Why French parity with Italy was strategically awkward

France accepted the same treaty scale as Italy despite having wider imperial commitments and a direct Mediterranean rival. Anglo-American parity rested on a less adversarial relationship and on Britain's expectation that Congress would not fund the full US allowance. The United States could concentrate mainly in the Pacific, while Britain and France had to consider several oceans and overseas territories. Italy's burdens were more concentrated in the Mediterranean. Equal ratios therefore concealed unequal strategic demands and left France with too little margin for home and imperial defence.