Under the proposed settlement, British and American yards avoid some interwar decay, France and Italy enter the late 1930s with stronger fleets, and Japan still has reasons to leave the treaty system. Italian resources committed to ships might no longer be available for the historical campaign in Abyssinia, while stronger French and British forces could make them more confident in opposing Germany. Routine naval cooperation with Moscow could improve Anglo-French-Soviet relations before the crisis over Poland. Hitler would then face a stronger Baltic fleet and a more credible coalition than the diplomatic separation he exploited historically. The conflict could begin elsewhere, start later, or develop under a different alliance structure.
Chapter · 2:49:45-2:52:30
Earlier rearmament changes the road to war
The enlarged treaty strengthens every major fleet except Germany's and begins Anglo-American rearmament years earlier under the cover of legal treaty building.