Following up on these ships, Italy launched a substantial program to bolster the strength of the Regia Marina. The Italians believed that building a strong navy would play a crucial role in making the recently unified kingdom a Great Power. These actions captured the attention of the Austrian Empire, which viewed Italy with great suspicion and worry, as irredentist claims by Italian nationalists were directed at key Austrian territories such as Venice, Trentino, and Trieste. In response to the growing strength of the Regia Marina, the Imperial Austrian Navy subsequently ordered two ironclads in 1860. In the years immediately after the unification of Italy, Austria and Italy engaged in a naval arms race centered upon the construction and acquisition of ironclads. This arms race between the two nations continued for the rest of Ferdinand Max's tenure as "Oberkommandant".