The report that Germany is massing troops from the Ems to the mouth of the Elbe is being interpreted as indicating the possibility of a descent upon Holland for the purpose of occupying positions on the coast opposite England, whence an invasion of that country might be attempted. In this connection it is interesting to recall a similar scheme which the French Republic conceived in 1801, and which Napoleon revived in 1803, and maintained as a menacing possibility until August 1805. The assembly of flat-bottomed boats at Boulogne in 1801 and the contemplated invasion, even though Nelson tried unsuccessfully to destroy the craft, was regarded at the time as more of a threat made for diplomatic purposes than as an actual military menace. The uneasy two years which followed the signing of the armistice n London on October 1, 1802 and the subsequent Peace of Amiens, ended on May 18, 1803, afd for ihe next two years and two months Napoleon made most determined-attempts to throw an invading army across the Channel to land somewhere on the English coast between Dover and Hastings. The scheme was founded on the republican Boulogne flotilla. The Republic had collected 240 vessels and with these as a nucleus Napoleon commenced to build up a fleet of no fewer than 2,400 such boats, consisting of prames, ship rigged of 35 metres long and eight metres beam, carrying twelve guns, chaloupes cannoniéres 24 metres long and five wide carrying five guns and brig-rigged, bateaux cannoniers of 19 metres long, 1.56 wide and carrying two guns, and, finally, mere boats. All were built to be rowed, were flat-bottomed, with shallow draft capable of navigating near the shore, and of being grounded without harm. The shallow waters of the French coast made it impossible for the British line-of-battle ships and even large frigates to press an attack home on them, while they were able to beat off smaller vessels, with the result that the concentration at Boulogne was effected, and 130,000 men kept in readiness, and thoroughly drilled in embarking and disembarking quickly.
The idea was that this flotilla could push across the Channel during a calm, but experience showed that, when the needful allow ance was made for the time to bring them out of the harbour (two tides) and for the influence which the Channel currents would have upon their speed, it was extremely rash to rely upon a calm of sufficient length. Napoleon then sought to concentrate his fleet in the Channel in an endeavour to secure mastery of that stretch of water, but in this he never succeeded, and when in 1805 Villeneuve, deeply impressed by the inefficiency of his ships and especially of the Spaniards, and convinced that an overwhelming British force would be united against him in the Channel, sailed south for Cadiz the whole elaborate scheme was ruined. Napoleon at once broke' up the camp at Boulogne and [marched to Germany. It will be seen that the dominating factor operating against the success of Napoleon's plan was Britain's command of the seas. If indeed the German high command has in mind a similar venture mastery of the seas will again prove of considerable if not decisive importance, but things have changed considerably since Napoleon was thwarted, and in addition any attempt to invade Britain from Holland will not be successful unless the invader not only commands the seas but the air as well. Germany certainly has not control of the seas, and in all human probability never will. Neither has she yet mastery of the air. That issue has still to be decided, but without both these things it is unlikely that Germany will embark upon any such rash undertaking. As a repetition of the diplomatic menace of 1801 it may have some weight, though, even that will not be impressive so long as the Allies can maintain present superiority at sea, and challenge Germany on a basis of equality in the air. Unless Germany could at all times maintain reliable lines of communication across the North Sea, and that at any rate at present would seem to be impossible, the chances of such an invasion of Britain would be slim in the ex-
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