Seapower to Superpower (DVD)

"Whosoever commands the sea commands trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself." - Sir Walter Raleigh England's Royal Navy preserved its empire and gave it military dominance of the world for more than 350 years. In the 20th century that dominance would pass from Britain to America and eventually, from sea to space. The English language owes its success as the world language to this fundamental military reality -- whoever controls the great commons of the sea and space dominates the world. This DVD collection explores the relationship between military power, technology, commercial realities, and the will of a nation and a people to excel. Historian Mark Milner and Yale University professor Paul Kennedy are our guides in this remarkable five-hour documentary series. Episode #1: Britain Arises This hour covers the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the wars between the Dutch and the English for control of world trade ultimately resolved by an alliance that placed Prince William of Orange on the throne of England along with his English wife, Mary. The alliance guaranteed the Dutch merchant marine access to the world's oceans but left the Royal Navy supreme. Episode #2: The 18th Century This episode is concerned primarily with the battles between France, the greatest land power, and Britain, the greatest seapower, for world dominance. Program two includes the Battle for Quebec and the American Revolution and traces the decisive role played by naval power in both conflicts. Episode #3: Pax Britannica -- The British Peace Here we explore Britain's function, in all but name, as a Superpower. Between 1815 and 1865, Britain adds territory around the world equal to one hundred Englands. By the end of the 19th century, technological innovation increases dramatically. Britain responds with a victory at Jutland in World War One but is exhausted financially after the struggle. Germany is defeated but America and Japan emerge from the conflict stronger than they entered it. Episode #4: Changing the Guard This episode marks the transfer of power midway through WWII from the Royal Navy to the US Navy and the growth of two unique 20th century weapons of war, the submarine and the aircraft carrier. But before that happens, the Japanese make a serious challenge to Britain and America's domination of the great commons of the sea. Episode #5: Space, the Great Commons Naval strategists had concluded, with the arrival of cheap land transportation, that the advantage of seapower would be transferred to a land-based empire. By 1946, that challenger, the USSR, had arrived, and with it, atomic power, missiles and satellites. Space, the Great Commons explores the war over space between the United States and the Soviet Union and America's final triumph while exposing its hidden vulnerabilities as we enter the 21st Century.

• history