Mahan, Alfred Thayer (redirected from Alfred Thayer Mahan)

Mahan, Alfred Thayer (məhăn`), 1840–1914, U.S. naval officer and historian, b. West Point, N.Y. A Union naval officer in the Civil War, he later lectured on naval history and strategy at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., of which he was president (1886–89, 1892–93). Out of his lectures grew his two major works on the historical significance of sea power—The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 (1890) and The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812 (2 vol., 1892). In these he argued that naval power was the key to success in international politics; the nation that controlled the seas held the decisive factor in modern warfare. Mahan's work appeared at a time when the nations of Europe and Japan were engaged in a fiercely competitive arms race. His books were quickly translated into several languages and were widely read by political leaders, especially in Germany, where they were used as a justification for a naval buildup. In the United States, Theodore Roosevelt and other proponents of a big navy and overseas expansion were much influenced by Mahan's writings. Among his many works are biographies of David Farragut and Horatio Nelson and the autobiographical From Sail to Steam (1907, repr. 1968).

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Mahan, Alfred Thayer

Alfred Thayer Mahan, 1897

(credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

(born Sept. 27, 1840, West Point, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 1, 1914, Quogue, N.Y.) U.S. naval officer and historian. He studied at the U.S. Naval Academy, and his nearly 40 years of active naval duty included fighting in the American Civil War. He was president of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. (1886–89). His classic analysis The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 (1890) argued that sea power was decisive in determining national supremacy. In The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812 (1892), he stressed the interdependence of military and commercial control of the sea. Avidly read in Britain and Germany, both books greatly influenced the buildup of naval forces before World War I.

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Mahan, Alfred Thayer (1840–1914) naval officer, author; born in West Point, N.Y. He served in the Civil War and 20 years of routine sea duty before becoming a lecturer of naval history and tactics at the new Naval War College (1885). He twice served as the College's president (1886–89, 1892–93) and published numerous books; the best-known were The Influence of Sea Power upon History: 1660–1783 (1890) and The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812 (1892). The books brought him an international readership and reputation; he was publicly honored by the British government and thoroughly studied by German naval officers. He was elected president of the American Historical Association (1902) and became a rear admiral on the retired list in 1906.