Why Did Germany Use Unrestricted U Boat Warfare

Technology in the military has greatly increased strength and eased the ranking among world powers and effected the development of new military weapons. The First World War introduced a whole host of new technology to the armies of the world. The machine gun, the tank, and the airplane ruled the battlefields of France and Germany. These new inventions changed the face of warfare forever. As equal, the German submarine changed naval warfare. As the First World War erupted, Germany needed to cut the Allied supply of resources to wear down the soldiers fighting in trenches, resulting in Restricted U-Boat Warfare. The U-Boats brought new and advanced technology to the war at sea. The U-Boat could attack enemy ships without being detected giving
from entering the war. However, small numbers of ships were being sunk, until Germany launches Unrestricted U-Boat Warfare. With Unrestricted U-Boat Warfare, Germany was able to sink much more ships than before and sink a large amount of the allies’ supplies. If Germany had applied Unrestricted U-Boat Warfare earlier, their chance of winning the war would have increased dramatically. The U-Boat was an incredibly advanced underwater war vehicle perfectly suited to fight a war of attrition however, the German command failed to use its full potential thereby robbing them of a chance for victory.

Prior to World War I, Germany starts designing U-Boats to help them overcome a war of attrition and deplete the Allies resources. After the Schlieffen plan failed in July of 1914, soldiers started to dig down and
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Prior, Robin the First World War Great Britain: Cassell, 1999
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Goebel, Greg. In The Invention of the Submarine [Online] 12 May 2001 [cited 30 May 2013]. Available from: http://www.vectorsite.net/twsub1.html
Helgason, Gudmundur. In U-boat War in World War One [Online] 1995 [cited 30 May 2013]. Available from: http://uboat.net/wwi
Submarine Warfare in World War I [Online] Unknown date [cited 30 May 2013]. Available From: http://www.cityofart.net/bship/u_boat.html

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[ 1 ]. Jay Winter, The Great War (New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1996), 94
[ 2 ]. Gudmundur Helgason, in U-boat War in World War One [Online} (1995 [cited 30 May 2013]);available from http://uboat.net/wwi/
[ 3 ]. Robin Prior, The First World War (Great Britain: Cassell, 1999), 103
[ 4 ]. Greg Goebel, in The Invention Of the Submarine [Online] (12 May 2001 [cited 30 May 2013]);available from http://www.vectorsite.net/twsub1.html
[ 5 ]. Jay Winter, The Great War (New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1996),