Germans reach Paris in 1914

[Alternate History Geek]

WI they had?

[Riain]

Easier said than done. However Paris was the centre of the transport network of northern France, if it falls the job of sending troops from one flank to another will be considerably more difficult.

[Enigmajones]

Misread this as Germans capture Paris in 1944. That would be cool.

[MattII]

It's doubtful they could have captured the city proper, although just getting to outskirts would have hurt French morale enough.

[phx1138]

As I understand it, it was impossible regardless what France did. The German vanguard was too far from its railheads & couldn't move enough food & fodder to maintain the advance.

[Paul V McNutt]

France surrenders but Britain fights on A successfull Gallopoli keeps Russia in the war.

[Polish Eagle]

Originally Posted by Paul V McNutt

France surrenders but Britain fights on A successfull Gallopoli keeps Russia in the war.

France wouldn't necessarily surrender. Their people could just as easily be outraged that the capitol is in baby-stabbing Hun hands, and rally to the cause. The army had contingency plans for the fall of Paris. The Germans would be at the end of their supply lines, so their advance troops would easily be cut off and destroyed in Paris. Avenging Paris will become a national goal of this war.

[wiking]

Paris was heavily fortified and defended by a garrison, so expect a lengthy siege.

[Badshah]

Originally Posted by Polish Eagle

France wouldn't necessarily surrender. Their people could just as easily be outraged that the capitol is in baby-stabbing Hun hands, and rally to the cause. The army had contingency plans for the fall of Paris. The Germans would be at the end of their supply lines, so their advance troops would easily be cut off and destroyed in Paris. Avenging Paris will become a national goal of this war.

I thought Paris also happened to have all of France's radio communications, plus the Eiffel Tower, which helped with that. Rallying would get that much more difficult.

I think with Paris in German hands, France simply surrenders.

[Polish Eagle]

Originally Posted by trollhole

I thought Paris also happened to have all of France's radio communications, plus the Eiffel Tower, which helped with that. Rallying would get that much more difficult.

I think with Paris in German hands, France simply surrenders.

They had 43 years of military planning, much of it pre-dating radio, in an era after a war in which the Germans reached Paris. I'd question the competence of a military that doesn't account for the possibility of Paris falling.

While rallying will be more difficult, it will not be impossible, and by this time, most of the French army was in the field, standing ready to take vengeance on the Boche. It wouldn't be like 1940, where the army was outflanked, driven back in confusion, destroyed in pieces, and lost morale as a result. Here, much of the French army will not even have begun to fight.

[Badshah]

Originally Posted by Polish Eagle

They had 43 years of military planning, much of it pre-dating radio, in an era after a war in which the Germans reached Paris. I'd question the competence of a military that doesn't account for the possibility of Paris falling.

While rallying will be more difficult, it will not be impossible, and by this time, most of the French army was in the field, standing ready to take vengeance on the Boche. It wouldn't be like 1940, where the army was outflanked, driven back in confusion, destroyed in pieces, and lost morale as a result. Here, much of the French army will not even have begun to fight.

Well, yeah. That's not the only reason I think France would surrender, but I think the difficulty in rallying would contribute to that.

[Kalan]

Originally Posted by Paul V McNutt

France surrenders but Britain fights on A successfull Gallopoli keeps Russia in the war.

You have to keep in mind that in the franco-prussian war France kept on fighting for three months after Paris had fallen and their emperor been captured. Moreover they were fighting alone without any allies to come to their aid, yet still refused to surrender.

I think it is extremly unlikely that they would just give up now when they had allies sending troops.

Nonetheless capturing Paris would be a great victory for Germany. From a strategic point of view they just managed to cripple the French transport system as almost all major railways and streets converged in Paris. They would also have captured a major part of the industries. With those advantages I can easily see them capturing most of the territories north of the Seine during the race to the sea.
Equally important are the diplomatic ramifications. With Paris fallen I doubt that Italy will join the Entent but rather stay neutral or even side with the central powers.

Thus I think capturing Paris in 1914 will allow the Germans to win the war but only after two more years of intense fighting.

[Shaby]

I'd say, without some serious blunder on part of the French, this cannot happen. Basically, unless they stop fighting (the French I mean) Germans have zero chane of reaching, much less of capturing Paris. Even if French army in the field is driven back, or shattered, there would be Paris garrison, which formed into an army after German attack lost steam and attacked from the lank. Had that not happened they would defend Paris while French army mobilizes additional forces to relieve the garrison.

In short, the Germans cannot take Paris in 1914, unless France scr*ws up badly and repeatedly in Border Battles.

[Smaug]

Much bigger and maybe not better American influence in Europe...

[Ironstark]

I expect it would be very tough to get to Paris, let alone take it. But let's assume the Germans do a lot better and the French make some mistakes. The Germans could easily reach artillery range of Paris and simply blow it to hell, damaging railroads, radio, supplies etc. That alone could seriously hurt the French war effort doubt they would surrender though

[Monty Burns]

The 1870 war is not really comparable. To fight a war WWI-style, logistics are crucial. Paris is THE transportation hub. Reaching Paris doesn't necessarily neutralize that hub, but if it does, it becomes almost impossible to supply the French (and British, for that matter) armies in Northern France.

Additionally, Paris as a center of industry, commerce and administration was also more important to 1914 France than 1870 France.

If the Germans TAKE Paris in 1914 (extremely unlikely unless much earlier POD), France must surrender. If the Germans reach Paris, there's a high likelyhood that France will surrender due to what happens next.

[BlondieBC]

It really takes a serious of Entente blunders for this to happen in 1914. To give you an example, it would take at least the Russians seriously messing up its mobilization schedule, the French losing an entire army and the BEF arriving months later to even a have a realistic chance. Most POD with a single serious Entente blunder only gives the Germans either the Marne in Central France or Calais, not both.

But to your question, if Paris falls by 1/1/1915, France is effectively out of the war and the Entente lose. France has lost well over 25% of its population, it main industrial center, its RR hub, and its capital. Italy will never enter the war. Depending on if your POD help A-H do better in Galicia, we get two broad scenarios. If A-H is still struggling, German will turn east in 1915 and keep driving until Russia is out of the war. If the Russian front is stable, Germany will focus on taking the rest of France which it will be able to do.

If I had to place a bet, I would go with Paris falling in 1914 means serious peace negotiations in 1915 and war is over by Christmas of 1915. Germany imposes harsh terms on France but gives Paris back to the French. Germany gets client states in east and maybe some annexations. A-H can be all over the place in what happens. The UK will have a large professional army after the war because France will be crippled. The colonial picture can go a lot of ways, but I would have German as net gainer of colonies and France losing colonies. UK will keep all its colonies and gain some Pacific colonies. So will Japan.