The Deutschland class shows why the video's causal test excludes some conspicuous interwar choices. Surface raiding and battlecruiser ideas predated the First World War, while the class's two triple 11-inch turrets were a fresh design decision rather than an inherited requirement. The ships are described as large heavy cruisers rather than pocket battleships. One alternative would have lengthened the hull and added a third turret, creating a nine-gun cruiser. Germany could then have repeated that type until resources and research supported a true battleship instead of moving directly to Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
Notable Point · 24:19-27:44
Why the Deutschland class was not simply a WWI-derived mistake
The German large cruisers reflected interwar design and procurement choices more directly than lessons imposed by the First World War.