The beginning of the pre-dreadnought era coincided with Britain reasserting her naval dominance. For many years previously, Britain had taken naval supremacy for granted. Expensive naval projects were criticized by political leaders of all inclinations. However, in 1888 a war scare with France and the build-up of the Russian navy gave added impetus to naval construction, and the British Naval Defence Act of 1889 laid down a new fleet including eight new battleships. The principle that Britain's navy should be more powerful than the two next most powerful fleets combined was established. This policy was designed to deter France and Russia from building more battleships, but both nations nevertheless expanded their fleets with more and better pre-dreadnoughts in the 1890s.
The beginning of the pre-dreadnought era coincided with Britain reasserting her naval dominance For many years previously Britain had taken naval supremacy for granted Expensive naval projects were criticized by political leaders of all inclinations However in 1888 a war scare with France and the build-up of the Russian navy gave added impetus to naval construction and the British Naval Defence Act of 1889 laid down a new fleet including eight new battleships The principle that Britain's navy should be more powerful than the two next most powerful fleets combined was established This policy was designed to deter France and Russia from building more battleships but both nations nevertheless expanded their fleets with more and better pre-dreadnoughts in the 1890s