Were the Dunkerques designed mainly against the Deutschlands?

Were Dunkerque and Strasbourg designed mainly to counter the Deutschland-class pocket battleships?

Not mainly; older Italian battleships were the stronger operational focus, while the German threat was often the easier case to use when seeking funding.

Older Italian battleships mattered more to the French design problem than the Deutschlands alone. The German ships were still useful public examples because invoking Germany attracted more political attention and defense funding in France. Dunkerque and Strasbourg combined a real Mediterranean requirement with a more marketable German threat narrative. Procurement arguments can emphasize one opponent even when planners are balancing several.