The blue-water rationale: New Zealand's naval security problem, 1919 - 1939

Abstract

New Zealand, at the end of the First World War, was a component of the strongest military power in the world, the British Empire. The Royal Navy had overcome the German challenge to its supremacy and remained numerically superior to any foreign rival, while a vast land army had been created to meet the requirements of warfare on the European continent. The loyalty and sacrifices of the Dominions, all of whom contributed generously to the Imperial war effort, were rewarded in 1917 by the British invitation to their leaders to participate in the formulation of Imperial policy as members of an Imperial War Cabinet. The unity of the Empire appeared to have been immeasurably strengthened by this practical recognition of partnership, and New Zealand, in 1919, faced the future confident that it would be maintained, and possibly even extended, in the less urgent peacetime atmosphere.