Wielding the Dagger: The MarineKorps Flandern and the German War Effort, 1914-1918

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In August 1914, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz convinced the German armed forces to create a new unit, called the MarineDivision Flandern, to garrison the Belgian coastline and prepare naval bases in for the implementation of a naval guerrilla war against Great Britain. The Germans called their strategy Kleinkrieg, or little war, and they intended to whittle away at British naval superiority by using their submarines and destroyers. Later expanded into the MarineKorps, the unit soon found itself in the middle of a land war as well. What had been intended as a garrison unit found itself on the frontlines when the war stalemated. The British had traditionally seen Belgium as a "dagger pointed at the throat of England", and the Royal Navy feared what use the Germans might make of the position. The result was an active naval campaign in the English Channel. Karau brings to light the contributions of the MarineKorps Flandern, a force often neglected by historians. He examines the role of the MarineKorps in both land and naval wars and reaffirms the increasingly important role played by aircraft in the Flanders theatre. If Belgium was a weapon pointed at the British throat, were the Germans properly equipped to wield the dagger

Reviews

"Little is remembered today about the 30 some-odd-thousand German naval ratings who served on destroyers and submarines, in coastal defence batteries, as airmen and infantry in Flanders from 1914 to 1918....The author presents its story as a case study in flowing narrative based largely on original German documents."-Stand To!
[T]his is a convincing case study, based on extensive use of documents from the German archives, which deals with a small though by no means unimportant aspect of the German naval war against Britain.-War in History
Karau presents an excellent picture of this military organisation fighting to maintainitself within the overall German war effort on the Western Front and to carry out a complex mission in dangerous waters. Whether a more vigorous surface war, fought by destroyers and torpedoboats, would have made a critical difference either in the Channel or in bringing on a clash of the battlefleets is open to question, but this exploration of the challenges that faced Von Schroder is a fascinating aspect of the war in the West that complements the better-known struggle of the Royal Navy in these waters.-International Journal of Maritime History
Little is remembered today about the 30 some-odd-thousand German naval ratings who served on destroyers and submarines, in coastal defence batteries, as airmen and infantry in Flanders from 1914 to 1918....The author presents its story as a case study in flowing narrative based largely on original German documents.-Stand To!
Mark D. Karau's informative monograph on the MarineKorps Flandern examines the creation, organization, and operations of the imperial German navy's land, sea, and air units based along the Flanders coast in Belgium during World War I and their impact on German naval strategy and on the outcome of the war. This study als sheds light on the significance of Belgium in German plans and on the wartime relationship between the German navy and army....Karau's well-researched study is based on a plethora of relevant primary and secondary sources.-The American Historical Review
Mark Karau's excellent monograph on the Naval Corps in Flanders provides an account of the German Navy's activities in that area in the First World War...."Wielding the Dagger" goes a long way to alleviate the relative obscurity of this theater of the war, which the Germans failed to develop as they might have. The book will appeal to a wide audience.-The Journal of Military History
"This is a convincing case study, based on extensive use of documents from the German archives, which deals with a small though by no means unimportant aspect of the German naval war against Britain."-War in History
"[T]his is a convincing case study, based on extensive use of documents from the German archives, which deals with a small though by no means unimportant aspect of the German naval war against Britain."-War in History
"Mark D. Karau's informative monograph on the MarineKorps Flandern examines the creation, organization, and operations of the imperial German navy's land, sea, and air units based along the Flanders coast in Belgium during World War I and their impact on German naval strategy and on the outcome of the war. This study als sheds light on the significance of Belgium in German plans and on the wartime relationship between the German navy and army....Karau's well-researched study is based on a plethora of relevant primary and secondary sources."-The American Historical Review
"Mark Karau's excellent monograph on the Naval Corps in Flanders provides an account of the German Navy's activities in that area in the First World War...."Wielding the Dagger" goes a long way to alleviate the relative obscurity of this theater of the war, which the Germans failed to develop as they might have. The book will appeal to a wide audience."-The Journal of Military History
"Karau presents an excellent picture of this military organisation fighting to maintainitself within the overall German war effort on the Western Front and to carry out a complex mission in dangerous waters. Whether a more vigorous surface war, fought by destroyers and torpedoboats, would have made a critical difference either in the Channel or in bringing on a clash of the battlefleets is open to question, but this exploration of the challenges that faced Von Schroder is a fascinating aspect of the war in the West that complements the better-known struggle of the Royal Navy in these waters."-International Journal of Maritime History

Author Bio

MARK D. KARAU is an instructor of history at University of Wisconsin Colleges. His published articles include pieces in Relevance: The Journal of the Great War Society and The Journal of Military History.