The First World War is largely thought of as a conflictwhere the majority of the significant operations took place almost exclusively on mainland Europe with the exception of a handful of naval clashes fought throughout the world's oceans. This is only partially true because while most of the fighting did take place on the continent, one of the largest and most sophisticated undertakings of the war was conducted mainly at sea. This operation was the British blockade from 1914-1919 which sought to obstruct Germany's ability to import goods, and thus in the most literal sense starve the German people and military into submission.
While the land war certainly contributed to the Entente's (Britain, France, Italy, U.S.) victory in 1918, it was the blockade that truly broke Germany's back. Without it, the war could have potentially gone on even longer, but because of it, the world's preeminent land force was left with no other choice than to surrender as the seeds of revolution brewed among its population. This paper will look into how this important British undertaking functioned, how it affected the German people, and how it played a significant role in causing the German military to sue for peace in 1918.
