By July 1914, the dreadnought competition was effectively decided in Britain's favor. Large British orders for Queen Elizabeth and R-class battleships pushed the pace and cost beyond Germany's capacity to match. German designs were closer to the R class than to the Queen Elizabeth class, and Berlin was not ordering enough ships to recover the gap. Once naval construction threatened the army's budget, the Imperial German Navy lost the funding contest, showing how interservice priorities set the ceiling on a naval arms race.
Notable Point · 1:15:05-1:15:49
Why Germany lost the dreadnought race
British Queen Elizabeth and R-class orders raised the price of competition until German naval spending collided with the army's budget.