 After a recommendation from high-ranking Dutch naval officers that the "Koninklijke Marine" (Royal Netherlands Navy) be bolstered so any attacker would have to deploy a significant amount of their fleet to the East Indies, keeping it from other theaters of war, the Minister of Defense ordered the Navy to prepare designs for a two or three-member class of battlecruisers.As they had not previously designed a modern capital ship, and the only information available on modern designs came from public literature and editions of "Jane's Fighting Ships", the Dutch turned to Germany.This initially bore no results, as the two sides were unable to come to terms.