Why smaller Deutschland guns would not prevent Dunkerque

How would France and Italy respond to a Deutschland class armed with 8.3-inch guns?

Italy could rely on its heavy cruisers, while France would still build Dunkerque and Strasbourg for broader strategic reasons.

Italy already possessed heavy cruisers capable of handling a Deutschland armed with 8.3-inch guns, so it would not need a special reply. France would still use new German construction to justify Dunkerque and Strasbourg, which also answered wider Mediterranean requirements and Italian heavy cruisers. A battery of more 210 mm weapons would alter the German ship's firepower without changing its basic commerce-raiding purpose. France's deeper problem was difficulty turning available technology and arms spending into coherent joint doctrine and implementation.