After the German "Kaiserliche Marine" (Imperial Navy) ordered the four pre-dreadnought battleships in 1889, a combination of budgetary constraints, opposition in the "Reichstag" (Imperial Diet), and a lack of a coherent fleet plan delayed the acquisition of further battleships. The former Secretary of the "Reichsmarineamt" (Imperial Navy Office), Leo von Caprivi, became the Chancellor of Germany in 1890, and "Vizeadmiral" (Vice Admiral) Friedrich von Hollmann became the new Secretary of the "Reichsmarineamt". Hollmann requested the first pre-dreadnought battleship in 1892, but the Franco-Russian Alliance, signed the year before, put the government's attention on expanding the Army's budget. Parliamentary opposition forced Hollmann to delay until the following year, when Caprivi spoke in favor of the project, noting that Russia's recent naval expansion threatened Germany's Baltic Sea coastline. In late 1893, Hollmann presented the Navy's estimates for the 1894–1895 budget year, and now the "Reichstag" approved the new ship; a second member of the class followed in early 1896, and the third ship, "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse", was authorized for the following year's budget.