France's parity with Italy creates a strategic tension: concentrating in the Mediterranean can weaken imperial coverage, while spreading forces can weaken the balance with Italy. The 26,500-ton Dunkerque concept is presented as an attempt to gain useful numbers and global presence from the available tonnage. Its all-forward arrangement also reflects an effort to obtain an efficient design that French yards could build. The calculation depends on opponents respecting limits, a condition the later Littorios undermined.
Chapter · 48:33-52:17
Dunkerque and France’s parity problem
The Dunkerque design is read as France’s attempt to reconcile Mediterranean parity with the global demands of empire under treaty limits.