Gun caliber, pacific gestures, and battleship arms races

How much did fear of starting an arms race influence the gun caliber Britain selected as its standard?

Little during the immediate post-World War I qualitative race, but 1930s support for fourteen-inch guns became a political effort to appear less aggressive and fit balanced ships inside treaty limits.

Britain and the United States were already engaged in qualitative competition around 1918-1919, so fear of appearing to start it did not dominate early choices. In the 1930s, politicians could present fourteen-inch guns as more pacific and easier to balance within treaty displacement, although fewer sixteen-inch guns could meet the same weight constraint and the symbolism did not erase strategic rivalry.