1914 goes better for the Entente

So at the start of WW1, there where quite a few important battles, with most of them going the way of the CPs:


German invasion of Belgium & northern France - limited CP victory
Germany fails to knock France out, but still manages to occupy critical areas, hampering the French war effort

Battle of the Frontiers - decisive CP victory
French attempt to invade Alsace-Lorraine and are crushed

A-H invasion of Serbia - Entente victory
Serbians repulse Austrian attempt to conquer them

Russian invasion of east Prussia - decisive CP victory
Russian efforts end in complete disaster, with the only silver lining being that some pressure was taken off France

Battle of Galicia - Entente victory
Russian forces destroy A-H pre-war army


But WI the Entente had a much better performance in 1914?

Let's say the French decide to stop the German advance into Belgium before invading A-L. They dig in somewhere in western Belgium and, after a bloody battle, stop the German advance. Casualties similar to OTL, just that the front settles much, much further east.

In East Prussia, the Russians deploy different generals, preferably ones who don't work against each other, and by sheer weight of numbers, they push the outbumbered Germans across the Vistula.

In the Mediterranean, the Goeben and Breslau are sunk, and diplomacy keeps the Ottomans neutral.

In Galicia and Serbia, the Austro-Hungarians are defeated as OTL.

Consequences ?
 
The front stabilises and several years of slaughter ensue,with slightly different battlefields.

Possibly the big game changer is in the East. The East Prussian Offensive is a disaster but could never really lead to anything on its own.

Galicia however, if the East Prussian Offensive is not a disaster and it can be reinforced in a timely manner has the chance of doing very serious and permanent damage to AH. At that point German intervention is difficult.

There is a chance of AH being knocked out of the war by Xmas
 
A worse CP performace can bring the Austro-Hungarian to give enough (and quickly enough) at Italy to keep her neutral and this can also have butterfly with Romania
 
If Russians broke through Carpathians into Hungary, would A-H had enough men to stabilize front lines somewhere else in Slovakia? German managed something like this in WWII however they were retreating westwards.
 
The front stabilises and several years of slaughter ensue,with slightly different battlefields.

France should be in a much, much better position though. They didn't lose a lot of their mining and industrial areas as OTL and they avoided the disastrous Battle of the Frontiers. Germany meanwhile has failed to capture Antwerp and its nitrate stocks.

Galicia however, if the East Prussian Offensive is not a disaster and it can be reinforced in a timely manner has the chance of doing very serious and permanent damage to AH. At that point German intervention is difficult.

There is a chance of AH being knocked out of the war by Xmas

If Russians broke through Carpathians into Hungary, would A-H had enough men to stabilize front lines somewhere else in Slovakia? German managed something like this in WWII however they were retreating westwards.

I don't really think the Russians can break through the Carpathians. They didn't OTL, and I don't see how they could TTL. The terrain favors the defender and Germany can always reinforce if things get really bad.



A worse CP performace can bring the Austro-Hungarian to give enough (and quickly enough) at Italy to keep her neutral and this can also have butterfly with Romania

Just how much would be 'enough' for Italy under these circumstances though?



Also, there is the added issue of the Ottomans staying neutral, with all the butterflies that entails.
 
Just how much would be 'enough' for Italy under these circumstances though?

What agreed in OTL was enough:
-Trentino (with border that favored A-H and Italy paying for getting the land), west bank of the Isonzo, the island of Pelagosa and control of Albania.
With the Entente doing more well, Vienna will be more agreeable on giving at Italy the land immediately and not after the war (trust between the two nation was not very high)
 
Anything that keeps the Ottomans out is huge. They were a very useful member of the alliance, not only in distracting vast Entente armies, but also because they closed the straits to Russian shipping, which really hurt their military, their economy and even ended up causing a famine at one point (1916 I think).

fasquardon
 
What agreed in OTL was enough:
-Trentino (with border that favored A-H and Italy paying for getting the land), west bank of the Isonzo, the island of Pelagosa and control of Albania.
With the Entente doing more well, Vienna will be more agreeable on giving at Italy the land immediately and not after the war (trust between the two nation was not very high)

Since this scenario probably entails an earlier and harsher CP defeat, and an early collapse of Austria-Hungary, wouldn't Italy just join the war later anyway? To get a bigger share of the spoils and all.
 
Since this scenario probably entails an earlier and harsher CP defeat, and an early collapse of Austria-Hungary, wouldn't Italy just join the war later anyway? To get a bigger share of the spoils and all.

Probably IMO. Although a dealyed entry does help the CPs - I doubt though it would be enough to offset the other stuff, like Russia not losing half its pre-war army or France throwing away 300k soldiers in A-L whilst losing its productive north-east.

If the war is over before America really mobilized, or even joined at all, what kind of effects might we be looking at?
 
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