World Wars
The development of the French Navy slowed down in the beginning of 20th century, and as a result, it was outnumbered by the German and US Navies. It was late to introduce new battleships - dreadnoughts and light cruisers and it entered World War I with relatively few modern vessels: only one dreadnought in commission at war's start, though all four Courbets by the end of 1914 and the 3 improved dreadnoughts by mid-1916. During the war, the main French effort was on land. While capital ships already on the ways were completed, few new warships were laid down. Despite its dated roster, the Marine Nationale performed well in World War I. The main operation of the French Navy was the Dardanelles Campaign. France's most significant losses during the war were four pre-dreadnought battleships, victims of mines and U-boat torpedoes.
A number of major ships of the French Navy at the outbreak / end of World War I
- dreadnought battleships: 4/7
- pre-dreadnought battleships: 17/13
- armoured cruisers: 22/18
- protected cruisers: 13/12
- destroyers: 35/42 (capacity over 500 tons)
- torpedo boats: 180/164
- submarines: 50/61
Read more about this topic: History Of The French Navy
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“The world globes itself in a drop of dew.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“... the trouble is that most people in this country think that we can stay out of wars in other parts of the world. Even if we stay out of it and save our own skins, we cannot escape the conditions which will undoubtedly exist in other parts of the world and which will react against us.... We are all of us selfish ... and if we can save our own skins, the rest of the world can go. The best we can do is to realize nobody can save his own skin alone. We must all hang together.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)