Accounts that treat dreadnought development and the Anglo-German naval race as a purely bilateral contest leave out the wider system. Other naval powers and arms races were operating at the same time, so British policy had to respond across several strategic relationships. Requirements created in one theatre could not be funded independently from commitments elsewhere. Maintaining a hand in every competition imposed cumulative costs that a narrow Britain-versus-Germany narrative hides.
Notable Point · 2:29:32-2:30:55
The Anglo-German naval race was not a two-power vacuum
A historiographical aside argues that Britain and Germany cannot be studied in isolation because several overlapping naval races competed for British money and attention.