The Kudzu Files

Castles Of Steel

Finished reading "Castles Of Steel" yesterday, Robert Massie's lengthy history of the World War I naval war between Great Britain and Germany. It's a very interesting read - he delves into the differences between the strategies and tactics of each side, and how that affected everything from ship design to political fortunes. He also went into great depth about the central characters involved - the admirals and political leaders of both nations, and how those affected the war. In nearly 800 pages, you would expect that from a decent history. But one thing I'm left with, yet another of those butterfly moments where a small change in an event could have had trmendous impact on the world that followed, was a small note about the Battle of Jutland. Had Jelicoe turned southeast, instead of southwest, at one crucial point in the battle, he would likely have essentially destroyed the German High Seas Fleet. Had that happened, during the remainder of 1916, and beyond, the British would have been able to control the Baltic Sea. Had they controlled the Baltic Sea, they could have provided much more military and economic support to Russia, and quite possibly avoided the events that led to the Russian Revolution. Thus, the East-West confrontation that dominated much of the 20th century might never have happened. All on the turn of a rudder.