Four years before the outbreak of the First World War, Alfred Thayer Mahan, the world famous naval historian and strategist, warned of the approaching conflict in The Interest of America in International Conditions

Four years before the outbreak of the First World War, the world famous naval historian and strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan warned of the approaching conflict. In The Interest of America in International Conditions, Mahan recognized that Germany's effort to add a strong navy to its already powerful land army threatened to upset the balance of power that had prevented a major war in Europe since 1815. He understood that American security could be endangered if Germany dominated the European continent.