Young School

The young school is current naval thought French of the end of the 19th century. She proposes a rupture with the current of traditional thought of the time which was to build Bateau X increasingly important, by privileging on the contrary the use of smaller and more boats.

Context

The memory of the naval wars of the Revolution and the Empire, and the constant competition with the England, lead the France Second Empire to wonder about the place of its marine. The emergence of a new adversary, the Germany, will bring to think that the France does not have the means of disputing supremacy on sea as on ground.

The fast modification of the naval techniques, the appearance of the vapor and the ships out of iron will involve a fast increase in the costs of the new ships.

It is in this context that one will see appearing the new doctrines which will be called young school , by taking again the words of the one of his partisans.

“Our marine divides in two schools one absorptive by the need to shelter, the other animated above all by the feeling of the attack: the first is the old school, the second the young school. Under the impression of the terrible year, us inventions only of the machines inspired by an unconscious fear (battleships) we continue the dream denounced by the Dragominoff general: to make the war without exposing itself to be made kill. The admiral Aube was the Apôtre of the audacity, Dragominoff of the Navy… ”

Actors

The emblematic figure of these new doctrines is the admiral Aube. It published in an opuscule the maritime Guerre and the ports soldier S of the France . In its 38 pages, he affirms that the development of the novel methods will make as well inoperative the Blocus as the war of squadrons; for example with the use of the automobile Torpedo. Consequently, it is necessary to avoid launching out in the construction of Cuirassé S but rather resting on a great number of small coasting ships, Torpilleur S, Garde-côte S, ram S to protect the maritime frontage. For the offensive, he recommends the Guerre of race carried out by Croiseur S. In both cases, he is in favor to give best possible speed to the new buildings.

Its ideas will carry the adhesion of many people. Not only of the marine , but also of Journalist S like Gabriel Charms. Indeed, the law of the July 29th 1881 on the Freedom of the press had as consequence among others that the newspapers felt authorized speaking about all the subjects, including Stratégie and of naval Tactique. The advantage of the irruption of the public opinion in the debate will be to force the protagonists to sharpen their arguments. But n the other hand that will mean the intervention of protagonists little to the fact of the naval constraints.

Gabriel Charms, born in 1850 with Aurillac, entered in 1874 as journalist to the Journal of DEBATEs . With the beginning of the year 1880, it enjoys a certain celebrity related to a series of articles on the East. It will embrace the cause of the “Young School” and will publish several articles, in 1884 and 1885, in favor of these theses, in the Political and Literary Revue and the Journal of DEBATEs .

For him, the Torpilleur is the arm-miracle of poor, a Microbe of one hundred ton S and two hundred and thousand frankly S, able, of a Torpille, to send by the bottom a monster of 10 000 ton S costing 30 franc million. It will warp the theory of the admiral Aube in substituent with trinomial simple binomial destroyer-cruiser.

Its attacks, like those of the other defenders of the “Young School”, aim also the Administration of the navy, criticizing its opposition to progress and its conservatism. These criticisms will not have nothing to do with popularity new doctrines.

The political world also will find what to feed its plays. The destroyer, preached by the “young school”, will become the tool of the republicans while the Cuirassé would be that of the right-hand side. The destroyer illustrating the revenge of small on the large one, it will be also the industrial equivalent of the Microbe of Pasteur, able to embank the largest creatures.

It is also a manner of attacking the barons of industry, in particular those which provide the plates of Blindage, if important for the armoured fleets. To want to preserve these large buildings was, for certain republicans and radicals, simply to want to safeguard the profits of these industrialists.

But the quarrel serves also the budgetary interests of the governments. It costs much less to build destroyers, even of number, that linerships of which the proportions do not cease growing.

Preeminence of the defensive as regards naval strategy,
Division of the labor
Of the fastest possible ships,
Of the ships of small Tonnage rather than only one of large tonnage,
To multiply the fulcrums to the length of the coasts.

Consequences

Minister for the navy of the January 7th 1886 with the May 29th 1887, the admiral Aube will be able to implement its theories. The ordering of 34 destroyers, 11 cruisers envisaged and the construction of the first Underwater S, the Gymnote and the Goubet , will come to take the step on the realization of battleships of squadron.

In parallel, to ensure the support of its defense forces, it will create, throughout the littoral of metropolis and North Africa, of the fulcrums.

After its departure, the tendency will remain, leading to the realization of a “naval dust” which will not be long in showing its inefficiency: bad behavior with the sea, operating range limited, inaptitude to fight in open sea. Thus, during the naval operations of 1891, a squadron goes Algiers to Toulon. The destroyers will appear unable to attack it.

In 1899, the Crise of Fachoda will show that the French navy is out of state to be able to be opposed to the Royal Navy. The Superior council of the Navy, the January 11th 1899, will make the report of it. This will lead the government Waldeck-Rousseau to launching the construction schedule known under the name of “program of 1900”, including/understanding many battleships.

This seems to sound the end of these doctrines but, in July 1902, arrives a new Minister for the navy, Camille Pelletan, declared partisan of the theses of the “Young School”. Again, the priority is given to the small units, destroyers and Sous-marin S. has its departure, in 1905, the “Young School” will have lost the near total of its partisans. It is true that the lessons of the Guerre Russo-Japanese woman of 1904 brought back concrete for the theorists.

The passion for the theories of the “Young School” will have been at the origin of the delay which will handicap the French marine to the First World War.

Sources

Michel Depeyre, Between wind and water, one century of tactical & strategic hesitations 1790-1890 , Economica, Paris 2003. (EVE in the notes)
maritime historical Dictionary , article “Young school”. (DHM in the notes)
Captain of frigate Storeroom, strategic ideas in France of 1870 to 1914, the young school, thesis of the school of naval war , 1924, in H. Knife-Begarie (to dir.), evolution of the naval thought, FEDN, 1990, (pages 195 to 231). (EPN in the notes) .
Acts of the 2nd international symposium of St-Georges-of-didonne, 1998, sea at the time of Pelletan . The articles can be consulted here:

Random links: