French parity with Italy and strategic dependence

Anglo-American parity differed sharply from the much more hostile Franco-Italian relationship of the 1920s. Italy could concentrate almost its entire fleet in the Mediterranean, while France also had Atlantic coasts and a dispersed colonial empire to protect. Accepting equal treaty strength therefore deprived France of an independently adequate force and made Royal Navy support essential in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Far East. Delayed cruiser construction and unstable political direction compounded the treaty error, leaving French strategy dependent on British choices even when the two governments had different interests. Britain also expected Congress to leave some of America's permitted naval strength unfunded, making Anglo-American parity less threatening in practice than the formal ratios suggested.