Mackinder Forum Archive

Mackinder Forum Virtual Seminar #37: Dr. Louis Halewood, "'Peace Throughout the Oceans and Seas of the World’: British Maritime Strategic Thought and World Order, 1892-1919"

Written by admin | Aug 10, 2021 4:00:00 AM

On August 8, 2021 at 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, US), Dr. Louis Halewood presented a talk on "'Peace Throughout the Oceans and Seas of the World’: British Maritime Strategic Thought and World Order, 1892-1919."

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT: Louis Halewood is the Philip Nicholas Lecturer in Maritime History at the University of Plymouth. He completed his DPhil in History at Merton College, Oxford in 2019, and has also held a Smith Richardson Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship at International Security Studies, Yale University. He won the 2020 Sir Julian Corbett Prize in Modern Naval History with the essay on which the attached article is based.

ABSTRACT: Prior to 1914, British strategic thinkers considered the question of how to maintain British world power in the twentieth century. They developed visions of co-operation at sea between not only Britain and the Dominions, but also other states in the international system. During the First World War, these ideas merged with plans for the League of Nations, which British policymakers envisaged as a tool for enforcing peace through the use of sea power. This article explores these ideas, providing a different interpretation of the origins of the League, and the maritime strategic thought of key individuals including Halford Mackinder.

READING: Louis Halewood, ""'Peace Throughout the Oceans and Seas of the World’: British Maritime Strategic Thought and World Order, 1892-1919," accepted for publication in Historical Research published by Oxford University Press (acceptance date: 1st March 2021).