The Guns Of August

In the North Atlantic, the British fleet takes no chances with her naval superiority. Her ships patrol far from contested waters, dock far to the north of her patrol areas, and generally fret over the German fleet. Germany, for her part, adopts a strategy of defense. Her role, the Kaiser concludes, is to act as a potential constant danger, forcing the enemy to remain on guard. Germany thinks England might potentially enter into a separate peace agreement with her, and so the German fleet is kept as a caution. Russia is seen as a bigger threat, able to disrupt German supply lines in the Baltic.

While England attempts to blockade Germany from afar, an argument over trade routes begins with the United States. None of the countries can see the long war of the future, nor how German U-boats will eventually attack goods headed for England. Though United States president Woodrow Wilson wants to remain neutral, British control of the seas directs more and more US trade toward the Allies. The British engage and soundly defeat the Germans once, which causes them to stay in their ports. Germany will later take to attacking the shipping lanes in U-boats, which will eventually cause the United States to enter the war on the side of the Allies.