Page 76 - NS-2 Textbook

THE RISE TO WORLD POWER STATUS 69

The battleships US$ Arkansas (left) and USS Texas (right) go through the Gatun Locks in the Panama Canal in 1919, heading back to the
Pacific Fleet after duty in the North Atlantic during World War I. The canal was opened in August 1914, just as the war began in Europe.

ment. On 6 November the United States formally recog-
nized the Republic of Panama as a sovereign nation. CRITICAL THINKING
Fifteen days after the revolution, a treaty was con-
cluded with Panama, which gave the United States a 1. Research the British battleship HMS Dreadl1aught and
Canal Zone 10 miles wide "in perpetuity" for $10 million the many innovations it incorporated that caused it to
and a $250,000 annual payment. The treaty was ratified become the standard for the modem battleship.
by the u.s. Senate on 23 November. (The canal was re-
turned by the United States to Panamanian conh'Ol on 31
December 1999.)
Construction of the canal began in 1904. The U.s.
Army Corps of Engineers used all of its teclmical skill
and organizing ability and built the canal in ten years. An
Chronology
average of 39,000 men worked daily. Building dams, they
created Gatun Lake, 85 feet above sea level. By means of 1865 Civil War ends
three sets of locks, each 1,000 feet long and 110 feet wide, 1873 Naval Institute established
ships are raised to the lake to transit the isthmus and 1884 Naval War College established
then lowered again to sea level on the other side. The 1890 Mahan publishes Sea Power study
canal was opened on August 19l4, just as the First World 1898 Spanish-American War
War began in Europe. The Navy now had its priceless 1907 HMS Dreadnought launched
canal. All of Mahan's criteria for America to become a 1907 Voyage of Great White Fleet
major world power through sea pmver had been met. 1914 Panama Canal opens