 The only significant naval arms race in the Western Hemisphere of the late 19th century took place in South America, but this was of little concern for the British (who built most of the ships) or for Canadians since the three powers mainly involved (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) were all on relatively friendly terms with Britain.Thus, there was no impetus to construct a Canadian Navy to counter any maritime threat based in the Western Hemisphere since no such specific threat existed.During the early years of the twentieth century, Britain found itself in a naval race with the German Empire.