fact that they attacked british ships Like Robert Surcouf and Ching Shih who attacked an EIC officer

The attack on the algiers 1816 was the most significant example of the royal navy defending british interests in the years 1763-1878. How far do you agree?

Algeirs attack:

Barbary states- areas in africa that had little access to trade routes/areas due to poor natural resources BUT they had skilled sailors-lead to them practicing piracy

They captured European and American merchant ships and enslaved their crews, demanding tribute payments from European powers to leave their shipping alone- this was accepted as it was cheaper to do this than fight them

However Britian didnt think so- they alongside the dutch sent in a group of ships

unilateral demonstration of British naval dominance in the post-Napoleonic order- pax britannica

humanitarian framing which gave it political legitimacy at home- the freeing of european slaves

Opium wars- Gunboat diplomacy, the HMS nemesis was utilised, highly OTT attitide “let us give them a good thrashing and explain ourselves afterwards- could sail shallow water- devils ship, this attack forced Chinese to sign a series of unequal treaties like the 1842 nanking treaty- opened up the Yangtze river as well as the ceded hong kong to the british- which was profitable because 5% tax rate

Piracy: attempts to suppress piracy through stuff like singapore 1819 Raffles was explicetley looking for a port to stop piracy- gave them access to straight of malacca which was a sight of mass piracy

Pirates like Ching Shih and Robert Surcouf were a genuine threat to british interests- Surcouf attacked briish ships often+ Ching Shih captured a EIC officer

Or i could do a 1805 Trafalgar battle one/naval battle- arguably the most important naval battles ever-

French/Spanish naval power and secured British maritime supremacy for the entire 19th century

This in turn allowed britian to then have the unmathced naval power (plus the new revolutionary tactic of crossing the T or breaking the line) to then protect their commerce in the way that they do-

Algeirs was arguably only possible because they had to dominance to do so

1782 battle of the saintes was also a clear demonstration of british ability to defend comerece- rodney and his copper bottomed ships (which proved their ability to innovate was also key) presented a clear winner to the battle and allowed them to retain key trade areas like Jamica and the caribbean (its a reference chill)

To what extent do you agree that the aquisisiton of the falklands and aden in the 1830s made the most significant contribution to the development of key strategic bases around the world in the years 1763-1914?

Falklands (1833) and Aden (1839):

How they represented developments- falklands was in response to american and french expansion in the americas (particularly south america)

Aden presented a increasingly concerned approach towards piracy and commerce protection- it was acquired for purely strategic reasons not commercial

Aden had its benefts before and after suez- provided access to the red sea initialy + was a useful coaling station on the route round africa- but then had an increased importance after Suez canal in 1869,Suez route to India now passed through or near Aden — it went from being a stop on one route to being a chokepoint on the main route 1880 80% of ships that went through suez were british

1815 crown colonies-

Malta- britians key Mediterranean base- allowed Mediterranean trade to be policed more closely and put a stop

Cape Town- this was important as it could be used as a coaling station + to harass/attack ships on way to india - close patrol of route to britain’s “jewel in the crown”- less important after 1869 suez built as 80% of ships that went trhough it were british

Ceylon-Protected sea routes ot bengal/pacific- areas of key importance to british/EIC activities, doubled in activitiy after Suezs’ canal

These bases allowed britian to keep a careful eye upon passing ships+ they helped them police piraracy as they became a increasingly Pax Britanicca force+ - sentance form: The 1815 settlements gave Britain a globally distributed network of strategic chokepoints that made its naval dominance permanent and self-sustaining-no single base mattered as much as the network\

Gibraltars importance-

1783 acquired, provided an invaluable access point into mediterranean as the entrance was only 8.9 miles

basically remained of high importance for all future conflicts- Crimean war,WW1 as it was torpedo proof due to being a rock basically

by 1880 50% of all trade that was british went through gibraltar