Royal Sovereign and global naval competition

The Royal Sovereign class marked Britain's first battleship order on this scale since the Napoleonic Wars, replacing small or loosely associated building groups with a substantial programme. Britain had to consider Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and the United States rather than size its fleet against one fixed opponent. Later dreadnought competition in Europe likewise involved Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Britain, and France. Developments in one region could alter decisions in another, as the South American dreadnought competition affected both American and European calculations. Naval competition was a connected global system rather than a simple two-power contest.