BLOCKADE

BLOCKADE (March 1915–July 1919); a ‘‘weapon'' instituted by England during the first year of World War I. Retained as a concept almost by accident in the early twentieth century, it was by 1917 the preeminent weapon in the Allied arsenal. Through its refined use, including pressure on neutrals who might otherwise have traded with the Germans, the Allies managed to strangle Germany economically. According to Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, it was ‘‘the control of the sea by the British Navy which fed and equipped the Allies, by successive stages drained the life-blood of the enemy, and won the War'' (Vincent). Article 26 of the November 1918 Armistice* stipulated that ‘‘existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and Associated Powers are to remain unchanged, German merchant ships found at sea remaining liable to capture. The Allies and the United States contemplate the provisioning of Germany during the Armistice as shall be found necessary.'' Since the Armistice remained in force until July 1919, when the National Assembly* ratified the Versailles Treaty,* the blockade endured these eight months. Moreover, that portion of Article 26 ‘‘contemplating'' Germany's provisioning was only activated in March, after a protracted inter-Allied quarrel over Germany's means for purchasing foodstuffs. Food was shipped when France belatedly accepted a policy whereby Germany could use gold reserves for food delivery in exchange for the surrender of its merchant marine, a demand added to the Armistice in January 1919. It is impossible to judge the physical and psychological impact of continuing the blockade beyond November 1918. Although Germany's economic resilience became a source of both admiration and concern in the 1920s, its exhaustion at the conclusion of hostilities has been well documented. The post-Armistice blockade sharpened the enmity inspired by four years of trench warfare. A collapse of moral and legal principle, an impairment of physical and mental wellbeing, and a general conviction that Allied policy was based less on Wilsonian idealism than traditional power politics were the blockade's legacies.