Carrier aircraft in the Far East were watching Japanese activity as well as conducting maritime policing. British officials recognized that regional preparations were inadequate, but funding had repeatedly been deferred because planners assumed another major war remained at least ten years away after the supposed war to end all wars. The assumption combined postwar confidence with a Eurocentric belief that European war weariness would prevent another conflict. The result was a regional force watching a growing threat without the resources its commitments required.
Notable Point · 18:46-20:05
Far East preparedness and ten-years-away assumptions
Monitoring Japan exposed the gap between Britain's Far East commitments and interwar decisions to defer funding on the assumption that another war remained distant.