Larger Queen Elizabeths price Germany out of the naval race

How would Germany's economy and later naval treaties react to British 16.5-inch-gun Queen Elizabeths?

The expense would force the German Navy into a budget fight it loses to the Army, while treaty ceilings rise toward 50,000 tons and 18-inch guns.

Historically, the Queen Elizabeth and Revenge classes helped push the German naval competition toward costs the political system would not sustain. A British move to 16.5-inch guns raises that pressure further. The Navy would compete directly with the Army for money, and the Army held the stronger domestic position. The United States would probably answer with 18-inch weapons, establishing a much higher benchmark before treaty negotiations. A later agreement could therefore settle near 50,000 tons standard displacement and an 18-inch gun limit. Those ceilings might allow some of the large British interwar concepts to proceed in modified form.