Cross-Domain Effects: German Unrestricted Submarine Warfare in WWI
Abstract
This paper examines Germany's February 1917 decision to prosecute unrestricted submarine warfare. It argues that the controversial decision was ultimately wise because of the unconventional nature of submarines and their ability to achieve cross-domain fires, effectively waging psychological warfare in the cognitive sphere of the information domain by using tactical fires in the sea domain. At the point in the war when Germany made this decision, their intractable war aims could only be achieved through bold and swift action that would knock the British out of the war. Submarines where the only capability available to the Germans which could achieve those effects in the time they thought they had available. In the case of World War I, when submarine warfare was in its infancy, it was the cognitive effect in the information domain, not the physical effects of destruction in the sea domain, which held the true seeds of potential German victory.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 13, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1144310
Entities
People
- Garrett E. Sobalvarro
Organizations
- Naval War College