Notable Point · 3:17:24-3:19:34

Plan Z triggers a three-way building spiral

Germany's historical Plan Z becomes still less credible when it must answer Soviet battleships in the Baltic as well as the Royal Navy.

Notes

Earlier Soviet construction leaves Moscow with active yards, supply chains, and trained workers when Germany announces Plan Z. The Soviet Union could answer German battleships in the Baltic instead of waiting for its industrial base to mature. Each Soviet response would push Germany toward a larger plan. Britain would then expand against both programs under escalator clauses and the uncapped aggregate structure of the second treaty. Plan Z becomes the trigger for a three-way building spiral that Germany is least able to sustain.