Design work on the began in 1910 in the context of the Anglo-German naval arms race, with initial discussions focused on the caliber of the main battery; previous German battleships had carried guns, but as foreign navies adopted and weapons, the German naval command felt the need to respond with larger guns of their own. They considered , , and guns. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary of the "Reichsmarineamt" (RMA—Imperial Naval Office), was able to use public outcry over the Agadir Crisis to pressure the "Reichstag" (Imperial Diet) into appropriating additional funds for the "Kaiserliche Marine" (Imperial Navy) to offset the additional cost of the larger weapons. The design staff settled on the 38 cm caliber since the 40 cm was significantly more expensive and the 38 cm gun marked a significant improvement over existing German guns. The class was authorized under the fourth and final Naval Law, which was passed in 1912. As work on the first two units of the class— and —began, the design staff examined the latest developments in foreign warships and learned that the latest British battleships, the , would have a high top speed. This prompted them to alter the third member of the class, , to include a diesel engine. "Sachsen"s length increased to accommodate the larger engine, increasing displacement by about over the earlier members of the class. As work began on "Württemberg", the last member of the class, the designers intended to retain the increased dimensions while reverting to an all-steam turbine arrangement. The savings in weight would be used to improve "Württemberg"s armor layout. This proved to be impossible, because the decision was made to outfit the new vessel as a fleet flagship, and the larger bridge necessary for an admiral's staff more than offset the reduction in weight. Indeed, the alterations forced the design staff to increase standard displacement by another 200 t. Cost of the new ships spiraled higher and higher; "Württemberg" amounted to an 8.6 percent increase over "Sachsen", which was in turn a 13 percent increase over the estimated costs for "Bayern" and "Baden". Tirpitz presented the finalized design for the new ship to Kaiser Wilhelm II for approval in June 1914, during the Kiel Week sailing regatta, calculated to take advantage of Wilhelm's good mood to secure his approval for the skyrocketing price.