Quantity and quality in Edwardian naval competition

The Anglo-German naval race centred on the number of ships each side could deploy. Germany's drive for a fleet too large for Britain to fight was particularly threatening because it sat just across the North Sea, and Germany had traditionally been Britain's landward partner. Britain, the United States, Italy and Japan also competed over the quality and prestige of individual ships. A competitor could answer a single superior battleship with a later design, while several second-best ships still gave their owner substantial military power. Germany had the industry to join this qualitative competition, but its navy lacked the political weight to fund both races alongside the army. The scenario therefore has to consider how a British research programme changes foreign spending and industrial priorities.