In the 1930s, six naval powers roamed the world’s oceans: Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. Each nation was subject to the Washington Naval Treaty, which granted 60% of the world’s battleships to the Royal and US Navy, 20% to Japan, and 20% to France and Italy. However by 1945, the United States Navy had expanded to a fleet larger than that of all the great powers. What exactly did that mean in the wake of WWII?
On this episode of UnTextbooked, producer Will Bourell interviews Professor Paul Kennedy, who argues that the expansion of the U.S. Navy during WWII cemented them at the top of a new international world order.
BOOK: Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global Order in World War II
GUEST: Paul Kennedy
PRODUCER: Will Bourell
MUSIC: Silas Bohen and Coleman Hamilton
PRODUCTION: Pod People - Hannah Pedersen, Danielle Roth, Shaneez Tyndall, and Michael Aquino.
SHOW NOTES: Link to Paul Kennedy’s work
How does naval domination control who runs the world? | UnTextbooked | A history podcast for the future - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
