Help with a CP TL

Hello everyone, ever since I joined this site I have aspired to make a timeline about a Central Powers Victory in the Great War. I've gone through a lot of tl's to see what elements I can use for my own timeline. I have come to some ideas however I would like to know your recommendations about the POD and the events that happen within the TL.

I would be glad if you can recommend books to make the TL more detailed.

My TL has POD in Verdun, though I was recently thinking how a Russian victory in 1905 might affect the war. Similarly, the war would extend into early 1918, with an earlier Brest-Livostk (although Ukraine and Finland continue to fall). under the influence of the Cp) After the failures of the allied offensives, the Germans managed to put pressure on the French, who would request peace. The negotiations would take place in Potsdam and the French would cede colonies in exchange for the territorial integrity of the Metropolis and few reparations. The United Kingdom would be willing to return the occupied colonies, although with the dominions it is something else (I was thinking of a tougher colonial campaign in Africa, although I must see how it could be justified) Germany would recover part of its colonial empire (Togo, Cameroon and East Africa; SWA could also come back, but again, it depends if I find a POD for a tougher campaign in Africa).

Germany would win the Belgian Congo and French Equatorial Africa, this in exchange for a return to a status quo in Western Europe, barring an annexation of Luxembourg within the Empire. While in Indochina, I see a kind of distribution sponsored by the British, in order to guarantee the security of the Empire.
 
Hello everyone, ever since I joined this site I have aspired to make a timeline about a Central Powers Victory in the Great War. I've gone through a lot of tl's to see what elements I can use for my own timeline. I have come to some ideas however I would like to know your recommendations about the POD and the events that happen within the TL.

I would be glad if you can recommend books to make the TL more detailed.

My TL has POD in Verdun, though I was recently thinking how a Russian victory in 1905 might affect the war. Similarly, the war would extend into early 1918, with an earlier Brest-Livostk (although Ukraine and Finland continue to fall). under the influence of the Cp) After the failures of the allied offensives, the Germans managed to put pressure on the French, who would request peace. The negotiations would take place in Potsdam and the French would cede colonies in exchange for the territorial integrity of the Metropolis and few reparations. The United Kingdom would be willing to return the occupied colonies, although with the dominions it is something else (I was thinking of a tougher colonial campaign in Africa, although I must see how it could be justified) Germany would recover part of its colonial empire (Togo, Cameroon and East Africa; SWA could also come back, but again, it depends if I find a POD for a tougher campaign in Africa).

Germany would win the Belgian Congo and French Equatorial Africa, this in exchange for a return to a status quo in Western Europe, barring an annexation of Luxembourg within the Empire. While in Indochina, I see a kind of distribution sponsored by the British, in order to guarantee the security of the Empire.
I will be grateful for any comments or recommendations.
 
I will be grateful for any comments or recommendations.
We need more info about Russia, if Russia ends more competent by the POD I don't think France will throw out the towel, but if Russia is more bravado and is far worse OTL, verdun would do the trick

The East Asian Concession and Samoa are lost, but I can see Africa colonies being given back in exchange of complete evacuation and belgium neutrality
 
We need more info about Russia, if Russia ends more competent by the POD I don't think France will throw out the towel, but if Russia is more bravado and is far worse OTL, verdun would do the trick

The East Asian Concession and Samoa are lost, but I can see Africa colonies being given back in exchange of complete evacuation and belgium neutrality
I must investigate further, but from what I understand, Russia implemented serious military reforms due to the humiliation suffered. Without a loss, the Russian military could be more inefficient due to either a) Not applying military reforms or b) Applying reforms even later than in OTL.

Certainly Germany and Austria-Hungary would be more cautious, so the Bosnian crisis would be completely different, however, I think the war could have happened just the same. The UK would be concerned with both Russia and Germany and would seek to deal with the latter, however I think the Germans could have gone with the Schlieffen Plan but with an East Prussia with larger troops in case of Russian mobilisation. Moltke considered the invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg a necessary evil, and it could be argued that the United Kingdom would maintain neutrality due to its disagreements with Russia. However, I think the UK could continue to enter the war, albeit less coordinated with the French and with greater reservations about the Russians. This is more than a hypothesis of what I know about the period, but I would be grateful for any recommendation to delve into the subject.
 

Riain

Banned
Having a 1916 PoD for a 1918 victory is a good way to ensure realism as it can butterfly away some of the things that made CP victory very unlikely in later years. It's good to have an idea of the hows and whys of wider events, as they have an impact on your area of focus: it sucks to say you want some troops to do something for your TL and they're busy elsewhere.
 
Having a 1916 PoD for a 1918 victory is a good way to ensure realism as it can butterfly away some of the things that made CP victory very unlikely in later years. It's good to have an idea of the hows and whys of wider events, as they have an impact on your area of focus: it sucks to say you want some troops to do something for your TL and they're busy elsewhere.
I more or less have a general idea for the TL, however, I still need to establish the movements before the war and the military situation during the conflict; in addition to investigating the possibility of some things for peace.
 
If you want more detail about the Eastern Front than you get from the standard histories which tend to be Anglocentric you should probably get a hold of Norman Stone's The Eastern Front 1914-1917.

A few thoughts about your TL. Verdun is a complicated topic. However von Falkenhayn's objective was to gain a dominating position overlooking Verdun that the French would be forced to mount massive counterattacks to retake that would suffer a 3:1 loss ratio which would bleed the French reserves dry. 3:1 is overly optimistic IMHO but maybe he can get 2:1. Actually taking Verdun would something of an afterbirth but happens eventually either because the French abandon it or von Falkenhayn feels he needs the prestige to hold on to his job. It would also be a blow to French morale. Falkenhayn would be expecting the French government to surreptitiously beginning peace negotiations only to be disappointed. I can see the immediate aftermath of Verdun would be some sort of limited German offensive on the eastern bank of the Meuse. Meanwhile he is preparing his next big offensive which is probably going to be a tweaked version of what he was planning to do with Eleventh Army in 1915 before committing it to the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. That was an attack in the vicinity of Arras with the capture of Doullens, an important railroad station as its ultimate objective.

With von Falkenhayn still in charge and fervently believing that France will be throwing in the towel very soon I can see him opposing USW because he wouldn't want America entering the war giving the demoralized French a reason to hope.
 
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