This map was the product of my most recent playthrough of the boardgame The Great War in Europe and the Near East, where I played as the central powers. Germany had a kinda tough go of it at the beginning, after nearly being beaten out of Belgium by a very fortunate BEF, but by 1915 they had taken Verdun and had a solid line on the Somme. The Battle of the Somme here (series of German attacks on mostly British commonwealth positions) was an overwhelming victory for the Germans- the strongest British units were wiped out within a month and the Germans were able to take all the Belgian Channel ports because of the necessary diversion of British forces to hold the line. Germany also barely held on in the East, because they sent minimal reinforcements there and the Russians had decent luck. The Austrians managed to hold off against the initial Russian wave, and after taking Belgrade they were able to force a full Serbian retreat before the end of 1914. The Ottoman entry into the war only served to divert British forces to the Eastern fronts, where they had little success. Italy entered the war only towards the end of 1915, and were too late to save Russia- combined German and Austrian offensives pushed back Russian troops across the entire Eastern Front, and triggered civil war. By mid-1916 the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was negotiated. The Italian front, relatively static until then, was turned on its head as the full Austrian army was thrown against it. Italian lines fell back to the Piave, while German offensives in France were successful in pushing French lines to the Marne. An armistice was declared shortly after Venice was cut off by the Austrian offensive, and German forces broke through the French lines along the Marne. The USA had never entered the war, and was mutually agreed upon by the warring powers as an impartial mediator of the peace.
Of course, lots of the map was just personal speculation of what would happen given the results and general progress of the war. Significant elements:
Germany: Universally recognized as the victor of the Weltkrieg, they nonetheless emerged from the war shakier than before. The Kaiser was forced to delegate more power to the Reichstag, even as the princes' powers were all but erased. They had their colonies returned, and gained a lot from the partition of the Congo (the Belgian collapse forced Britain, France, and Germany to divide the Congo). Communist riots in major industrial centers left much fo the country feeling like the war had never ended.
Austria-Hungary: Austria-Hungary counted itself lucky to have made it out of the conflict unscathed. Emperor Karl I sought to capitalize on the growing national unity, however, by abolishing the dual monarchy and giving greater democratic powers to all subjects of the empire. This triggered widespread revolt in the Hungarian regions of the Empire (now the United States of Greater Austria), but in the rest of the USGA Karl I was immensely popular. Hungary and the annexed territories from Serbia were placed under military government and occupied by the troops, now returned from the Italian front.
France: France had been soundly defeated, preserved largely by virtue of their British allies. Socialist and nationalist riots across the country threatened the collapse of the government.
Italy: The Italian government had almost completely collapsed, as fascist and communist factions took power across the Italian empire. Pleas by the Italian government to Germany, Austria, France, and the UK to step in and fight the rebels fell on deaf ears, as the war against the Reds in Russia wore on (additionally, the Austrians knew that by maintaining a state of chaos in Italy they would serve as a natural harbor of calm and security in the region, while the French were hardly managing to keep rioting in their own country from turning to outright civil war).
Russia: The Russian Civil War had split into three factions. The Czarists and Ukrainians, backed by Germany and Austria; the Reds, or the Communists; and the Whites, who were supported by the US, UK, and marginally by France. The Czarist and White factions had a shaky truce, as they lacked a common border but both bounded Red-held territory. The Reds, though unsupported by foreign powers, had immense public support, and were proving a truly difficult enemy to defeat, even for the combined powers of Europe. As the conflict wore on, calls for an end to the seemingly eternal conflict were beginning to gain more and more traction across Europe- calls to leave Russia to the Russians and handle domestic affairs first.
Of course, lots of the map was just personal speculation of what would happen given the results and general progress of the war. Significant elements:
Germany: Universally recognized as the victor of the Weltkrieg, they nonetheless emerged from the war shakier than before. The Kaiser was forced to delegate more power to the Reichstag, even as the princes' powers were all but erased. They had their colonies returned, and gained a lot from the partition of the Congo (the Belgian collapse forced Britain, France, and Germany to divide the Congo). Communist riots in major industrial centers left much fo the country feeling like the war had never ended.
Austria-Hungary: Austria-Hungary counted itself lucky to have made it out of the conflict unscathed. Emperor Karl I sought to capitalize on the growing national unity, however, by abolishing the dual monarchy and giving greater democratic powers to all subjects of the empire. This triggered widespread revolt in the Hungarian regions of the Empire (now the United States of Greater Austria), but in the rest of the USGA Karl I was immensely popular. Hungary and the annexed territories from Serbia were placed under military government and occupied by the troops, now returned from the Italian front.
France: France had been soundly defeated, preserved largely by virtue of their British allies. Socialist and nationalist riots across the country threatened the collapse of the government.
Italy: The Italian government had almost completely collapsed, as fascist and communist factions took power across the Italian empire. Pleas by the Italian government to Germany, Austria, France, and the UK to step in and fight the rebels fell on deaf ears, as the war against the Reds in Russia wore on (additionally, the Austrians knew that by maintaining a state of chaos in Italy they would serve as a natural harbor of calm and security in the region, while the French were hardly managing to keep rioting in their own country from turning to outright civil war).
Russia: The Russian Civil War had split into three factions. The Czarists and Ukrainians, backed by Germany and Austria; the Reds, or the Communists; and the Whites, who were supported by the US, UK, and marginally by France. The Czarist and White factions had a shaky truce, as they lacked a common border but both bounded Red-held territory. The Reds, though unsupported by foreign powers, had immense public support, and were proving a truly difficult enemy to defeat, even for the combined powers of Europe. As the conflict wore on, calls for an end to the seemingly eternal conflict were beginning to gain more and more traction across Europe- calls to leave Russia to the Russians and handle domestic affairs first.
