Un nouveau regard sur les mutations de la Royal Navy au debut du XXe siecle

The interpretation of changes in the British naval instrument in the early twentieth century has been thoroughly renewed in the last twenty years. The decisive action of Admiral Fisher, First Sea Lord from 1904 to 1910, has been reconsidered, the emphasis now being placed on the priority given to the Franco-Russian threat and the will to maintain at less cost a capacity for global intervention. The importance of the revolution brought by the Dreadnought and by the focus on European landings for addressing the German threat emerges nuanced and in perspective while updating the principal role assigned to the fleet of light ships in defense of the British sanctuary and that reserved for squadrons of battle cruisers in defense of the interests of the Commonwealth in the world. This new approach helps to clarify profound changes of foreign policy in London in the early twentieth century and their links with major reforms of the Royal Navy