title: Naval Strategy of the World War (Classics of Sea Power)
author: Vice Admiral Wolfgang Wegener
description: Text: English (translation)<br> Original Language: German
zlib_text: **Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War**
  
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  **by Admiral REINHARD SCHEER**
  
  Preface and Introduction
  
  Preface
  
  THE victor has the privilege of writing the story of the war; for one
  mistrusts the vanquished, because he will try to palliate and excuse his
  defeats. But we are victors and vanquished at one and the same time, and in
  depicting our success the difficult problem confronts us of not forgetting
  that our strength did not last out to the end. Exceptionally tragic is the
  fate of our Fleet. It embodied the sense of power resulting from the
  unification of the Empire, a sense which was conscious of its responsibility
  to provide for the suitable security of our immensely flourishing political
  and economical expansion. By creating a fleet we strengthened our claim to
  seapower, without which the Empire must wither away, we remained a thorn in
  the side of the British, and their ill-will was the constant accompaniment of
  our growth. The freedom of the seas, which we strove for in