After the First World War, the victorious countries, while sharing the fruits of victory, did not forget to put heavy shackles on the initiators. With the exception of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which ceased to exist after the war, Germany became the main target of European countries and the United States.
According to the treaty signed at that time, Germany could only have 8 old warships for coastal defense at the same time. However, in World War II, it can be seen that the German navy showed no sign of being "castrated" by the peace treaty, and even caused a lot of obstacles to the well-known "maritime power" Britain. Why has the German Navy come back to life in just 20 years, and has other countries turned a blind eye?
Of course not, at that time, the United States, Britain, France and other countries were quite defensive about Germany. Not only did it limit German steel production, but it also stipulated the timing of the change of warships in the German Navy. When the United States, Britain, France and other countries ask for a new warship made by Germany to be launched, it will take at least 20 years before the battleship they want to replace will be launched, that is, Germany cannot replace the battleship in a short period of time even if it has new technology.
According to such regulations, Germany cannot turn around in just 20 years. Just as there are countermeasures under the so-called policy, Germany has brought the naval warship technology to the extreme without violating the peace treaty. A large number of Germans, who were expecting national rejuvenation, poured into battleship manufacturing. Just a few years after the defeat, Germany developed armored ships with a tonnage that did not exceed the standard and were faster.
Then Germany developed the faster Scharnhorst class battlecruiser, which although it did not have the strong position warfare capabilities of Britain and France, but won in briskness, giving full play to the speed advantage of "can't fight but run", and World War II proved that Germany's thinking was correct.
Because according to the slow development of the navy, even if Germany used the strength of the whole country, abandoned the research and development of land and air combat readiness, and devoted all its energy to the development of the navy, it would not be able to defeat Britain head-on. It was because of this understanding that Germany would build small, fast and destructive warships.
At this time, the Washington Naval Treaty signed by Britain, the United States, France, Japan and other countries was about to expire. At that time, the world pattern was quite delicate, and all countries had plans to develop more powerful naval ships, so basically no country was willing to renew the treaty. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Germany set in motion to develop a 35,000-ton warship without supervision.
Immediately after the battleship was conceived, Germany announced the abolition of the restrictions imposed on the German Navy in the Treaty of Versailles. In fact, Germany at this time was taking a risk, betting that other powers did not have the energy to limit themselves. At the same time, in order to reduce its chances of being punished, Germany turned around and signed an agreement with Britain, which won British approval without guaranteeing that the navy's warships would not exceed 35% of Britain's.
At this point, Germany cleared the way for its own naval construction. But Germany's ambitions did not stop there, and Britain was also blinded by Germany's weakness and did not notice signs of a resurgence of the German navy.
After the expiration of the Washington Naval Treaty, France, Italy, and Japan rejected the new British-led agreements one after another. While Britain was dealing with these three countries, Germany officially built the larger tonnage Bismarck-class battleships. It was only then that the British discovered Germany's ambitions, and although they immediately demanded that Germany limit the Bismarck class to less than 35,000 tons, Germany did not care about The British demands. In this way, taking advantage of the chaos in other countries, the German Navy was able to make a comeback.