How treaty language created heavy and light cruisers

Ships with Hawkins-like displacement and 7.5-inch guns supplied the precedent for the Washington limits, although they had not been conceived as a separate heavy-cruiser type. The London system then formalized the distinction between cruisers above and below 6.1-inch armament. Britain favored a protected light-cruiser category because it needed many hulls for worldwide duties and could not afford to match fleets composed entirely of costly eight-inch ships. This makes the familiar heavy-versus-light terminology a product of treaty law rather than a timeless description of cruiser roles.