Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee (1861–1914): The Face of German Colonial Sea Power

Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee (1861–1914): The Face of German Colonial Sea Power

01 May 24
Posted by: Martin George Holmes
19 minutes, 46 seconds read
Message from the Editor

This article, drawing on German-language sources, presents a fresh biographical sketch of Maximilian von Spee’s naval career, a man of his time who realistically embodied German sea power, in the Mahanian tradition, until his demise at the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914. A 20 minute read.

It is lamentable that Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee (1861–1914), one of the most famous naval commanders of the First World War, has yet to receive a book-length biography in any language. It is even more lamentable that several important German-language sources relevant for studying him have not yet been translated. Consequently, there is little information about Spee available in English. This article draws on two German sources to present a fresh interpretation of his career for an Anglophone audience. The first is Maximilian Graf von Spee: Der Sieger von Coronel (1915), which contains a h…

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