Alternate Great War?

How can it be made, with a POD (Possibly Frederick III not dying?) that leads to TR being elected for a Third Term, so that the US and the German Empire are allies in the Great War or is that too ASB? Maybe with an earlier collapse of Austria-Hungary due to nationalist revolution, the US steps in as Germany's defender as the Kings of Europe press on to Berlin, to balance the power?
 
If the UK isn't involved and doesn't seem likely to be, maybe. American leaders could be stupid enough to risk land war all across North America (on the Canadian border) with the acknowledged world leader, but I doubt it.
 
If the UK isn't involved and doesn't seem likely to be, maybe. American leaders could be stupid enough to risk land war all across North America (on the Canadian border) with the acknowledged world leader, but I doubt it.


And if Britain loses badly, the US is in a position to take such bits of the British Empire as it wants without much of a fight. She doesn't need to join the CP.
 
My, WW1 is more popular here than I thought. I could see TR and Frederick being pals, but I'm not sure about the US fighting a war alongside Germany. And Frederick is usually pointed to as the kaiser who could have avoided a war altogether.
 
Friedrich III. is vastly overrated. He was weak and dominated by his English wife, who was known as 'Die Engländerin' to the German/Prussian elite - and hated and despised by them as much as she hated and despised them.
Friedrich's rule would not have been a lucky one. And the huge liberalisation, for which some hoped, most probably would have failed. The bourgeois parties in the Reichstag were supporting the authoritarian state because it protected them against the growing power of the socialists.
 
Friedrich III. is vastly overrated. He was weak and dominated by his English wife, who was known as 'Die Engländerin' to the German/Prussian elite - and hated and despised by them as much as she hated and despised them.
Friedrich's rule would not have been a lucky one. And the huge liberalisation, for which some hoped, most probably would have failed. The bourgeois parties in the Reichstag were supporting the authoritarian state because it protected them against the growing power of the socialists.


And the other trouble is that Liberal Germans tended to be supporters of the Austrian alliance. Being liberal, they had a natural hostility hostility to the decidedly illiberal Tsarist Russia. So Germany's main problem is not resolved.

However, I would bet on Friedrich not to get into the Naval Race with Britain, and he might have had enough old-fashioned scruples to object to military plans which involved the violation of neutral Belgium.
 
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yourworstnightmare

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How can it be made, with a POD (Possibly Frederick III not dying?) that leads to TR being elected for a Third Term, so that the US and the German Empire are allies in the Great War or is that too ASB? Maybe with an earlier collapse of Austria-Hungary due to nationalist revolution, the US steps in as Germany's defender as the Kings of Europe press on to Berlin, to balance the power?
TR was no fan of Germany. He was pretty much content with the British Empire controlling the seas. Also with Frederick III, the UK and Germany would be very close.
 
The other problem with this scenario is that the two top industrial and technological powers by 1914 was America and Germany. Both were also protectionist, admittedly Germany not as heavily as America. Hence they were natural rivals.

Steve
 
TR was no fan of Germany.

That's an under statement. As long as you have TR president of the United States, which is possible with a PoD in the 1870 at earliest (bit of a stretch, late 1880s to be safe), he will hate Germany.
Unless by some means Germany reaches out to America after the ACW, during that time, the two countries will be enemies.
Now this is because of four clear pieces of evidence.

1. Samoan Crisis
2. Venezuela Crisis of 1902
3. Operational Plan Three
4. Moroccan Crisis (First)

On top of that, which I don't remember the quotes, TR often stated that he wanted to join WWI against the CP.

About Frederick, how did he die?
 
Frederick III had cancer, I think it was throat or something like that. Someone said that Frederick was close with the UK, would that call for the UK to stay neutral in WWI if he never invaded Belgium? Germany fighting France and Russia on two fronts alone? But then UK had an alliance with France so they'd be the oppressors, maybe US declares war on the UK to balance the power.

And about Austria breaking up earlier, is that possible? Instead of the death of Franz Ferdinand it just destroys the country from within?

I'm getting mixed answers on how TR felt about Germany OTL, but would these conditions make the relationship better?

EDIT: Also, US and Germany don't have to be allies as I see how that's asking for too much, but would US take advantage of the UK?
 

archaeogeek

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It would be hard mainly because Austro-hungarian nationalists have a lot of competing interests: the Hungarians were defeated in 1848 because they managed to alienate absolutely everyone, thus putting every other nationality back into the imperial fold on their own. Little has changed and pretty much everyone wants land everyone else wants too.

Without a hard push, it would either not happen, or turn into a generalized central european civil war.

Of all the parts of the empire likely to drag things down, however, there's hungary (with a "maybe" for Galicia); the Croats had significant unrest about the whole "being ruled by hungarians magnates", particularly the massive magyarization in the region. Bosnia had a few student demonstrations at the time, but they were mostly croatian students protesting hungary too.
 
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