Bruce,
This is a very intriguing idea. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Just off the top of my pointy head...
- Obviously with the A-H out, the OTL war's spark is elsewhere. So what sort of events can launch the Franco-Russian attack on Germany? Or a German attack on France and Russia?
- Linked with the question above, when will this war begin? After Russia's railroad expansion program finishes in the mid-nineteen-teens? After the Kiel Canal is finished? Earlier than in the OTL? Or later?
- Would this war even be called a "world" war? Four of Europe's great powers are on the sidelines; Britain, A-H, Ottomans, and (possibly) Italy, while none of the major participants will find it easy to snap up the others colonial possessions either. Some of the participants don't even have colonies worth snapping up.
- Wilhelmine Germany's dreadnought-centered HSF may not even exist. Without the A-H as an ally, Germany may take more care not to estrange Britain and most likely will build a navy more oriented towards fighting the Franco-Russian alliance, i.e. smaller battleline and more cruisers.
- Will Japan take the opportunity it did in the OTL to snap up Germany's Asiatic and Pacific possessions.
Lots and lots of interesting questions at work in this thread.
Bill