You will remember how hard the Germans had worked, building warships, with the hope that one day their navy might be the strongest in the world.  At the outbreak of the great war in 1914 they were still far behind England in naval power.  On the other hand, it was necessary for the English to keep their navy scattered all over the world.  English battleships were guarding trade routes to Australia, to China, to the islands of the Pacific.  The Suez Canal, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Island of Malta—­all were in English hands, and ships and guns were needed to defend them.

The German navy, on the other hand, with the exception of a few cruisers in the Pacific Ocean and two warships in the Mediterranean, was gathered in the Baltic Sea, the southeastern part of the North Sea, and the great Kiel Canal which connected these two bodies of water.  It was quite possible that this fleet, by making a quick dash for the ports of England, might find there only a portion of the English ships and be able to overwhelm them before the rest of the English navy should assemble from the far parts of the earth.

Winston Churchill, whose name you have read before, had the foresight to assemble enough English vessels in home waters in the latter part of the month of July, 1914, to give England the upper hand over the fleet of Germany.  As a result, finding the British too strong, the Germans did not venture out into the high seas to give battle.  A few skirmishes were fought between cruisers, then some speedy German warships made a dash across the North Sea to the coast of England, shelled some small towns, killed several men, women, and children and returned, getting back to the Kiel Canal before the English vessels arrived in any number.

A second raid was attempted a few weeks later but by this time the British were on the watch.  Two of the best German cruisers were sunk and the others barely escaped the fire of the avengers.

About the first of June, 1916, a goodly portion of the German fleet sailed out, hoping to catch the British unawares.  They were successful in sinking several large ships, but when the main British fleet arrived they began in turn to suffer great losses, and were obliged to retire.  With the exception of these two fights and two other battles fought off the coast of South America (in the first of which a small English fleet was destroyed by the Germans, and in the second a larger British fleet took revenge), there have been no battles between the sea forces.

The big navy of England ruled the ocean.  German merchant vessels were either captured or forced to remain in ports of neutral nations.  German commerce was swept from the seas, while ships carrying supplies to France and the British Isles sailed unmolested—­for a time.  Only in the Baltic Sea was Germany mistress.  Commerce from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark was kept up as usual.  Across the borders of Holland and Switzerland came great streams of imports.  Merchants in these little countries bought, in the markets of the world, apparently for themselves, but really for Germany.