What if France would have rejected all notions of an alliance with Russia and instead, allied itself to Britain and/or Italy?
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It was a mistake, I corrected it already. Though, a timeline of isolation does sound interesting. What do you think might of happened if France pursued a policy of isolation?
Here was France; wealthy with a growing colonial empire and with Germany and Austria-Hungary as built in hedges against Russian expansion. They just didn't see how good they had it did they?
Here was France; wealthy with a growing colonial empire and with Germany and Austria-Hungary as built in hedges against Russian expansion. They just didn't see how good they had it did they?
Yes I agree with this. France is fine. Germany is not going to move westward. So absent the revenge mania festering over several decades why the need for an alliance with the (apeshit crazy) Russia?
Consider a Europe with a defeated Germany and Austria-Hungary. Russia's protegee Serbia is on the Adriatic and Russia is presiding over a post '45 like empire as well as being in the Straits.
How's that working out, France?
Germany's WWI war aims did involve a westward border change.
How was Russia "apeshit crazy"?
How does Serbia/Yugoslavia, of all countries, threaten France?
Russia, out of all its "post-45 Empire" will have...Poland. And maybe Czechoslovakia.
Also, there is no Communism - nor any other exportable dangerous ideology tied to Russia.
Which again brings us to the question - just how does the Russian Empire endanger France?
Sorry, but it seems like you're translating the 1945 situation to 1918 (and a 1918 with no USSR too), and the contexts are too different in too many ways to count.
What if France would have rejected all notions of an alliance with Russia and instead, allied itself to Britain and/or Italy?
I assume we are talking about the period up to the first world war? Personally I believe an alliance between Germany and Russia would have been a likely alternative. This would probably have meant that Austria-Hungary would have allied with Britain and France. Italy would probably have stayed neutral. They had no reason tyo ally with AH and France. If they joined an alliance it would be with Germany and Russia. An alternate triple alliance.
Austria-Hungary isn't going to join any alliance hostile to both Germany and Russia, it'd be suicide.I assume we are talking about the period up to the first world war? Personally I believe an alliance between Germany and Russia would have been a likely alternative. This would probably have meant that Austria-Hungary would have allied with Britain and France. Italy would probably have stayed neutral. They had no reason tyo ally with AH and France. If they joined an alliance it would be with Germany and Russia. An alternate triple alliance.
Don't understand this scenario either?
If France does not ally with Russia and Russia and Austria fall out over Serbia then assuming Russia is daft enough to enter a war against Austria and Germany (and probably Turkey too) without allies then it will lose in fairly short shrift (say 1916), even with British and French help.
What is more likely is that Britain and France threaten war with Germany if Russia is too badly beaten. Germany might be so full of the victory disease as to take them on but more likely Poland is split between Germany and Austria (possibly as puppet state, possibly not) and maybe the Baltics are ripped away from Russia as well.
That isn't going to upset the diplomatic apple cart too much and it probably isn't enough for Russia to collapse into civil war. Germany is much stronger (Austria is arguable not strengthened by even more minorities) and a second round is almost inevitable over some cause in the West but that is for another thread. Russia would probably want payback too so Germany ends up fighting a second war against better prepared opponents (France will have seen the impact of trench warfare in the Austro-German-Russian war and would be planning accordingly).
Austria-Hungary isn't going to join any alliance hostile to both Germany and Russia, it'd be suicide.