Did naval treaties drive carrier air group evolution?

How much did the naval treaties affect the evolution of carrier air groups?

Treaties influenced carrier and air-group size, but their limited duration meant they were not a major driver of the air group's long-term functional evolution.

The distinction sets the scope for the rest of the lecture. Tonnage ceilings and conversion rules shaped particular hulls and the number of aircraft they could embark, especially during the interwar period. They did not persist across the full century in which reconnaissance, air defense, strike, ASW, logistics, and electronic warfare transformed the composition of carrier air groups. The viewer should therefore treat treaties as one constraint on size rather than the master explanation for every later change in air-group function.