Two scenarios, both involve the Great War lasting only one year. Swift Central Power victory coming soon
SWIFT ALLIED VICTORY:
Germany was hopelessly diplomatically isolated before the Great War, with only Austria as their friend (based on a coercive relationship). Thus historians have been baffled at why Germany would give Austria a carte blanche to attack Serbia, triggering a war against France and Russia. Germany's hubris seemingly didn't stop there as they embarked on a crackpot plan to defeat France in just 6 weeks, invading Belgium and dragging Britain into the war. The German generals were working on an outdated plan that assumed Russia wouldn't mobilize for 6 weeks, but they'd didn't appreciate how much had changed between 1905 and Franz Ferdinand's assignation in 1916. The Russians began to advance into Galicia and East Prussia only 2 weeks after, wrecking the plan to invade France which was already underway. An attempt to halt the advance at Tannenberg, led by the senile Hindenburg, ended only in disastrous defeat. Germany fled back to the river Oder, and the line held for a while. But the troop movements had now left the West exposed. Brussels was recaptured by the Entente forces and Strasbourg was occupied in the West. By December, the Russians were approaching Budapest and the Entente allies were on German soil. Germany was not totally defeated, but its war efforts collapsing; her colonies occupied. Italy, seeing Austria's weakness, attacks in November. With no other choice that didn't lead in the complete collapse of the imperial regime, the German empire signed a provisional armistice on 23rd December 1916. The war, which had the potential to be bloody and protracted, was over.
A peace conference was held in Amsterdam during March 1917. The allies pressed territorial concessions and reparations payments for damage. The Germans lost all their colonies to Britain or France, in addition to the concession of Posen and Upper Silesia to Russia, Alsace-Lorraine to France and North Schleswig to Denmark. Austria lost Bosnia to Serbia, parts of Transylvania to Romania, Trieste and Istria to Italy and all of Galicia to Russia. The empire was ultimately not dissolved- Franz Joseph's address 5 days before he died pleading for unity had much impact, and France and the United Kingdom favoured the continuation of Austria Hungary as a bulwark to Russian in the Balkans. Russia favoured a much harsher treaty, but was blocked by the allies. Tensions are running high between the former allies, as Russia presses the Ottoman Empire into an Armenian concession, despite the fact they did not join the allies. As for Germany, the Kaiser survived only through the March Constitution, which gave the Reichstag the power to introduce legislation as well as making the Chancellor and government ministries accountable and appointed by the Reichstag.
