Editing North Sea (section)

===Modern era===
[[File:Bluecher sinkend.jpg|thumb|German cruiser [[SMS Blücher|SMS ''Blücher'']] sinks in the [[Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)|Battle of Dogger Bank]] on 25 January 1915.]]
Tensions in the North Sea were again heightened in 1904 by the [[Dogger Bank incident]]. During the [[Russo-Japanese War]], several ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was on its way to the Far East, mistook British fishing boats for Japanese ships and fired on them, and then upon each other, near the Dogger Bank, nearly causing Britain to enter the war on the side of Japan.

During the [[First World War]], Great Britain's [[Grand Fleet]] and Germany's [[Kaiserliche Marine]] faced each other in the North Sea,<ref name="Halpern">{{cite book
|last=Halpern
|first=Paul G.
|title=A naval history of World War I
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hwb6ovvYCcC
|publisher=Routledge
|location=Ontario
|isbn=978-1-85728-498-0
|pages=29, 180
|year=1994
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084134/https://books.google.com/books?id=6hwb6ovvYCcC
|url-status=live
}}</ref> which became the main [[Naval warfare of World War I#Theaters|theatre of the war]] for surface action.<ref name="Halpern"/> Britain's larger fleet and [[North Sea Mine Barrage]] were able to establish an effective blockade for most of the war, which restricted the [[Central Powers]]' access to many crucial resources.<ref name="Tucker">{{cite book
|last=Tucker
|first=Spencer
|title=World War I: Encyclopedia
|orig-year=2005
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1cMtKQP3P8C&pg=RA2-PA836
|publisher=ABC-CLIO
|location=New York, US
|isbn=978-1-85109-420-2
|pages=836–838
|others=Priscilla Mary Roberts
|date=September 2005
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084141/https://books.google.com/books?id=B1cMtKQP3P8C&pg=RA2-PA836
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Major battles included the [[Battle of Heligoland Bight (1914)|Battle of Heligoland Bight]],<ref name="Osborne">{{cite book
|last=Osborne
|first=Eric W.
|title=The Battle of Heligoland Bight
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IcGeprPmDkC
|publisher=Indiana University Press
|location=London
|isbn=978-0-253-34742-8
|page=Introduction
|year=2006
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084132/https://books.google.com/books?id=4IcGeprPmDkC
|url-status=live
}}</ref> the [[Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)|Battle of the Dogger Bank]],<ref name="navies"/> and the [[Battle of Jutland]].<ref name="navies">{{cite book
|last=Sondhaus
|first=Lawrence
|title=Navies in Modern World History
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka-1eQRnXMUC
|publisher=Reaktion Books
|location=London
|isbn=978-1-86189-202-7
|pages=190–193, 256
|year=2004
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084135/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka-1eQRnXMUC
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
World War I also brought the first extensive use of [[submarine warfare]], and a number of submarine actions occurred in the North Sea.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Tucker
|first=Spencer
|author2=Priscilla Mary Roberts
|title=World War I: Encyclopedia
|orig-year=2005
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1cMtKQP3P8C&q=World+War+I:+Encyclopedia
|publisher=ABC-CLIO
|location=London
|isbn=9781851094202
|pages=165, 203, 312
|date=September 2005
|access-date=2 October 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084131/https://books.google.com/books?id=B1cMtKQP3P8C&q=World+War+I:+Encyclopedia
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

The [[Second World War]] also saw action in the North Sea, though it was restricted more to aircraft reconnaissance and action by fighter/bomber aircraft, submarines and smaller vessels such as [[minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]] and [[torpedo boat]]s.<ref name="Frank">{{cite book|last=Frank|first=Hans|title=German S-Boats in Action in the Second World War: In the Second World War|orig-year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGDxkiWKa-IC&pg=PA12|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=9781591143093|pages=12–30|date=15 October 2007|access-date=1 July 2020|archive-date=17 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084135/https://books.google.com/books?id=lGDxkiWKa-IC&pg=PA12|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Atlantic, WW2, U-boats, convoys, OA, OB, SL, HX, HG, Halifax, RCN&nbsp;... |publisher=Naval-History.net |url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsStartEurope.htm |access-date=24 July 2007 |archive-date=13 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113180911/http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsStartEurope.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the war, hundreds of thousands of tons of chemical weapons were disposed of by being dumped in the North Sea.<ref name="Kaffka">{{cite book
|last=Kaffka
|first=Alexander V.
|title=Sea-dumped Chemical Weapons: Aspects, Problems, and Solutions
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGJ5qp7QrgMC&pg=PA49
|publisher=Springer
|location=New York, US
|isbn=978-0-7923-4090-4
|page=49
|year=1996
|others=North Atlantic Treaty Organization Scientific Affairs Division
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084132/https://books.google.com/books?id=TGJ5qp7QrgMC&pg=PA49
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

After the war, the North Sea lost much of its military significance because it is bordered only by [[NATO]] member-states. However, it gained significant economic importance in the 1960s as the states around the North Sea began full-scale exploitation of its [[North Sea oil|oil and gas resources]].<ref>It was, incidentally, the home of several [[Pirate Radio]] stations from 1960 to 1990. {{cite book
|last=Johnston
|first=Douglas M.
|title=Marine Policy and the Coastal Community
|orig-year=1976
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9I8OAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA195
|year=1976
|publisher=Taylor & Francis
|location=London
|isbn=978-0-85664-158-9
|page=49
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084137/https://books.google.com/books?id=9I8OAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA195
|url-status=live
}}</ref> The North Sea continues to be an active trade route.<ref>{{cite web
|title =Forth Ports PLC
|year =2008
|url =http://www.forthports.co.uk/ports/
|access-date =11 November 2007
|archive-date =22 October 2007
|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071022043115/http://www.forthports.co.uk/ports/
|url-status =live
}}</ref>