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Naval Race Timeline

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1889-1912
1889 Britain adopts the Two-Power Standard: Britain's navy to be as large as the next two powers' combined.
1897 Admiral Tirpitz appointed German Secretary for the Navy.
1898 German Naval Law - Germany to maintain a fleet of 19 battleships.
1900 Second German Naval Law - German fleet size set at 38 battleships.
1902 Anglo-Japanese alliance, by which Japan agrees to protect British interests in the Far East, allows Britain to concentrate her naval forces in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and home waters (and also ends the British policy of "Splendid Isolation"). British and Japanese officers, c. 1905-1908
1904 Sir John Fisher appointed First Sea Lord (most senior Admiral of the Royal Navy) and embarks on an ambitious programme of modernisation. Anglo-French entente signed. Russo-Japanese war breaks out. John Fisher
1905 Morocco crisis: Kaiser Wilhelm's intervention in Morocco challenges France and tests the strength of the Anglo-French entente. Japanese sink Russian fleet at Battle of Tsushima, demonstrating the advantage of heavy, long-range guns.
1906 1906 HMS Dreadnought launched. Algeciras Conference held to resolve the first Moroccan Crisis of 1905, where Germany's demands for a say in the affairs of Morocco are rejected in favour of those of France and Spain, leaving Germany and Austria-Hungary isolated. HMS Dreadnought under construction, 1906
1907 Anglo-Russian entente marks an agreement between the two countries about their respective spheres of influence in Central Asia. (This was not a military alliance and had no direct bearing on relations with Germany in Europe).
1908 German dreadnought Nassau launched. Wilhelm II's Daily Telegraph interview creates outrage in Britain by appearing to justify a German challenge to British naval supremacy. Churchill accompanying Kaiser Wilhelm II on manoeuvres in Germany, October 1913. Reference: Churchill Press Photographs, CHPH 1B/32.
1909 Naval scare in Britain at its height. The Navy League campaigns for eight dreadnoughts; Government promises six, with a further six to come later.
1911 Agadir crisis: renewed German intervention in Morocco raises serious risk of war. Churchill appointed First Lord of the Admiralty (Cabinet Minister in charge of the Admiralty and with responsibility for the Royal Navy). Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty. Reproduced with the permission of the Master and Fellows of Churchill College
1912 Britain withdraws battleships from Mediterranean to the North Sea. Anglo-German talks to slow down naval expansion break down. Churchill announces a major increase in naval building and recruitment.