Editing Edwardian era (section)

===Naval race with Germany===
{{Main|Anglo-German naval arms race}}
[[File:HMS Dreadnought 1906 H61017.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The British ''Dreadnought'' (1906) made all other battleships obsolete as soon as it was introduced. This was because it had ten long-range 12-inch big guns, mechanical computer-like range finders, high speed turbine engines that could make 21 knots, and armour plates 11 inches thick.]]
After 1805 the dominance of Britain's Royal Navy was unchallenged; in the 1890s Germany decided to match it. Grand Admiral [[Alfred von Tirpitz]] (1849–1930) dominated German naval policy from 1897 until 1916.<ref>[[Michael Epkenhans]], ''Tirpitz: Architect of the German High Seas Fleet'' (2008) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1574887327/ excerpt and text search], pp 23–62</ref> Before the German Empire formed in 1871, Prussia never had a real navy, nor did the other German states. Tirpitz turned a modest fleet into a world-class one that could threaten the British Royal Navy. The British responded with new technology typified by the [[HMS Dreadnought (1906)|Dreadnought]]. It made every other class of battleship obsolete and, supported by a global network of coaling stations and telegraph cables, enabled Britain to stay well ahead in naval affairs.<ref>Margaret Macmillan, ''The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914'' (2013) ch 5</ref><ref>Thomas Hoerber, "Prevail or perish: Anglo-German naval competition at the beginning of the twentieth century," ''European Security'' (2011) 20#1, pp. 65–79. [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09662839.2010.547190 abstract]</ref>

Apart from a determination to retain a strong naval advantage, the British lacked a military strategy or plans for a major war.<ref>Matthew S. Seligmann, "Failing to Prepare for the Great War? The Absence of Grand Strategy in British War Planning before 1914" ''War in History'' (2017) 24#4 414-37.</ref>