The Sea and the Second World War

Abstract

From the first moments of the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 through to the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945, the sea shaped the course and conduct of the war. The impact could be felt far beyond the shoreline as the arms and armies carried across the oceans were ultimately destined to wage war ashore. Populations and industries depended on the raw materials and supplies in a war that increasingly became a contest of national will and economic might. It was ultimately the war at sea, and from the sea, that linked numerous regional conflicts and theaters of operation and wove them into a global war. Although individual campaigns, innovations, and personalities have received ample attention over the decades, the role of the sea as a whole has increasingly been marginalized in the wartime historiography. As the war grew in complexity and covered an increasingly larger geographical area, the organization of the maritime effort and the impact it had on the formulation of national strategy also evolved. This volume seeks to illustrate the impact the sea had on the Second World War by highlighting selected topics previously neglected in the scholarship. In doing so, it provides new insights into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime dimension of the war.