Interesting Scenario..
I think a lot depends on "when" such a Central Powers victory and under what circumstances. I imagine we're discounting the "quick" German victory scenario of 1914 as a re-run of 1870 with no British involvement.
Could Germany have won if America had not entered the conflict in 1917 ? It's possible the final German offensive might have forced the British and French to seek terms. This would be much less than a victory - more like the peace of exhausted rivals. It's true to say that by the summer of 1918 all the main protagonists are weary and facing potential civil disruption.
I suspect that a "peace" signed by the exhausted would not mark the end of chaos and confusion but the beginning of a period of chronic instability in Europe as unreformed political structures struggled to cope with the consequences of war and social and economic dislocation.
How would Imperial Germany deal with its new "empire" in the east and a resurgent Russia ? Even if the client states created by Brest-Litovsk survived, they would have to be militarily protected by Germany and I think a new Russo-German War is pretty much inevitable with Stalin fighting not Hitler but the Kaiser and a new generation of battle-hardened commanders.
For France, the "failure" of 1914-18 would be as psychologically damaging as 1871. The political framework of the Third Republic might struggle to deal with extemist elements of BOTH Right and Left.
Britain, too, will face greater economic, social and political instability. There will be many who will ask if the sacrifice of lives was worth it and will move away from traditional politics. Both the Liberals and Conservatives will be scarred by the war and Labour will emerge as the new political force in the 1920s and 1930s.
Beyond that..for how long can the autocracy in Germany keep a lid on demands for reform ? Probably not indefinitely - there will be a "revolution" at some point but marking a transition to insecure democracy in the face of the growing Communist threat. France may well seek a new alliance with Soviet Russia against Germany while Britain opts for a more isolationist course.
So...WW2 in the early 40s with France and Russia lined up against Germany ? It's possible and this time Germany loses big time. French and Soviet forces meet at Torgau on April 25th 1945 and divide Germany between them.
Europe post-1945 starts off bi-polar with France and Russia dominant. In response, Britain and the United States move closer. The rest of Europe either falls under French domination (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria) - the so-called "Catholic Axis" while Soviet Russia dominates the east.
The world fifty years after the end of WW1 is a fragile place. There are a number of power blocs:
ATO - the Atlantic Treaty Organisation, founded in 1953. Founder members are the USA, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. South Africa joined after the end of apartheid in 1992. Iceland is an associate member. More a military than an economic association though Washington aims to launch the Atlantic/Pacific Trade Association (APTA) in 1975.
Paris Treaty Countries- known as the "Catholic Axis". Founded in 1949 by France but including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, western Germany, Ireland (joined 1958), large parts of Africa, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia. More economic than military except for the European countries who are militarily linked to Paris by the Axis Alliance of 1958.
Warsaw Pact- the military organisation (COMECON is the economic equivalent). Founded in Moscow in 1949 - it consists of Poland, Slovakia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Albania and Greece. Russian troops are not stationed in every country but have been used to put down internal uprisings in Hungary (1956) and Slovakia (1967).
Japanese Empire - Japan conquered China from 1931-45 but has had problems administering that vast country along with Korea and Mongolia. There have been skirmishes with the Soviet Union on a number of occasions in the 1950s and 60s and the next most likely regional conflict will be in east Asia.
The Ottoman Empire - against all the odds, the Empire has survived though it is barely recognisable from the entity which fought WW1. Internal reforms in the 1920s led to the virtual deposition of the Sultanate and a shift to a more technocratic power structure. In the 1930s, the Empire broke away from Germany and established better relations with France. The coming of oil in Arabia and Mesopotamia transformed the Empire. The re-emergence of Russia as a powerful regional rival in the late 1940s following the Soviet annexation of the Balkans led to the Ottomans fostering strong economic and military links with Japan as a counterweight to Franco-Soviet domination.
In 1958, the Ottomans signed an alliance with Iran and the two powers dominate the world oil market. Egypt is outside the Empire but another ally.
Elsewhere, India established its independence in 1952 but has faced considerable inter-racial conflict leading to the formation of the breakaway states of Pakistan and Bangla Desh. The latter has been actively courted by Japan as has Tibet and Bhutan.
The Scandinavian countries formed their own union in 1935 and remain independent of the other power blocs though a secret treaty in 1940 guaranteed French military support in the event of war with Russia.
