The requirement for the Kriegsmarine to divide its quota of 35% tonnage by category of warship meant that the Germans were obliged to build a symmetrical shipbuilding programme for the ”balanced fleet” that reflected the UK`s priorities. [25] Since Royal Navy leaders believed that the ”balanced fleet” would be the easiest to defeat the German fleet and that a German guerrilla fleet would be the most dangerous, the agreement brought significant strategic advantages to the United Kingdom. [49] Especially since the Royal Navy did not build ”pocket battleships,” Chatfield appreciated the end of armored shipbuilding. [49] c) Germany will adhere to the 35:100 ratio in all circumstances, i.B. the ratio will not be influenced by the construction of other powers. If the general balance of naval armaments, as usually maintained in the past, is violently disturbed by abnormal and extraordinary construction by other Powers, the German Government reserves the right to invite Her Majesty`s Government in the United Kingdom to examine the new situation thus created. The agreement between Germany and Britain, signed on June 18, 1935, which limited the size of the German navy to 35% of the British Commonwealth, was often criticized for the damage it caused to Britain`s efforts. France and Italy formed a common front against Hitler`s unilateral rejection of the colony of Versailles, which also led to the bitterness of relations between Britain and France at a time when Anglo-French unity towards Germany was indispensable. Nevertheless, the agreement had a broader meaning: it was part of the extensive but ultimately futile efforts to control weapons at sea in the interwar period, and at the same time an important first step in Britain`s cowardly Nazi Germany policy, which became known as appeasement.
(d) The German Government supports the issue of the limitation of naval armament of the system which divides warships into categories, fixes the maximum tonnage and/or armament of ships of each category and allocates the tonnage to be allocated to each Power by category of ship. Consequently, the German Government is prepared, in principle, and subject to point (f) below, to apply the 35%. To submit the tonnage ratio of each category of ships to be maintained and any modification of that ratio in one or more categories given to the relevant rules that may be laid down in a future general contract restricting maritime transport, such agreements being based on the principle that any increase in one category would be offset by a corresponding reduction in the other categories. If no general treaty on the restriction of the navy is to be concluded, or if the future general contract is not to contain provisions that create a limit by category, the manner and extent to which the German government has the right to vary the 35%. Relations in one or more categories will be settled amicably between the German Government and Her Majesty`s Government in the United Kingdom in the light of the maritime situation that existed at the time. In November 1934, the Germans officially informed the United Kingdom of their desire to conclude a treaty with the United Kingdom under which the Reichsmarine could reach the size of 35% of the Royal Navy. .
