Influence_of_Sea_Power

The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 — A. T. Mahan

First published 1890 (public domain).

The single most influential naval book ever written. Shaped US, British, German, and Japanese naval buildups before WWI. Chapter I is the essential theoretical argument; chapters II–XIV are the historical case.

Chapters

• Chapter I — Discussion of the Elements of Sea Power
• Chapter II — State of Europe in 1660 — Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1665–1667
• Chapter III — War of England and France in Alliance against the United Provinces
• Chapter IV — English Revolution — War of the League of Augsburg
• Chapter V — War of the Spanish Succession, 1702–1713 — Malaga
• Chapter VI — The Regency in France — Alberoni — Walpole
• Chapter VII — War between Great Britain and Spain, 1739 — War of the Austrian Succession
• Chapter VIII — Seven Years’ War, 1756–1763
• Chapter IX — From the Peace of Paris to 1778 — Maritime War
• Chapter X — Maritime War in North America and the West Indies, 1778–1781
• Chapter XI — Maritime War in Europe, 1779–1782
• Chapter XII — Events in the East Indies, 1778–1781
• Chapter XIII — Events in the West Indies after the Surrender
• Chapter XIV — Critical Discussion of the Maritime War of 1778

Why it Belongs in the Canon

• Defined sea power as a coherent strategic concept: command of the commons, concentration, decisive fleet engagement, geographic position, national character.
• Mahan’s six elements of sea power (geographical position, physical conformation, extent of territory, population, national character, government) remain standard.
• Read at every major naval war college. Still drives Chinese and Indian naval thinking today.

Cross-References

• Corbett — Some Principles of Maritime Strategy (contrast: Corbett’s limited-war maritime theory vs. Mahan’s decisive-battle orthodoxy)
• Jomini — The Art of War (Mahan explicitly adapts Jomini’s land framework)
• Clausewitz — On War