Abstract
Abstract In early 1914 Britain’s naval leadership decided to call a conference of flag officers at which the most pressing issues then facing the Royal Navy could be aired and discussed. The conference was scheduled for the end of July 1914. Owing to the European crisis that erupted at just the very moment when it was supposed to take place, the conference was never held. However, the bulk of the paperwork still exists. This documentation provides a unique snapshot of the thinking of Britain’s key naval commanders on strategic, tactical and materiel considerations at the very moment when they were about to embark upon the most serious of examinations, the test of a major war. This article uses these files to evaluate the extent to which the Royal Navy was aware of the challenges that were about to confront it and the strengths and weaknesses that would aid or hinder them in this task. It thereby assesses the service’s readiness for total war, concluding that it was far from the conservative body of popular caricature.
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