"And this Germany--united Germany--must calmly submit to, precisely at the great moment when, after long years, it once more feels itself a whole, a Power of forty millions of people. But the Fatherland recognises the oppressive nature of its situation; it demands a remedy all the more speedy because after these events, it foresees with certainty how much more painful its position might some day be if it were pitted against one of the great Sea Powers, a Power against which the German ships would not be secure even in their own harbours, a fleet which could menace our coasts with debarkations on a much more extensive scale than is possible to our present foe. United Germany, however, wishes to see her territories energetically protected, her flag respected, her trade once more flourishing, and in the future to have some influence on the sea." Prince Adalbert then weighed the three alternatives: (_a_) Defensive coast protection; (_b_) offensive coast protection; and (_c_) an independent German sea-power; and finally reached the conclusion: "Germany must either build no battleships or at once build so many that she can act towards her neighbours as an independent Sea-Power. Anything intermediate would be a useless expense, an empty pretension, and would arouse in the nation expectations which, in the moment of danger, our sea-power would not be able to fulfil. "If we now ask what would be the smallest number of battleships which would allow us to act in European waters as an independent fleet, especially against the ever-ready Russian Baltic fleet, I think we must take twenty battleships as the minimum that would be able to measure itself with it. But such a fleet would make Germany fourth among the Sea-Powers of first rank, and place her incontestably in a position to play a great rôle on the sea, a rôle which would be worthy of her position in Europe. For with her twenty battleships she would be able to throw an enormous weight into the scales, turn the balance by her adherence to an alliance, and consequently be as much sought after as an ally on account of her sea-power as on account of her land-power." The Prince accordingly proposed that the German building programme should include 20 battleships with auxiliary screws, 10 frigates, 30 steam cruisers, 40 gunboats, and 80 gun-sloops; and that the construction of these vessels should be spread over a period of ten years. In this project we have that same principle of the gradual working up to a fixed standard of strength which has characterised all modern German naval legislation.