France's naval requirement did not vanish after 1918. Even without Britain's mercantile scale, France had a large merchant fleet and an economy dependent on overseas movement. The war had also killed, wounded, or traumatized a large share of the population needed for national recovery. Carrier aviation was therefore under consideration in a country that still needed maritime reach but had far less human and political capacity to invest in it.
Notable Point · 18:47-23:12
France still needed ocean access
France needed sea lines for merchant trade and global access as well as its colonial links after a devastating war.