The onset of the 20th Century saw England as the world's foremost naval and colonial power, supported by a 100,000-man firefighting army designed to fight small wars in its outlying colonies. Since the Napoleonic Wars nearly a century earlier, Britain and Europe enjoyed relative peace and tranquility. The onset of World War I caught the British Empire by surprise. As it increased the size of its army through conscription, one of its first tasks was to impose '' a complete naval blockade'' against Germany. It was not popular in the United States. However, it was very important to England. The position of Minister of Blockade grew from the merger of Britain's Eastern and Western Departments of the Foreign Office in August 1914 to form a new '' War Department''. The War Department's mission was to prepare England for a continental war. One of its earliest creations was the Contraband Department, which in February 1916 was upgraded (transferred from the military to the government) and renamed the Ministry of Blockade. The Ministry of Blockade was responsible for maintaining both a land and sea blockade against Germany.

Lord Robert Cecil

The Minister of Blockade was a position headed by ''

Lord Robert Cecil Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, (14 September 1864 – 24 November 1958), known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923,As the younger son of a Marquess, Cecil held the courtesy title of "Lord". However, he ...

'' from 1916 to 1918 to enforce the economic blockade against Germany. Cecil, undersecretary at the Foreign Office, assumed responsibility for the Ministry of Blockade, and was its sole leader during its two years of existence. The trade embargo is estimated to have cost Germany 500,000 civilian lives, and it was one of the reasons why Germany sued for peace in 1918. In a war that took terrible battlefield casualties on the ''

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

'', the Blockade was one of the few bright spots England could point to before 1918. Prior to The Great War, the British had occasional discussions about a blockade against Germany in the event of conflict. However, it wasn't until 23 February 1916, 18 months after World War I started, that Prime Minister H. H. Asquith created a Ministry of Blockade to unite all of England's embargo efforts against Germany. The Blockade was greatly helped by ''

Room 40 Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War. The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...

'' and the capture of German code books in 1914. To enforce the blockade, the shipping companies of neutral countries were pressured into declaring their goods, and ships with cargo bound for Germany were seized. Germany, which provided most of her raw materials internally, but imported much of her food, was forced to implement a food rationing program, but the problem grew progressively worse. It was Cecil's idea for the Allies to acquire seized Dutch shipping to boost the transport of American reinforcements to France during the critical months of 1918, when the war could have gone either way, which helped aid in the capitulation of Germany.

Greece

In June 1916, the British orchestrated a ''

pacific blockade A pacific blockade is a blockade exercised by a great power for the purpose of bringing pressure to bear on a weaker state without actual war. It can be employed only as a measure of coercion by maritime powers able to bring into action such vas ...

'' against Greece, due to that country's pro-German leanings. It was rescinded a year later with the replacement of King Constantine by his son, Alexander.

Versailles

The issue of a '' Blockade'', '' Freedom of the Seas'', and ''

Belligerent Rights A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning ...

'' became important after President Wilson announced his

14 Points U.S. President Woodrow Wilson The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms ...

on January 8, 1918. The announcement was made unilaterally, without informing the allies, and Prime Minister Lloyd George could not agree to Point number two, "Absolute Freedom of Navigation" of the seas for all countries, as the blockade of Germany violated this Point.Roskill
''pgs. 610-611''
/ref> Following the allied victory over Germany, the 14 Points became less relevant, being substituted by

The Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

in June 1919.

Present day

Although the United States enforced a temporary blockade against Cuba in 1962, and continues to enforce a solitary economic blockade, today the naval blockade of a country is outlawed by the ''

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...

''.

Footnotes

References

* Roskill, Stephen
''Hankey, Man of Secrets, Volume I''
London: Collins, 1970 * Milner, Viscount
''Cotton Contraband''
London: Darling, 1915
''Black List and Blockade''
interview with the Rt. Hon. Lord Robert Cecil, M.P., Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1916 * {{Cite journal, doi=10.1093/tcbh/hww027, title=The Ministry of Blockade during the First World War and the Demise of Free Trade, year=2016, last1=Dehne, first1=Phillip, journal=Twentieth Century British History, volume=27, issue=3, pages=333–356 * The War Cabinet
''Report for the Year 1917''
London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1918 * UK National Archives, onlin
''Link''
* Neillands, Robin
''The Great War Generals on the Western Front, 1914-1918''
London: Magpie, 1999 * Callwell, MG C.E.
''Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, His Life and Diaries, Vol. II''
London: Cassell, 1927