<P> International conflict specialist Theresa Clair Smith, defines the term as "the participation of two or more nation - states in apparently competitive or interactive increases in quantity or quality of war material and / or persons under arms ." </P> <P> The term is also used to describe a competitive situation, in which the purpose is only to be more successful than one's competitors . </P> <P> From 1891 to 1914, a naval arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany took place . British concern about rapid increase in German naval power resulted in a costly building competition of Dreadnought - class ships . This tense arms race lasted until 1914, when the war broke out . After the war, a new arms race developed among the victorious Allies, which was temporarily ended by the Washington Naval Treaty . </P> <P> In addition to the British and Germans, contemporaneous but smaller naval arms races also broke out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire; the Ottomans and Greece; France and Italy; the United States and Japan; and Brazil, Argentina, and Chile . </P>

What was the arms race in world war 1