The blockade in the first World War

During the First World War, the Allied Blockade of Germany, (also known as the British Blockade) stopped goods, including food and fertilizer, from entering Germany. It is estimated that these actions resulted in the deaths of some 424,000 - 763,000 civilians, or 0.5 - 1% of the population. While the actions of the British government were legal, for some it was an immoral and diplomatic embarrassment given the recent 1909 Declaration of London. Over the past century, arguments in support of the Allied Blockade have included the likely fact that Germany, with its submarine warfare, would have issued a similarly devastating blockade on Britain if it had been possible, and that technological changes in weaponry would have made a traditional close blockade of Germany impossible. This episode suggests that deadly violence that is inflicted slowly through nutritional deprivation and blockades may be easier for the international community to accept than instantaneous violence.