The pre-war contest cannot be understood as a simple Anglo-German race. South American, Ottoman-Greek, and Franco-Italian-Austro-Hungarian rivalries developed alongside American and Japanese construction. Each programme affected what other governments believed a modern fleet might face. By 1914, these national programmes formed a global competition in capital-ship capability.
Chapter · 10:03-12:01
Why 1914 was a global naval race
British and German construction mattered, but American, Japanese, French, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and South American choices formed an interconnected capital-ship race.