French disarmament required German weakness

French leaders did not treat disarmament as a willingness to accept equal vulnerability. President Alexandre Millerand and Raymond Poincare wanted French armament to remain above Germany's, while the Treaty of Versailles suppressed German maritime industry and naval capacity. Britain also accepted that reduction of German sea power even when the allies differed elsewhere. The losses and psychological trauma of Verdun made security against Germany inseparable from the desire to prevent another war. France could therefore favour arms limitation while demanding an unequal postwar order.