Final answer:
The Flottenpolitik was Germany's pre-World War I naval policy that led to a battle for naval superiority with Britain and contributed to the formation of alliances against Germany.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term Flottenpolitik refers to Germany's pre-World War I naval policy aimed at challenging British naval supremacy. The policy notably included the construction of the battleship HMS Dreadnought in 1906, which was revolutionary at the time with its advanced armament and propulsion. Britain's response to Flottenpolitik and the perceived German threat included a naval arms race, leading to Britain maintaining a significantly larger fleet than Germany's.
Britain's blockade during the war severely impacted Germany, causing shortages and contributing to civil unrest. Meanwhile, Germany's attempts to counter this blockade through submarine warfare inadvertently risked bringing the United States into the war, causing shifts in American public opinion after the sinking of ships like the Lusitania.
Germany's attempts at a Britain-centric naval buildup (Flottenpolitik) not only initiated a naval arms race but also played into the larger concerns of encirclement by potential adversaries, aligning Britain more closely with France and Russia. Nonetheless, by focusing on naval expansion, Germany's subsequent allies, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary, were progressively weaker compared to the might of the Entente powers. This strategic miscalculation ultimately backfired, as Germany lacked the naval capacity to break Britain's blockade or to enforce its own effectively, resulting in severe material shortages that played a part in the German defeat in World War I.
On the other hand, in World War II, America's concern over providing military assistance to Britain was also driven by fears that the supplies might end up in German hands, due to triumphant German campaigns in Europe. This fear paralleled the concerns surrounding German Flottenpolitik, as both situations reflect the intricacies of military decision-making and the consideration of unintended consequences of aid and arms race policies in the context of international warfare.