Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 3:56:35-3:57:39

Who France's super-dreadnought fleet was built against

A Mediterranean arms-race answer maps French, Italian, and Austro-Hungarian battleship construction onto their real rivalries.

Austro-Hungarian NavyBattleshipsFrench NavyMediterraneanRegia Marina
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Question

Was France's planned Bretagne, Normandie, and Lyon fleet intended to counter Austria-Hungary?

Short answer

Its primary target was Italy, within a triangular Mediterranean rivalry in which Italian building reacted to both France and Austria-Hungary.

Notes

Italy built against France, France answered Italy, Austria-Hungary answered Italy, and Italy then balanced both neighbors. France and Austria-Hungary could largely ignore one another because French strategic hostility focused more strongly on Germany and Italy. The pattern cautions against assigning a fleet program to the geographically nearest navy without examining alliance politics.