AHC: "Societatis Romanus" by the Great War*?

Note: Societatis Romanus is my bad Latin for Roman Alliance...

Was doing some looking at the balance of power shifts during the 19th century...

I'm trying to divide Europe into Romance and a Germano-Anglo-Slav blocs before WWI, with the Ottomans going Romance. I've got some ideas on how to do it, with PODs in the early 19th century but was worried I was trying too hard and overthinking it so I'm sending it to the experts (you)...

With a POD in the 19th century (preferably not the earliest couple of decades of it, though I will allow it) have the following sides in Europe exist:

Societatis Romanus:

Spain, France, Italy, Ottoman Empire, someone else...

vs.

Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and preferably UK (or the UK can stay neutral or join the latter as a defensive partner...)

Bonus points if Portugal joins the Romance side as a neutral party, or with the understanding that they won't become involved against the UK)

And Extra Bonus points if Portugal is firmly and solidly Romance and the UK is firmly and solidly on the Germano-Slavic side...

How could this be done and how would it play out? What would the Great War look like and who might be most likely to win? Effects?

Serious attempts only, please. Try not to be a dick (or even comment at all!) if you think its impossible.

Thanks!
 
*Societas Romana

As for the alliances themselves, I'm not sure how they'd be formed, but assuming it did, I'd expect the Germanic alliance to win out. Spain was at quite a low ebb during the period, so I can't foresee them helping France all that much, whereas Italy IOTL struggled against the Austro-Hungarians. Meanwhile the Ottoman Empire is also pretty ramshackle and seeing as how there are now lots of independent Balkan countries between it and Hungary I'm not sure how much help they'd be able to offer. We'd probably see some Turkish divisions being sent to fight in Italy, but I'm not sure how many there would be, or how much of a difference they might make.

Meanwhile the German side would be in a better position than IOTL, as they wouldn't have to divert troops to fight the Russians in the east and could hence concentrate all their forces against France. Aside from this, of course, Russia would likely send troops to help out on this front, further increasing their advantages compared to OTL. Plus of course with Britain being benevolently neutral they wouldn't have to deal with British troops reinforcing the French or Royal Navy blockades strangling their trade.

In terms of outcome, it probably depends on how long the war takes. If we see a successful Schlieffen (sp?) Plan (a real possibility without British reinforcement and German troops being needed to fight in the east) Germany would probably be content with enforcing reparations and leaving Austria a free hand in the Balkans. If the war drags on longer, expect to see a few colonies changing hands. Austria-Hungary might also try and reclaim its old territories in Venetia as well, although OTOH they might simply decide that adding another unhappy ethnic minority province to the Empire would be more trouble than it's worth.
 
*Societas Romana

As for the alliances themselves, I'm not sure how they'd be formed, but assuming it did, I'd expect the Germanic alliance to win out. Spain was at quite a low ebb during the period, so I can't foresee them helping France all that much, whereas Italy IOTL struggled against the Austro-Hungarians. Meanwhile the Ottoman Empire is also pretty ramshackle and seeing as how there are now lots of independent Balkan countries between it and Hungary I'm not sure how much help they'd be able to offer. We'd probably see some Turkish divisions being sent to fight in Italy, but I'm not sure how many there would be, or how much of a difference they might make.

Meanwhile the German side would be in a better position than IOTL, as they wouldn't have to divert troops to fight the Russians in the east and could hence concentrate all their forces against France. Aside from this, of course, Russia would likely send troops to help out on this front, further increasing their advantages compared to OTL. Plus of course with Britain being benevolently neutral they wouldn't have to deal with British troops reinforcing the French or Royal Navy blockades strangling their trade.

In terms of outcome, it probably depends on how long the war takes. If we see a successful Schlieffen (sp?) Plan (a real possibility without British reinforcement and German troops being needed to fight in the east) Germany would probably be content with enforcing reparations and leaving Austria a free hand in the Balkans. If the war drags on longer, expect to see a few colonies changing hands. Austria-Hungary might also try and reclaim its old territories in Venetia as well, although OTOH they might simply decide that adding another unhappy ethnic minority province to the Empire would be more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks for the Latin and the thoughtful response!

Well, with the UK and US on the Central* Powers side especially, yes this is a stomp.

The Middle Eastern Theater would be interesting to see, with German troops entering via the north and British troops entering from Egypt and India.

What about some kind of vengeance movement coming from France later? With a French military buildup followed by French forces marching into Italy and Spain to annex/unite them for another round?

Similar to how OTL's Nazis rolled into Austria and Czechoslovakia?

A new Rome that does better in WWII* than the Axis did OTL, basically?

Societas Romana sounds way better too, by the way. Especially because it's correct...
 
Thanks for the Latin and the thoughtful response!

Well, with the UK and US on the Central* Powers side especially, yes this is a stomp.

The Middle Eastern Theater would be interesting to see, with German troops entering via the north and British troops entering from Egypt and India.

What about some kind of vengeance movement coming from France later? With a French military buildup followed by French forces marching into Italy and Spain to annex/unite them for another round?

Similar to how OTL's Nazis rolled into Austria and Czechoslovakia?

A new Rome that does better in WWII* than the Axis did OTL, basically?

Societas Romana sounds way better too, by the way. Especially because it's correct...

I could foresee France looking for revenge, although invading Spain and Italy is highly unlikely. With the Nazis, Austria and Czechoslovakia were both small enough for Germany to bully around, and had historical and cultural ties with Germany (especially Austria, which was/is only a separate country due to historical accident). France would find it much more difficult to annexe Spain and Italy, and the most likely outcome of such an attempt would be a long and costly series of campaigns causing international outcry and seriously alienating the country's main allies. More likely we would see France trying to detach one or more of the *Central Powers from the alliance to even the odds up for round 2. Britain was historically concerned to preserve the balance of power in Europe, so if they come to fear that Germany's become too powerful they could well be persuaded to switch to the French side. Russia and Austria might also end up falling out over the Balkans as they did historically, so one of these powers might also be persuaded to join the *Allies in return for the promise of a free hand in the Balkans. Given German-Austrian cultural and historical ties, we'd probably see Germany taking Austria's side in any dispute, so the most likely outcome is for Russia to break off her alliance with Germany. Then you'd essentially have the same power blocs as in OTL WW1, although with Italy being on the *Allies' side from the get-go.
 
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