Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:49:53-1:51:43

Why pre-dreadnought is a retrospective label

Pre-dreadnought is treated as a later label, while the République and Liberté classes mark France's return to a modern battle line.

Danton Class BattleshipsFrench NavyLiberté Class BattleshipsPre-DreadnoughtsRépublique Class Battleships
Watch at this timeFull video guide
Question

What is a favorite French pre-dreadnought, and how useful is that label?

Short answer

The label is retrospective; the République and Liberté classes stand out as the ships that restored a modern French battle line.

Notes

Designers could not have thought of their ships as pre-dreadnoughts before HMS Dreadnought existed. Each vessel can instead be judged as a contemporary battleship rather than defined only by what followed. The République and Liberté classes were closely related groups that gave France six modern all-steel battleships and brought French design back toward, or perhaps beyond, foreign standards. The Danton class appears as the next step in that recovery. The passage combines a terminology caution with a compact assessment of French battleship development.