War and Military Atlas

How Battles Were Fought
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Commanders

Alfred Thayer Mahan

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Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy officer and historian whose 1890 study The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 argued that a concentrated battle fleet commanding the open sea, not commerce raiding or coastal defense, is the decisive instrument of national power. His doctrine shaped the naval building programs of the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan into the twentieth century, and this atlas cites him as the theorist behind its own Sea Power Doctrine entry.

Facts
Birth Year
1840 1
Death Year
1914 1
Nationality
United States 1
Rank
Rear Admiral, United States Navy 1
Defining Contribution
Founded modern sea power doctrine, arguing that command of the sea by a concentrated battle fleet is the decisive instrument of national power. 1
Notable Work
The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Doctrines Developed

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Alfred Thayer Mahan
Wikipedialead paragraph
Quote, lead paragraph
A United States Navy officer and historian whom John Keegan called 'the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century.'
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1. Wikipedia: Alfred Thayer Mahan
Wikipediabiography section
Quote, biography section
died in Washington, D.C., of heart failure on December 1, 1914
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1. Wikipedia: Alfred Thayer Mahan
Wikipedialead paragraph/infoboxView the Source
1. Wikipedia: Alfred Thayer Mahan
WikipediainfoboxView the Source
1. Wikipedia: Alfred Thayer Mahan
Wikipediadoctrine summary
Quote, doctrine summary
The primary mission of a navy was to secure the command of the sea, which would permit the maintenance of sea communications for one's own ships while denying their use to the enemy.
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