One of the ironical aspects of a world given over to war preparations is the undying illusion of the Militarist that the country to which he belongs can secure immunity from attack by building armaments which will be so overwhelming as to frighten the enemy. Not only does each country enter the competition, thus upsetting the calculation, but nobody can possibly foretell with accuracy who "the enemy" is finally going to be, for it is no exaggeration to say that the eternal friends of international politics mistrust each other as much as they mistrust the nations in rival groups.
In the armaments race itself the story is one of constant change in relative strength. No country for long holds a predominant position without provoking competitive building abroad or the formation of rival groupings. Not long ago it was the French Air Force which was the threatening "shadow over Europe", now it is the German and Italian, but Britain and Russia are equally rapidly expanding to keep their lead.
As regards cruisers Germany is building five new 10,000-ton armoured vessels, with another five planned. (Daily Telegraph, May 30th. 1939) The naval correspondent says that "on paper these ships correspond to our 13 County cruisers but in fact the German ships are much more formidable . . . It would seem, therefore, common prudence that we should lay down armoured cruisers at once of a type at least equal in all-round fighting power to the new German ship.
By that time, of course, the Germans, Italians, Japs or some other Power will have produced something bigger and better, and "common prudence" will still be asking for more.
[From the Socialist Standard, July 1939 ]
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