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==Background==
French cruiser policy during the decade from the mid-1880s was incoherent as three different factions of the navy fought amongst themselves in four forums, the [[List of Naval Ministers of France|Navy Ministry]] ({{lang|fr|Ministre de la Marine}}), the Budgetary Committee of the [[Chamber of Deputies (France)|Chamber of Deputies]] ({{lang|fr|Chambre des députés}}), the Superior Naval Council ({{lang|fr|[[Conseil supérieur de la Marine]]}}) that proposed shipbuilding programs and ship characteristics to the Navy Minister, and the Council of Works ({{lang|fr|[[Conseil des travaux]]}}) that was responsible for evaluating ship designs. The partisans of the {{lang|fr|[[Jeune École]]}} (Young School) wanted fast, lightly armed ships for [[commerce raiding]], the traditionalists who wanted cruisers to defend the colonies and the modernists that desired armored cruisers and small [[scout cruiser]]s to operate with the battle fleet.<ref>Jordan & Caresse, p. 77; Ropp, p. 284</ref>
A traditionalist Navy Minister, [[Vice Admiral]] ({{lang|fr|Vice amiral}}) [[Armand Besnard]], succeeded the liberal politican [[Édouard Lockroy]] in April 1896, after the latter had authorized construction of the very large armored cruiser {{ship|French cruiser|Jeanne d'Arc|1899|2}} in the 1896 budget proposal, despite opposition from the {{lang|fr|Conseil des travaux}}. After rejecting a repeat {{convert|8000|t|LT|lk=on|adj=on|sp=us|0}} [[protected cruiser]] like {{ship|French cruiser|D'Entrecasteaux||2}} in the 1896 budget, Lockroy and his allies in the Budget Committee were willing to accept smaller cruisers in the following year's budget. The {{lang|fr|Conseil des travaux}} rejected Besnard's proposal for a {{convert|5700|t|LT|adj=on|sp=us|0}} protected cruiser in late 1896,<ref name=r6/> saying that the navy "needed ships that can deal out and withstand punishment",<ref>Jordan & Caresse, p. 77</ref> but Besnard authorized construction of {{ship|French cruiser|Jurien de la Gravière||2}} a few weeks later in the 1897 budget proposal anyway.<ref name=r6>Ropp, p. 286</ref>
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