AH Challenge: Alternate WW1

Your challenge, should you accept it, is to have each side during WW1 as the following:

Entente: Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire
Axis: German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Imperial Russia.

The POD should be no earlier than 1900.

Go!
 

MrP

Banned
Tricky. OTL's French plans called for an attack by Russia and France simultaneously to overwhelm German defences. TTL will see France sitting resolutely on the defensive.

Good news for the Russo-German fleet is that together they should be about equal to the RN in 1915 or so (assuming similar construction-rates to OTL).

Ottomans are generally thought of as a route to get supplies to Russia, so their participation on the Franco-British side will be a result of Russia being on the German side, not a cause thereof. A-H and Russia will have to settle their Balkan differences . .. unless we can posit a very successful OE action ITTL's Balkan Wars. Hm . . .
 
Ottomans are generally thought of as a route to get supplies to Russia, so their participation on the Franco-British side will be a result of Russia being on the German side, not a cause thereof.

So could the Ottomans close the Bosporous in order to aid the Allies?
 

MrP

Banned
So could the Ottomans close the Bosporous in order to aid the Allies?

They could and would, if allied to France and Britain, but the impact will be far less signal than IOTL, since Germany and Russia and A-H are all contiguous.
 

maverick

Banned
Kaiser Wilhelm sticks to that Treaty he signed with the Russians in 1904, that leading to an Austro-Russian treaty regarding spheres of influence in the Balkans...

This coupled with perhaps change in government in Petrograd after the Revolution of 1905 could do the trick...
 
Your challenge, should you accept it, is to have each side during WW1 as the following:

Entente: Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire
Axis: German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Imperial Russia.

The POD should be no earlier than 1900.

Frankly, I don't think this war would last longer than a year or so. Germans probably would quickly knock out the French, unless the POD calls for them to radically change their military doctrine. With no German forces diverted to the east, I'd see a von Schlieffen plan implemented as it should have been and France goes down quickly, especially if their Plan 17 goes off. If the Germans are real lucky, they might even bag the British army.
I really can't see The Ottomans standing up to a Austro-Russian attack on it. Through the Balkans. Neither of it's allies would be able to lend any kind of meaningful aid. The War ends with the Ottomans driven out of Europe and Istanbul under bombardment. That takes out two thirds of the land powers, leaving Britain with it's puny regular army hiding behind it's navy.

I really can't see the balance of power changing that much in the naval arena, since once the balloon goes up the navies will pretty much be what the war begins with. England should still be able to stand off even a Russo-German combined fleet. At the wars start England would start with a 57-37 Battleship advantage and had 11 more laid down to Germany and Russia's 16 (and I doubt the Russians would be able to divert resources during a war to finishing the 7 they had laid down. Unfortunately with Russia on Germany's side, I don't see a blockade being that effective.

Assuming a 1914 start, I'd not see this going beyond 1916-17. Actually what would be interesting would be the balance of power at the end.

1. You'd have an ascendent Germany with a rising Russia to compete with. You might see a "new" Entente rising consisting of France, England, and Russia. Austro-Hungary would still be facing the problems of trying to hold together and I would think that a disolution would be in the future unless Germany commited help to it ( and I'd think other powers would forment trouble there because of this. I'd see a major war breaking out within 15-20 years, possibly between Russian and Germany over who rules Europe.
 
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