So, I was wondering-could these nations:
-Belgium
-Netherlands
-Spain
-Austria-Hungary
-Brazil
-Peru
have built a larger navy than they possessed IOTL? If so, why didn't they attempt to increase the size of their naval forces? What might change those causes?
(The time period would be from about 1830 up to WWI)
Oh, and let me know if I'm missing any nations.
Belgium could have built a larger navy in the 19th century, they had a bigger industrial base and larger population than their northern neighbours the Dutch. There just wasn't any necessity for it. The Belgians didn't have an empire you'd need a large navy for, basically all resources spent on the navy could better be spent for the army for them. Unless something changes drastically (like them acquiring Indonesia or something) I don't see it happening.
The Netherlands could have built a larger one, easily. Of course they would never regain their 17th century naval dominance, but yeah, they could do it and were also a lot more naval orientated than Belgium. The problem is how to pull it off. Dutch military spending was always very low, so you'd need a mentality change for that, maybe a war threat with Britain or another large naval power could do the trick.
I think that for Spain to increase the navy is just to remain stable. It was such a backwards nation compared to the rest of Europe that the navy was always an afterthought. Let Spain develop slowly but steadily, and with the right leadership they could be much wealthier, allowing for more colonial adventures and a larger navy.
Changing Austria-Hungary's navy would also be difficult, after all they were always primarily a land empire and nothing would change that. I really can't find a reason for this.
For Brazil and Peru I gladly leave the talking to BC and other experts.