Mahan’s naval doctrine directly drove the forward basing expansion

Evidence

One of the leaders responsible for the expansion of nineteenth-century bases outside North America was the man who came to be known as the “prophet” of the U.S. Navy, Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan. A historian of eighteenthand nineteenth-century Anglo-French competition for global preeminence, Mahan argued that great powers require strong navies capable of protecting a country’s commercial shipping and opening foreign markets to trade. And to have a strong navy, he held, a country needed a far-flung network of support bases. Under his influence, Navy officials pushed for the creation of ever more coaling and repair stations. In 1900, Navy warships steamed westward to crush the Boxer Rebellion and further open Chinese markets to U.S. businesses. Soon the U.S. Navy, which had become the world’s second largest, established regular patrols from bases in Hong Kong, Hankow, and Shanghai. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 71

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 71
• XREF: connects to: Alfred Thayer Mahan’s doctrine made bases central to U.S. naval power.; Mahan argued great powers need far-flung naval bases to protect commerce; Mahanian naval strategy drove the plan to make the Pacific an American lake. (+4 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Alfred Thayer Mahan’s doctrine made bases central to U.S. naval power.; Mahan argued great powers need far-flung naval bases to protect commerce; Mahanian naval strategy drove the plan to make the Pacific an American lake. (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Alfred Thayer Mahan’s doctrine made bases central to U.S. naval power. #expands (0.93)
• The Korean and Vietnam wars drove further base expansion waves #complicates (0.78) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 97