Now, as proved in another place, we can only stake our forces safely on a world policy if our political and military superiority on the continent of Europe be immovably established.  This goal is not yet reached, and must be our first objective.  Nevertheless, we must now take steps to develop by sea also a power which is sufficient for our pretensions.  It is, on the one hand, indispensably necessary for the full security of our Continental position that we guard our coasts and repel oversea attacks.  On the other hand, it is an absolute economic necessity for us to protect the freedom of the seas—­by arms if needs be—­since our people depend for livelihood on the export industry, and this, again, requires a large import trade.  The political greatness of Germany rests not least on her flourishing economic life and her oversea trade.  The maintenance of the freedom of the seas must therefore be always before our eyes as the object of all our naval constructions.  Our efforts must not be merely directed towards the necessary repulse of hostile attacks; we must be conscious of the higher ideal, that we wish to follow an effective world policy, and that our naval power is destined ultimately to support this world policy.

Unfortunately, we did not adopt this view at the start, when we first ventured on the open sea.  Much valuable time was wasted in striving for limited and insufficient objects.  The Emperor William II. was destined to be the first to grasp this question in its bearing on the world’s history, and to treat it accordingly.  All our earlier naval activity must be set down as fruitless.

We have been busied for years in building a fleet.  Most varied considerations guided our policy.  A clear, definite programme was first drawn up by the great Naval Act of 1900, the supplementary laws of 1906, and the regulations as to the life of the ships in 1908.  It is, of course, improbable that the last word has been said on the subject.  The needs of the future will decide, since there can be no certain standard for the naval forces which a State may require:  that depends on the claims which are put forward, and on the armaments of the other nations.  At first the only object was to show our flag on the sea and on the coasts on which we traded.  The first duty of the fleet was to safeguard this commerce.  Opposition to the great outlay thus necessitated was soon shown by a party which considered a fleet not merely superfluous for Germany, but actually dangerous, and objected to the plans of the Government, which they stigmatized as boundless.  Another party was content with a simple scheme of coast-protection only, and thought this object attained if some important points on the coast were defended by artillery and cheap flotillas of gunboats were stationed at various places.