Théophile Aube paused French battleship construction while serving as minister of marine in 1886-1887. Restarting construction was harder than stopping it. Aube died in 1890, while France still had to live with the consequences of the interruption. The example adds an industrial qualification to the Jeune École economy argument: decisions intended to avoid expensive large ships could impose costs that outlasted the decision-maker.
Notable Point · 7:28-8:14
Aube's battleship pause leaves France the restart problem
Théophile Aube's 1886-1887 pause in battleship construction illustrates why restarting a shipbuilding programme can be harder than stopping it.