Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Accord signed in 1935 limiting the number of German surface vessels to 35 percent of the combined strength of British and Commonwealth navies, and allowing equality in numbers of submarines. The British took the initiative, being keen to avoid a costly European naval race similar to the pre-1914 one, and anxious about the threat to their overseas possessions posed by Japan's fleet enlargement. The agreement was ill-judged. Germany had no intention of constructing a larger fleet; the accord sanctioned a breach of the versailles treaty's rearmament provisions; and Britain's failure to consult with other powers weakened both the league of nations and the stresa front . ... log in or subscribe to read full text