World War I is often associated with trench Warfare and battles on the land, with very little thought given to the importance of naval warfare. Beginning with the Anglo-German Naval Race (1898-1912), Germany began building up their High Seas Fleet to challenge the Grand Fleet (“Anglo-German Naval Race”). Britain had been the World’s only international naval superpower for well over 100 years until Germany decided to challenge their dominance. Shortly after the start of World War I, the Anglo-French Naval Convention (1914) was signed, which greatly shaped Allied naval strategy. In 1914, Britain put a distant blockade on Germany, which allowed them to control exits from the North Sea and damaged both Germany’s economy and War effort (Roskill 4: 533). Germany attempted to break Britain’s blockade, which resulted in the Battle of Jutland, in 1916. The role that other nations’ navies played was also extremely influential on the outcome of World War I. The role of naval Warfare during World War I, especially the Allied blockade of Germany, proved to be crucial in defeating the Central Powers, which consisted of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.
The naval race between Great Britain and Germany from 1898 to 1914 caused great friction among the two nations and was one of the causes for World War I. In 1898 Germany slowly began to create a naval fleet that was able to challenge the British Naval Fleet in the North Sea and the English Channel (“Anglo-German