A larger cruiser program could have strengthened industry and made military preparedness more visible. That preparation could also have challenged dictators' belief that Western powers were unwilling to fight another war. Forty or more County-type cruisers across the Empire could have placed stronger groups against Graf Spee, supplied more shadows for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and made Bismarck harder to lose at sea. Germany would then have faced the same Versailles-limited starting point but a much higher force threshold before commerce raiding or fleet competition looked credible.
Notable Point · 2:33:51-2:36:19
How cruiser numbers could deter commerce raiders
A much larger Anglo-American cruiser force could have raised the cost of German raiding and signaled that the treaty powers remained willing to defend the maritime order.