He was translated and extensively read in Japan, and the IJN used Influence as a textbook. His work influenced the doctrines of every major navy in the interwar period. Mahan's influence sowed the seeds for events such as the naval portion of the Spanish-American War and the battles of Tsushima, Jutland and the Atlantic. His books were received with great acclaim, and closely studied in Britain and Germany, influencing their buildup of forces in the years prior to World War I. Alfred thayer mahan upgrade#Mahan's work encouraged a technological upgrade by convincing those opposed that naval knowledge and tactics remained as necessary as ever, but that domination of the seas dictated that the speed and predictability of steam-powered engines could not be sacrificed. After the Civil War, the United States Navy ideologically opposed the transformation of its sailing vessels to those of the technologically advanced steam-powered engines. To a modern reader this may seem obvious and repeatedly demonstrated, but the notion was much more radical in Mahan's time, especially in a nation entirely obsessed with landward expansion to the west. The books' premise was that in the contests between France and England in the 18th century, domination of the sea via naval power was the deciding factor in the outcome, and therefore, that control of seaborne commerce was critical to domination in war. During this period Mahan organized his lectures into his most influential books, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, and The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812, published 18, respectively. Whilst there in 1887 he met and befriended a young visiting lecturer named Theodore Roosevelt. He was appointed president of the new United States Naval War College from 22 June, 1886 to Januand again from Jto. In 1865 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and then to Commander (1872), and Captain (1885).ĭespite his success in the Navy, his skills in actual command of a ship were not exemplary and a number of vessels under his command were involved in collisions, with both moving and stationary objects. Born at West Point, New York to Dennis Hart Mahan (a professor at the United States Military Academy) and Mary Helena Mahan, he attended Columbia for two years where he was a member of the Philolexian Society debating club and then, against his parents' wishes, transferred to the Naval Academy, where he graduated second in his class in 1859.Ĭommissioned as a Lieutenant in 1861, Mahan served the Union in the American Civil War as an officer on Congress, Pocahontas, and James Adger, and as an instructor at the Naval Academy.
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