POD: Lenin successfully convinces the Bolsheviks to sign the original Brest-Litovsk Treaty, ceding Congress Poland, Lithuania, and Livonia almost three months earlier than the OTL treaty. The extra time and manpower allows Germany to overrun France before American troops can arrive in Europe in force, but ultimately it can get only a fraction of what it wanted. The peace treaty sees Germany give up its Asian and Oceanic possessions in return for gains at the expense of France in Central Africa and its other colonies returned to it (Togoland is sold to the UK), along with Belgian-German co-dominion over the Congo. Also, a young woman named Fanny Kaplan dies in a tragic traffic accident, sparking outrage in the Petrograd Soviet.
Vladmir Lenin has been growing more and more visibly exhausted, despite Communist Party proclamations that the Premier has fully recovered after his stroke three years ago. There is no one who can replace him, though. Not that Chairman Sverdlov hasn't slowly been increasingly "assisting" Lenin since the stroke. Yakov is unlikely to simply waltz into total control, though. Not when Bukharin and the rest of the Central Committee want to restore communal leadership, and the Left Opposition (currently led by General Secretary Kollontai) is unlikely to side with Sverdlov. But things are looking bright for the Soviet Union, even as Lenin quietly ails. The Whites were easily swept into the dustbin of history, Latinisation is nearly complete, and there hasn't been a famine in 6 years anywhere in the country. But nearly everyone is ready to spread the revolution now, beyond the light adventurism into Mongolia and the East Turkestan People's Republic in the 20's. And with seemingly all of its reactionary and capitalist neighbors on the brink of distraction, the possibilities are endless.
If Germany really did win the war, why does it feel like it lost? Austria-Hungary needs near-constant soldiers to keep the peace, Bulgaria remains friendly but has gotten everything it wanted, and the Ottomans... well certainly they were allowed to feel betrayed, but they should feel lucky that the British and Americans let them off with the territory they kept. And while France does seem to be on its knees, its military government is aligning more and more with the fascists of Italy and Spain. Maybe the United Kingdom could be approached, but its government is barely keeping the fascists and unions from all-out street warfare, and Prince Edward has been making a lot of trips to Italy recently...
Japan remains a liberal democracy, but both the Army and Navy seethe under civilian rule, and a China split between three squabbling KMT factions seems to be a great prize for glory, especially after the victory of the creation of Manchuko. Crushing the Wuchang Government would be especially sweet, but the USSR would look very poorly upon attacks on all their military attachés, especially Special Advisor Trotsky (who annoys the hell out of the Left-KMT but his military experience has served them well in not getting dismantled by the Northern Warlords and the Right-KMT in Guangdong) Perhaps, if events in Europe develop favorably, the government could send all its fanatics to die fighting the colonial armies to the south. That's just a possibility, though.
If Germany really did win the war, why does it feel like it lost? Austria-Hungary needs near-constant soldiers to keep the peace, Bulgaria remains friendly but has gotten everything it wanted, and the Ottomans... well certainly they were allowed to feel betrayed, but they should feel lucky that the British and Americans let them off with the territory they kept. And while France does seem to be on its knees, its military government is aligning more and more with the fascists of Italy and Spain. Maybe the United Kingdom could be approached, but its government is barely keeping the fascists and unions from all-out street warfare, and Prince Edward has been making a lot of trips to Italy recently...
Japan remains a liberal democracy, but both the Army and Navy seethe under civilian rule, and a China split between three squabbling KMT factions seems to be a great prize for glory, especially after the victory of the creation of Manchuko. Crushing the Wuchang Government would be especially sweet, but the USSR would look very poorly upon attacks on all their military attachés, especially Special Advisor Trotsky (who annoys the hell out of the Left-KMT but his military experience has served them well in not getting dismantled by the Northern Warlords and the Right-KMT in Guangdong) Perhaps, if events in Europe develop favorably, the government could send all its fanatics to die fighting the colonial armies to the south. That's just a possibility, though.