The French Navy's weaker wartime claim

Prewar Jeune Ecole ideas, submarine warfare, Gallipoli, the Goeben chase, and limited French naval visibility combined into one political problem. Much of the French Navy's war consisted of necessary but less celebrated protection of sea communications rather than a decisive fleet encounter. The Royal Navy could point to Coronel, Jutland, and worldwide operations when arguing for postwar relevance, while the French Navy had no equivalent public claim. That difference helps explain why French naval aviation lacked the institutional leverage enjoyed by larger carrier navies.