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British Identity and the Royal Navy British Identity and the Royal Navy Tension between a Fear of Losing Naval Supremacy and Pride in the Royal Navy Ida Marie Kristensen Master Thesis Lektorprogrammet 30 credits Department of Education Faculty of Educational Sciences UNIVERSITY OF OSLO June 2017 II British Identity and the Royal Navy Tension between a Fear of Losing Naval Supremacy and Pride in the Royal Navy Photograph of the Union Jack. III © Ida Marie Kristensen 2017 British Identity and the Royal Navy Ida Marie Kristensen http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo IV Abstract This thesis has studied the role of the Royal Navy played in creating and maintaining a common British national identity from 1884 to 1914. During this time period the Anglo-German naval arms race unfolded. Great Britain experienced a shift in threat from abroad, as France had been the major threat for centuries preceding this period, suddenly Germany emerged and began to challenge something uniquely British, namely the naval supremacy of the Royal navy. Furthermore, the start of the time period was marked by the naval scare of 1884 and ended with the Great War in 1914. The thesis argues that there was a tension between a fear of losing naval supremacy and a pride in the Royal Navy which resulted in increased public interest in naval affairs as the naval position was being challenged for the first time since the Napoleonic Wars. Therefore, a feeling of pride in the Royal Navy and its historical achievements had been allowed to grow. A common British national identity was necessary for uniting the different groups living within the British Isles. Both older ‘national’ and regional identities existed within Great Britain at the time. A truly ‘British’ institution could therefore be used to unite these groups. The Royal Navy can be seen as such an institution. The navy was also seen as the clearest symbol of the British ‘island race’ which had come to define the British people. The Navy League was founded as a response to the increasing challenge from Germany, and attempted to raise support for the Royal Navy at a time when the navy would prove particularly important for the British public. Public interest in the Royal Navy was used by The Navy League and the Admiralty, by including the navy in public celebrations. The British public were involved in naval affairs, especially during the Dreadnought Crisis of 1909 were the British public influenced the outcome through the use of a slogan; “We want eight and we won’t wait”. V VI Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the help and support of the following, who have contributed to this thesis in numerous ways. First, I would like to express my great appreciation to Dr Atle L. Wold, my supervisor, for encouragement and belief in the project, as well as useful critique and feedback throughout the process. He was also of great help in recommending the use of newspaper articles as primary sources. Secondly, I would like to offer a special thanks to Dr Marianne Czisnik for considerable help in recommending sources for the background study and thus offering appoint of departure for this thesis. A very special thanks to my boyfriend Ole Harald Moe for his support and encouragement throughout this process, not to mention his help in proofreading the thesis and giving constructive feedback. I also wish to acknowledge the help from my friend Annelise Berentsen Kullmann, for help in proofreading this thesis. Finally, I wish to thank my family for their support and encouragement throughout my study. Ida Marie Kristensen Oslo, May 2017. VII VIII Table of Contents British Identity and the Royal Navy ........................................................................... III Abstract ................................................................................................................................. V Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ VII 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Motivation and Previous Work .................................................................................1 1.2 Method .....................................................................................................................3 1.3 Organisation of Thesis ..............................................................................................3 2 Historical Pride in the Royal Navy ..................................................................................5 2.1 Context of threat to British naval position .................................................................5 2.2 The Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Horatio Nelson .................................................... 10 3 Tension ......................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Pride in the Royal Navy.......................................................................................... 16 The ‘Island Race’ .......................................................................................................... 16 ‘Blue Water Strategy’ ................................................................................................... 17 3.2 A Fear of Losing Naval Supremacy ........................................................................ 19 How did the press and public view the Royal Navy in the time period? ......................... 19 Newspapers influence on the Dreadnought Crisis of 1909 ............................................. 22 3.3 Public Support of the Royal Navy .......................................................................... 24 4 Royal Navy and Identity ............................................................................................... 27 4.1 The Royal Navy as a Symbol of ‘Britishness’ ......................................................... 29 The naval theatre and public celebrations ...................................................................... 30 Losing naval supremacy and British identity ................................................................. 31 Ownership of the Royal Navy ....................................................................................... 32 4.2 Britain as an ‘Island Race’ ...................................................................................... 35 5 Influencing Public Interest ............................................................................................ 38 Timing .......................................................................................................................... 39 The Naval Theatre ........................................................................................................ 40 ‘Cohesive society’ ........................................................................................................ 42 6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 44 Bibliography......................................................................................................................... 47 IX List of figures Figure 1: «Articles dealing with British naval issues 1870-1890 in four major periodicals» ....6 Figure 2: Number of hits for the search word «Royal Navy» in the British Newspaper Archives accessed on May 22, 2017. .................................................................................... 15 X 1 Introduction This thesis has studied the presence of a common British national identity where the Royal Navy was a crucial element in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, more specifically from 1884 to 1914. By 1884, Great Britain was a great naval power with the world’s strongest navy and had been for centuries. This was especially true of the period from the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The period studied in this thesis marks the end of the British naval supremacy. During Pax Britannica, which was a period of relative peace in Europe after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Great Britain enjoyed a position as unchallenged naval power. The period from 1884 to 1914 was also characterised by rapid technological development and social changes, which threatened the position of the Royal Navy. 1.1 Motivation and Previous Work The motivation for studying the Royal Navy and Great Britain in between 1884 and 1914 was an increase in public interest related to the Royal Navy in the period from 1884 to 1914. This was related to an increased threat towards the British naval position. Several nations, such as Germany, the United States, France, and Russia, were building stronger navies. Therefore, the British had to readjust in order to meet this naval threat. This thesis will argue that Great Britain and the British Empire was proud of its highly distinguished Royal Navy and dependent on being a strong naval power. There was an increased public interest in the Royal Navy during the period. Therefore, the Royal Navy stands out as a relevant object of study in relation to identity building in Great Britain in the period. The thesis question that will be answered is as follows: Did the Royal Navy contribute to creating and maintaining a common British national identity between 1884 and 1914? Identity as a concept requires research, especially when studying Great Britain, as there is so much diversity within the British Isles. Identity is defined
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