Central Powers win War, Germany goes communist

One important reason for the attempted Red takeover was the collapse in living standards, including starvation brought about by the allied blockade. That is not something a victorious Germany would have to be concerned about ... at least not the same extent.

And in Germany, as we know from our own timeline, anti-establishment populism was as likely to be far right than far left.

A few thoughts.

First, you'll still get a collapse in living standards; Germany was scraping the bottom of the barrel in 1918, even without the blockade. Moreover, Ukrainian grain wasn't an option for the foreseeable future, as OTLs harvest demonstrate.

So you get a few hungry winters, even if Germany wins. Which means, at best, neutralizing France while Britain withdraws from the continent. And the German army gets bogged down in Russia, as the High Command pursues dreams of delusion and empire across the Steppes.
 
A few thoughts.

First, you'll still get a collapse in living standards; Germany was scraping the bottom of the barrel in 1918, even without the blockade. Moreover, Ukrainian grain wasn't an option for the foreseeable future, as OTLs harvest demonstrate.

So you get a few hungry winters, even if Germany wins. Which means, at best, neutralizing France while Britain withdraws from the continent. And the German army gets bogged down in Russia, as the High Command pursues dreams of delusion and empire across the Steppes.
Of course, it does depends on the whens and hows of the victory- but if one is looking for a, hm, closer-to-radical-revolution Germany, then later, later, later seems better.
That said, I still wonder if there would have been sufficient support for a properly Communist revolution- strong calls for a German Republic, but not necessarily strong calls for a German Conciliar Republic, so to speak.
 
Of course, it does depends on the whens and hows of the victory- but if one is looking for a, hm, closer-to-radical-revolution Germany, then later, later, later seems better.
That said, I still wonder if there would have been sufficient support for a properly Communist revolution- strong calls for a German Republic, but not necessarily strong calls for a German Conciliar Republic, so to speak.

Well you'll never get Stalinist Germany. But a Socialist state with a Luxembourg tint?
 
Well you'll never get Stalinist Germany. But a Socialist state with a Luxembourg tint?
I wonder... I think a simple German Republic doing a more radical break with the Empire is somewhat more likely (if nothing else, because it is going to get support from most socialists and groups fearing that the alternative is the Conciliar Republic- er, and other republicans that aren't socialists, or too social-democratic to like Luxembourg's ideas), but a Luxembourgish Socialist Germany doesn't seem impossible, given the right German victory conditions.
 
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