Everyone could set targets. The Austrian Navy had set its sights on eighty percent of the Royal Navy; naturally, the French Navy would not back down.
As the world's second-strongest naval power, it had to surpass the Austrian Navy somehow—for instance, by reaching ninety percent of the Royal Navy's tonnage.
Everyone was being considerate. There was no intention of challenging British naval supremacy; their shipbuilding plans merely aimed to approach the Royal Navy, without clamoring about surpassing it.
Of course, that was merely how France and Austria saw it. In the eyes of the London Government, it was an entirely different matter.
Whether eighty percent or ninety percent of the tonnage, both threatened the Royal Navy's hegemonic position.
They were all world empires, and their navies could not remain concentrated together every day. If someone ignored the rules and suddenly launched a sneak attack, the outcome would truly be hard to predict.
Even if the Royal Navy could win, it would suffer grievous losses. After eliminating one challenger, it would no longer have the strength to deal with another.
France and Austria, both land-power nations, could afford this sort of mutually destructive war. Even if they lost, they would still have a chance to rise again.
Britain could not. Once the Royal Navy suffered catastrophic losses, its old enemies would swarm in and carve up its world empire, leaving it no chance whatsoever to make a comeback.
The tangible threat was right before them. Having taken the initiative to provoke the arms race, the British Government naturally would not back down at such a time.
Inside the Downing Street government building, after comparing the shipbuilding plans of France and Austria, Prime Minister Gladstone smiled. "It seems our opponents are both quite ambitious!
"Austria plans to build five battleships, and with