MAHAN, ALFRED THAYER ( ,1_4o-1914), Rear Admiral, American naval historian was born on Sept. 27, 1840 at West Point on the Hudson where his father was professor of military engineering. The boy's fancy was for the sea. He revelled in Marryat. Columbia college and the Naval academy at Annapolis qualified him for the United States navy in which he served forty years. He saw active service in the Civil war and when 21 designed a "mystery ship" and volunteered to command it. After being lecturer on naval history and strategy at the naval war college in 1885 he became its president. An indefatigable student with a prodigious memory, he steeped himself in the strategy of Jomini, Napoleon and Nelson and made critical analyses of the conclusive battles of the world on land and sea. The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 166o-1783, published in 1890 was inspired by a conviction that the historic significance of the control of the sea had never been fully revealed. It was followed in 1892 by The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolu tion and Empire, 1793-1812. These masterly works captured the imagination of naval men, statesmen and scholars and profoundly influenced the naval policy of the great powers. In breadth of vision and originality of treatment they were unrivalled. No previous writer had so convincingly established the dominating influence of sea power upon the destinies of nations. The famous trilogy was completed by The Life of Nelson in 1897. Mahan was acclaimed an authority upon naval strategy especially in Great Britain where his genius was first recognized. His doc trines may be said to have governed the naval political thought of the world. Degrees were conferred upon him by Oxford and Cambridge in 1894 and later by leading American Universities. He commanded the cruiser "Chicago" in European waters 1895 and was accorded a notable reception in England and else where. Mahan served on the naval War Board during the Span ish-American War of 1898 and as delegate to the Hague Peace conference 1899. President Roosevelt declared "There is no question you stand head and shoulders above the rest of us." He was in 1900 awarded the Chesney Gold Medal for his three masterpieces, which were translated into several foreign lan guages. He was president of the American Historical Associa
tion in 19o2 and chairman of a commission on naval affairs in 1908. Mahan possessed historic insight and the mind of a states man. Calm impartiality governed his conclusions. He excelled as a strategist rather than as a tactician. His chief aim was to make clear the paramount importance of the sea as a decisive factor in history. He analysed the elements of sea power in all its bearings, military, national, territorial and commercial. With masterly touch he dissected the strategic features of the Carib bean. He stressed the interdependence of the military and com mercial control of the sea and confirmed the doctrine that com merce dominates war. In The Interests of America in Sea Power 1897 and in most of his twenty volumes he sought to arouse his countrymen to a realisation of their maritime responsibilities. His doctrines stimulated the growth of navies between 1900 and 1914. The extreme views of the "Fleet in Being" School he con sidered unsound. He doubted the infallibility of arbitration in international disputes. He consistently advocated a solid under standing between Great Britain and America. In Anglo-American naval supremacy he saw the surest hope of peace. His writings abound in appreciations of the British navy. He foresaw the menace to the United States in the attempt to cripple Britain's naval power by the proposal to grant immunity from capture to sea-borne belligerent commerce in time of war. With steadfast courage against powerful political opposition he persistently condemned this proposal. In timely warnings to Britain in 1910 he foreshadowed the events of 1914-1918. Discussion of sea power compels recourse to his works which are invaluable to students of international affairs. (See SEA POWER.) Mahan mar ried in 1872 Ellen Lyle Evans. He died on Dec. 1, 1914, having foretold the defeat of the Central powers and the surrender of the German navy. He was a deeply religious man, high-minded, chivalrous and unassuming. As an exponent of sea power he had no peer in the annals of literature.
For complete list of works and bibliography see Charles Carlisle Taylor The Life of Admiral Mahan (1920). (C. C. TAY.)