Limited WWI

I've been wondering lately if there would be any circumstances in which the First World War could have been limited to the eastern theatre. What might have kept the French and the British (and possibly the Germans) out of the conflict and made it a dispute between Russia, Austria, the Balkans and maybe the Turks?

If it had been restricted to Russia fighting Austria and possibly Turkey, who would have had the advantage?

(I recognise the improbability of this eventuality, but I'm curious if it might have been possible and what the outcome would have been).
 

Maur

Banned
I've been wondering lately if there would be any circumstances in which the First World War could have been limited to the eastern theatre. What might have kept the French and the British (and possibly the Germans) out of the conflict and made it a dispute between Russia, Austria, the Balkans and maybe the Turks?

If it had been restricted to Russia fighting Austria and possibly Turkey, who would have had the advantage?

(I recognise the improbability of this eventuality, but I'm curious if it might have been possible and what the outcome would have been).
Without Germany? Russia curbstomps them, hard. It wouldn't be world war, though.
 

Susano

Banned
Without Germany? Russia curbstomps them, hard. It wouldn't be world war, though.

Of course, thats not a very likely scenario. Germany will not throw its only remaining ally to the wolves, as shown by OTL and also before in the crisis about the Bosnia annexation. And the other constant in European diplomacy at the time was Franco-German hostility...

And besides, without GB, France and Germany it would hardly be a World War, anyway :p
 

Maur

Banned
Of course, thats not a very likely scenario. Germany will not throw its only remaining ally to the wolves, as shown by OTL and also before in the crisis about the Bosnia annexation. And the other constant in European diplomacy at the time was Franco-German hostility...

And besides, without GB, France and Germany it would hardly be a World War, anyway :p
Well, yeah, its ASB. With Germany Russia gets curbstomped hard. But wait, France would never allow this, so...

Yeah, the whole premise is ASB, sadly.
 

Deleted member 1487

That depends really. France was under massive pressure both by the British and their own population not to be the aggressors. If Germany for some reason trusted the French would not go to war, nearly ASB, they could conceivable put the French in a very bad position politically. However, turning East would be a mess for everyone, and Russia won't necessarily lose big either, at least in the early years, especially if the French situation is unclear.

While it is possible, its extremely unlikely that a limited war would happen.
 
to limit WW1 requires the diplomats to have had more control and certain Emperors and Kings slightly less. They also need to realise that certain nations are always going to be a bloody nuisance (ie Serbia) and that other nations just need to get together, have a think and then sort the silly ones out properly once and for all...just my tuppenworth...

Oh Britain doesn't get pally with France-means France is more restrained, Germany doesn't feel so uppity and threatened by Anglo French entente-all that would help.
 
What you're really looking at is a Third Balkan War with Austria and Russia supporting rival sides. However, you won't get this from Sarajevo as Austrian pride won't keep them out. But a different explosion and you could see Russia backing one alliance just short of war, and Austria another

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Thread title probably should have been something like "Limited war in Eastern Europe instead of WWI", but that's a trifle unwieldy.

I know it's an absurdly unrealistic premise, but I was just curious about what the outcome might be. I admit that I've absolutely no idea what the Austo-Hungarian military capacities were in that time period! :D

The fact is, the whole network of alliances at that point in time was too solid (as far as the politicians were concerned) to prevent all of the interventions that lead to the war. Maybe if they'd tried to reach a diplomatic solution there could have been a more restricted conflict. Again, I'm not well-informed enough to make any suggestion about that.
 

Deleted member 1487

I admit that I've absolutely no idea what the Austo-Hungarian military capacities were in that time period! :D

They were outnumbered and gunned by the Russian forces they had to face OTL, which was only about 60% of Russian forces in Eastern Europe. Germany was absolutely necessary for Austria-Hungary to survive, otherwise AH wouldn't have gone to war. The whole Blank Cheque thing was crucial to even get the ball rolling toward war.
 
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