Contrary to popular belief, a Central Powers victory in WWI ends the British Empire. While the British Navy was the largest fleet by far, it could not protect the UK
If Germany wins the war on land:
The Russians and French fleets will be turned over to Germany as part of the peace settlement. Anything else is unimaginable The Germans turned their's over. Its unlikely that the Germans would allow the fleets to be scuttled. This gives the Germans more than enough firepower to challenge the British fleet
The Germans would also be in control over the continent. No army could stand up to her and the foreign policy of all European states would follow Germany's lead. That means the end of Anglo-European trade. This is far more devastating to Britain than the U-boat campaign
The German Uboat war would be changed to a true sea denial war. The Germans could use the French and Spanish bases to send raiders to sea. A hundred Armed Merchantmen prowling the seas will wreck havoc on British trade.
The battlecruisers and protected cruisers of the continental fleets would make short work of any but the most heavily guarded convoys
Nor could the British inflict any real harm on Germany. The continent cannot be blockaded and everything that one needs can be found there
Napoleon called - he wants his war strategy back.
So does Hitler actually.
Particularly the stuff about the continent being impossible to blockade and everything one could need being found there.
Contrary to popular belief, a Central Powers victory in WWI ends the British Empire. While the British Navy was the largest fleet by far, it could not protect the UK
If Germany wins the war on land:
The Russians and French fleets will be turned over to Germany as part of the peace settlement. Anything else is unimaginable The Germans turned their's over. Its unlikely that the Germans would allow the fleets to be scuttled. This gives the Germans more than enough firepower to challenge the British fleet
The Germans would also be in control over the continent. No army could stand up to her and the foreign policy of all European states would follow Germany's lead. That means the end of Anglo-European trade. This is far more devastating to Britain than the U-boat campaign
The German Uboat war would be changed to a true sea denial war. The Germans could use the French and Spanish bases to send raiders to sea. A hundred Armed Merchantmen prowling the seas will wreck havoc on British trade.
The battlecruisers and protected cruisers of the continental fleets would make short work of any but the most heavily guarded convoys
Nor could the British inflict any real harm on Germany. The continent cannot be blockaded and everything that one needs can be found there
I think that Britain could bribe Germany to leave the Channel ports without having to hand over India. Besides, I don't think that the governing arrangements with India would be conducive to a simple transfer like the arrangements with other imperial possessions.
The Russian fleet was crap, it never recovered from Tsushima. And how is Germany going to keep the fleets from being scuttled, or sailed to Britain or the colonies? So long as there's a crew onboard (which won't be German due to a lack of sailors to properly crew every Continetal navy like you're suggesting), they can simply turn the guns on the shore and threaten bombardment while they escape. If the Germans respond with force, congrats, they've lost a ship. If they don't, congrats, they've lost a ship. Hitler never got the Vichy navy, and the Italians never beat the British in the Med in far more favorable conditions, just how is the Kaiser going to strongarm those two out of their ships? And the even better question, who's going to crew them? Germans? Like I said, there won't be enough sailors to crew them. The conquered peoples? Yeah, that's a real good idea. The Austrians? Why would they care? There is simply no way for Germany to realistically use the Continetal navies for a Grand Armada vs Britain. Even if they did, I doubt they'd be able to wield them effectively against a foe who's navy is unparalleled in quality and quantity and likely getting ships left and right from the Americans, if they aren't in the war. If things got really, and I mean really bad, the British would start recalling squadrons from around the world. In 1914, Britain either had numerical superiority or a slight numerical disadvantage to a combined Franco-German-Italian navy in nearly all categories. Wartime construction coupled with higher quality British sailors would doubtlessly offset this even assuming that Germany somehow managed to seize the entirety of each fleet at their prewar strengths. Throw in likely sabotage, scuttling, and defections (or British attacks on fleets about to be handed over) would whittle those numbers down even further. All in all, Germany can't compete with the Royal Navy save for with extreme luck in a battle, and this isn't even getting into the different designs for the ships and how asinine it is to assume that Italian ships would be designed or perform well in an Atlantic or Channel environment. French ships likely would, but the Italians had a fleet for the Med, not the open ocean.
Contrary to popular belief, a Central Powers victory in WWI ends the British Empire. While the British Navy was the largest fleet by far, it could not protect the UK
If Germany wins the war on land:
The Russians and French fleets will be turned over to Germany as part of the peace settlement. Anything else is unimaginable The Germans turned their's over. Its unlikely that the Germans would allow the fleets to be scuttled. This gives the Germans more than enough firepower to challenge the British fleet
The Germans would also be in control over the continent. No army could stand up to her and the foreign policy of all European states would follow Germany's lead. That means the end of Anglo-European trade. This is far more devastating to Britain than the U-boat campaign
The German Uboat war would be changed to a true sea denial war. The Germans could use the French and Spanish bases to send raiders to sea. A hundred Armed Merchantmen prowling the seas will wreck havoc on British trade.
The battlecruisers and protected cruisers of the continental fleets would make short work of any but the most heavily guarded convoys
Nor could the British inflict any real harm on Germany. The continent cannot be blockaded and everything that one needs can be found there
For what it's worth, I would like to make an additional point here--if Germany wins WWI and the Muslim League still eventually emerges as a formidable political force in British India, do Germany and the Ottoman Empire try sponsoring the Muslim League in order to further advance their own foreign policy interests?
If so, would Jinnah and the Muslim League be willing to accept German and Ottoman aid and assistance?
India isn't that far away, though; after all, it borders Persia--which itself borders the Ottoman Empire!Ottoman empire is a mess even in an Ottoman wank. The ottomans will be much more interested in reestablishing control of its 1914 lands. And then maybe more control/influence in Persia, Eastern Arabia, Aden, and/or Egypt. India is just too far away to worry about for the Ottomans in more than some symbolic way.
Interesting. What do you think Britain could offer?
India isn't that far away, though; after all, it borders Persia--which itself borders the Ottoman Empire!
The Russians were building 7 Dreadnoughts and 4 Battle Cruisers that were top notch and far better than most in the British fleet. They would make a fine addition to the German fleet by 1915. Then there are her destroyers and submarines which were also top notch. Just something to remember
Why would the Russians and French scuttle their fleets? To save Britain? Not when the Germans can march into Paris and Moscow.
Still waiting to see how the British are keeping the sea lanes open and how are they blockading the Franco-German border
Germany will be tired of war. A-H is a mess. There are lots of client states to setup in the east. In WW1, once France and Russia make peace, Germany will make peace with the UK unless the UK refuses to make peace. Germany will be too busy setting up its trade zone that runs from Berlin to Baghdad to worry about India or breaking the UK.