The quantitative and qualitative dreadnought races

A 1909 treaty comes too early to resemble the later Washington or London systems. Britain and Germany are engaged primarily in a quantitative contest, while Britain, the United States, Italy, Japan, and other powers are beginning a qualitative competition over battleship performance. That qualitative race crosses national boundaries because designs can combine Parsons turbines, British boilers, and components from other countries. Germany cannot easily compete in both races without taking money from the Army, so its battleships often follow rather than lead major design changes. Many capital ships later associated with the First World War have not yet been designed, leaving governments to limit a technology whose direction and costs remain uncertain.