The Kiel festivities at an end, the High Sea Fleet, reinforced by a number of reserve ships, put to sea for its summer cruise in Norwegian waters. The Emperor, in the Royal Yacht “Hohenzollern,” also left for the coast of Norway. These were the conditions when the bolt fell. Can it be doubted that, when in after years and in full knowledge, the history of the war is written, it will be concluded that Germany, in giving her support to Austria-Hungary, had no thought that this would involve her use of her fleet against the greatest sea Power of the world? With much labour, and at great sacrifice, she had created a formidable diplomatic weapon to be brandished in the eyes of a timid and commercially-minded people--and such she believed the British people to be; but it was not a fleet of sufficient standing to face the greatest sea Power with confidence. The war occurred at an unpropitious moment not only for Germany, but for her ally, Austria-Hungary, so far as sea power was concerned. This country had, it is true, almost completed her first programme of four “Dreadnoughts,” but her navy was still deficient in cruisers--possessing six only--as well as in torpedo craft. In combination Austria-Hungary and Italy could have faced the naval forces of France and Great Britain in the Mediterranean, but in isolation the former’s position was from the first well-nigh hopeless, and her ships retired to Pola at the outbreak of the war. The French fleet was in good condition to take the seas. Under the spur furnished by German acts and German words it had been strengthened in ships and men, its administration ashore remodelled, and its fleets at sea reorganised. The Republican Government had confided the supreme command of its battle forces to one of the most conspicuously able sailors of the period, Admiral Boué du Lapeyrère, and could enter on the war in its naval aspects with confidence and courage. Russia was not so fortunate. She had only comparatively recently taken serious steps to replace the fleet she lost in the war with Japan. A ship-building project, known as the “Minor Programme,” was being carried out, but so far none of the vessels it comprised had become available for service. When war occurred, four “Dreadnoughts,” which were begun as far back as 1909, were not yet ready, and seven others were on the stocks, but not yet launched. Eight small cruisers laid down under the “Minor Programme” were building, two of them in a German yard, and the remainder in Russia, and there was besides a large flotilla of torpedo craft under construction. With all these vessels in commission, the Russian Navy would have become once more a factor to be reckoned with. As it happened, Russia faced the war practically without any considerable sea power.