AHC: How to prevent WWI or analogous conflict?

We often mention in WWI topics the entangling alliances that would have resulted in a world war even if Archduke Ferdinand survived. How could this have been prevented, and bonus points if you can think of a plausible solution with a POD after the Franco-Prussian War? Would Bismarck have to be removed from the picture, or would continuation of his foreign policy be the correct route? Could the Balkan situation have been resolved more peacefully? Is Lenin's basic idea that WWI was the result of the European countries turning on each other after running out of African and Asian colonies to plunder correct, or was it just another form of communist propaganda? If I haven't addressed any major scenario here, please feel free to bring it up.

(You CAN use an After 1900 POD if you want; I just posted it here because there seems to be a wider range of possibilities in the Before 1900 forum)
 
Preventing the alliance systems. Probably changing the attitude of Germany, likely no Willie the stupid.

France could stay bitter but would not start a war alone. And the French Russian alliance was strange.

Of course if the Archduke's muder still happened Serbia might suffer invasion but more likely would merely become a humiliated pariah state
 

Cryostorm

Monthly Donor
Have either Britain or Russia allied with Germany and keep it that way. With either Europe' two strongest, or at least largest, armies or Europe's strongest army and navy allied with each other no one will be willing to start a war against it. Part of the reason WWI happened is because both alliances were roughly equal in power and had good reason to believe they could win since it pretty much was a toss up who would win right up to the US's entry
 
I think Bismark was doing the right thing. A continuation of his policies for Germany could help prevent WWI, also, as earlier said, the alliances were really weird.

Also, Cyrostorm, love your sig. Just one line but it made me laugh out loud!
 
Even with the alliance systems in place (and with the whole 'world power' thinking going on, it's hard to see that not happening at least in a more basic form), a genuine world war is just one break in the chain of stupidity away from not happening. France did not really want to get dragged into it, it only fought because Germany decided it could not change its war plan so quickly. Britain was not really keen on going in, either, but felt its hand forced by the German prsence on its doorstep. The German general staff was very leery of fighting the war, though there was the sense of 'better now than later' there. The Russian government never had a clear policy and allowed the hawks to dominate the chain of events. Any one government at any point in this scenario could interrupt it to result in either a limited punitve war on Serbia ended by an international conference or a war between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. It would horrify France, but I don't think the French government would join (IOTL they made considerable efforts not to).
 
France did not really want to get dragged into it,

It sure was. For forty years, Alsace Lorraine still appeared as a French zone occupied by foreign invaders. The youngs were told that it would be their duty to join the army and reclaim it.

France was only looking for an excuse to start a fight with Germany.

Also, Jaures a lone pacifist amongst an upper house of jingoist was killed because of his beliefs.
 

Redhand

Banned
Many of the UltraConservative members of Russia's upper class wanted to avoid war despite their panSlavic feelings as they wanted to avoid another 1905 scenario. If the moderates who were itching for war do not get their way, Russia doesn't mobilize and the war simply becomes an Austria vs Serbia affair.
 
How about pricking the boil sooner than in OTL? Granted, it is not exactly answering the challenge at hand, but it could prevent the WWI as we know it, and most of its consequences, all the same.

Have the war break out a few years earlier, when the Haber-Bosch process was not developed/scaled-up yet, submarines were even less numerous and reliable than in 1914, and the Royal Navy's battleship force was far, far stronger than the German Navy's one.

Germany is likely to lose fast (in less than a year?) without adequate explosives supply, so the US will never enter this ATL WWI (will it even be a 'true' WW if the US is neutral throughout the conflict?), and the UK's participation will be somewhat limited compared to OTL (say, four dozen divisions in France on the armistice day, the Royal Navy destroying its German opponent easily, and no need to combat unrestricted submarine warfare). The continent's losses in blood and treasure will be far lower as well, and revolutions will either fail everywhere or succeed only in the most vulnerable of the defeated powers (A-H, yes).

Terms of peace are likely to be better for the losers (mostly via lower reparations), possibly weakening revanchist forces in Germany and preventing the likes of Hitler from rising to power. There will be less support for the Dolchstoss legend, as most Germans will know well that they lost the war because of utter shortage of ammunition.

On another note, gold standard is likely to survive far longer than in OTL, and the UK will still be the world banker after the war ends.
 
How about pricking the boil sooner than in OTL? Granted, it is not exactly answering the challenge at hand, but it could prevent the WWI as we know it, and most of its consequences, all the same.

Have the war break out a few years earlier, when the Haber-Bosch process was not developed/scaled-up yet, submarines were even less numerous and reliable than in 1914, and the Royal Navy's battleship force was far, far stronger than the German Navy's one.

That sounds like a pretty good idea, actually.

And if the war starts through an escalation of the Bosnian Crisis of 1908, that brings further benefits for the Entente: the Ottoman Empire isn't going to be friendly, let alone allied to the Central Powers, which keeps Russia's commerce through Bosphorus flowing and allows the entire Russian Caucasian army to be redeployed to the Eastern Front, against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
 
It sure was. For forty years, Alsace Lorraine still appeared as a French zone occupied by foreign invaders. The youngs were told that it would be their duty to join the army and reclaim it.

France was only looking for an excuse to start a fight with Germany.

Also, Jaures a lone pacifist amongst an upper house of jingoist was killed because of his beliefs.

Alsace-Lorraine was definitely a sore point. If France does not have to cede it in 1871, that helps things a lot. France may still fear and resent Germany to some degree, but won't have a tangible grievance once the reparations are paid (which they were pretty quickly).
 
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