Seapower and Western World

Part 1“Maritime” Defined; Seaborne Trade;

Characteristics and Advantages of Naval Power;Early Examples: Minoan Crete & Phoenicia

What Does It Mean to be Maritime?

• Maritime: Something of or having to do with the sea

• Characteristics of a maritime civilization– Island nations or ones with extensive coastlines– Dependant on seaborne trade– Sea-related industries/occupations, such as

commercial fishing, shipbuilding, naval stores (materials to outfit, sustain and repair ships), merchant shipping

Maritime Nation, Maritime World

• Over half of the American population lives within 50 miles of the coast– In the United States, coastal counties constitute

only 17 percent of the total land area (not including Alaska), but account for 53 percent of the total population.

• 38% of world’s population within 100 km of the coast; 44% within 150 km

World Trade by Sea

• 90% of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry and continues to expand

• Without shipping the import and export of goods on the scale necessary for the modern world would not be possible

• There are over 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of cargo

• The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations, and manned by over a million seafarers of virtually every nationality

World Trade by Sea

• Shipping trade estimates are calculated in ton-miles, as a way of measuring the volume of trade

• In 2008, it is estimated that the industry transported over 7.7 billion tons of cargo, equivalent to a total volume of world trade by sea of over 32 trillion ton-miles

World Trade by Sea

• Throughout the last century the shipping industry has seen a general trend of increases in total trade volume– Increasing industrialization and the liberalization of

national economies have fuelled free trade and a growing demand for consumer products

– Advances in technology have also made shipping an increasingly efficient and swift method of transportation

– Over the last four decades total seaborne trade estimates have quadrupled

World Trade by Sea

American Trade Statistics (2008)

• The United States dominates the world trade markets.– It leads the world in imports and is one of the top three

exporters in the world (Germany and China)

• Exports from the USA totaled $1.287 trillion in products to the rest of the world– An increase of 12.1% over 2007

• US imports totaled $2.104 trillion in products from other countries– An increase of 7.5% over 2007

Top Ten USA Exports (2008)

1. Civilian aircraft … $74B (5.7% of total US exports)2. Semiconductors … $50.6B (3.9%)3. Passenger cars … $49.6B (3.9%)4. Medicine and pharmaceuticals … $40.4B (3.1%)5. Vehicle parts and accessories … $39.9B (3.1%)6. Industrial machinery … $38.1B (3%)7. Fuel oil … $34.9B (2.7%)8. Organic chemicals … $33.4B (2.6%)9. Telecommunications equipment … $32.9B (2.6%)10. Plastic materials … $31.6B (2.5%)

Top Ten USA Imports (2008)

1. Crude oil … $341.9B (16.3% of total US imports)2. Passenger cars … $125.6B (6%)3. Medicine and pharmaceuticals … $78.9B (3.8%)4. Vehicle parts and accessories … $64.9B (3.1%)5. Household goods … $61.6B (2.9%)6. Computer accessories … $60.2B (2.9%)7. Petroleum products … $52.3B (2.5%)8. Cotton apparel and other household goods … $49.5B (2.4%)9. Telecommunications equipment … $44.8B (2.1%)10. Video equipment (TVs, VCRs, DVD players) … $41B (1.9%)

Low Cost of Goods by Sea

Low Cost of Goods by Sea

Maritime Nation to Naval Power

• Ships are expensive– Warships are even more expensive

• Ships are very complicated– Warships are even more complicated

• In all times and places where such things existed, warships are characteristically the most expensive, most complicated and most technologically advanced human artifacts in existence at the time

Maritime Nation to Naval Power

• Nuclear Aircraft Carriers: America’s pyramids?

Maritime Nation to Naval Power

• In terms of the costs to fund, build, supply, sail, and fight warships, they stand by themselves as the embodiments of national power and resources.

• If, however, you are in a position where they are useful, warships are very much worth having.

Advantages of Naval Warfare

• Naval warfare “clean” in comparison to other forms of fighting

• Does not involve civilian casualties• Prototype mode of “American” way of war– Concentration on technology– Avoidance of casualties

• Does not involve rape, pillage and mayhem that is often the result of taking a besieged town or other conquest

Characteristics of Naval Powers

• Access to ocean• Reliance on seaborne trade for prosperity– Often can’t feed themselves without imports

• Money– Lots and lots

Characteristics of Naval Powers

• Relatively tolerant and open politically and culturally– Necessitated by trade– Top down economies not good for trade– Foreign trade means tolerating and adapting to

cultures of trading partners

Characteristics of Naval Powers

• Diffused power base– Ordinarily not autocracies– Sometimes, not always, democracies– Usually dominated by merchant oligarchies:

wealthy traders build the ships, call the shots, and determine foreign policy

• Tolerance coupled with mercantile interest in protecting investments/sustaining trade tend to make maritime nations less quick to resort to armed conflict

Early Examples

Minoan Crete(3500 – 1450 BCE)

Phoenicia(1200 – 800 BCE)

Minoan Crete

• Culture largely “unknown” until late 19th Century archeological excavation

• Described in ancient Greek and Roman poetry

• Tremendous visual record and extensive written records in undeciphered language (Linear A)

Phoenicia

• Chiefly known as sailors and traders, Phoenicians became missionaries of culture and civilization

• Traded throughout Mediterranean, as far away as England, and may have sailed around Africa

• Wood, slaves, glass, dye, tin, etc.• Major cities Byblos, Tyre and Sidon• Founded Carthage as trading post

Next Time

• The Battle of Salamis