Possible Additions To The Central Powers?
- Thread starter Gog (♀)
- Start date
Bulgaria would also join, just about all of the Balkans would join if it meant more land
Well I saw a good TL that had Clark Champ get nominated with Hearst as Secretary of the navy.
More pro-German anti-British feeling could reverse the roles that lead the US into the war. American ships are intercepted or sunk by the British navy trying to reach German ports and the build up of British soldiers in Canada leads to increased tensions. I think you'd need the English to do something stupid to really anger the Americans but it's not impossible.
The US was largely on the fence about the war at the start. Britain was a better trade partner but the US had a huge German and Irish population who weren't particularly fond of England.
Also a central powers USA leads to some interesting shifts in theater. I'd expect to see decent sized battles in the far east and Caribbean.
Paul V McNutt
Banned
The US is not joining the Central Powers. The British were stopping our ships but they were not killing anyone. There were no democracies in the Central Powers.
But the possibility of a incident resulting in a sunken ship coupled with Anglophobes(eg Hearst) in positions of some power could do it.
Greece, not really. At least one and probably both of its rivals will be in the CP before them, so they have nothing to gain. The only real choices are neutral or Entente Greece.
King Carol of Romania knew that his nation would not approve of joining the CP and that the best he could hope for was neutrality as long as the Entente has a decent chance. Romania might join the CP only if and when the Russian Empire starts breaking down.
Albania might join if Prince William somehow manages to not only stay in power but pacify his numerous opposition. Hard to imagine how that could happen, though.
King Carol of Romania knew that his nation would not approve of joining the CP and that the best he could hope for was neutrality as long as the Entente has a decent chance. Romania might join the CP only if and when the Russian Empire starts breaking down.
Albania might join if Prince William somehow manages to not only stay in power but pacify his numerous opposition. Hard to imagine how that could happen, though.
Well I geuss they could be neutral
A earlier Russian collapse could cinch this
idk what happens when albania joins, they probobly get a piece of Serbia and Montenegro if they win.
Greece king was pro German, maybe they could join. Netherlands also had some German sympathies.
cpip
Gone Fishin'
Japan considered it. Largely, the pro-German side was out of power at the time, but was heavily the genro and the old Army hands; the pro-British side was stocked with the more pro-democracy sorts and to a lesser extent the Navy. Were the sides swapped, several prominent Japanese statesmen had advocated joining the German side because they were convinced of a swift German victory; there had been diplomatic feelers to weigh changing to the German side since at least 1912.
I don't see that happening without a really far back POD. US/British interests tended to align far more than that of US/German interests. Trade and cultural ties generally overrule that of a restive minority. I could see the USA remaining on the fence, but a POD far back enough to create genuine hostile feeling between Britain and the US is probably going to butterfly the POD for war itself.
As said in the other thread, this basically guarantee's the US entering the war very early. Their relations regarding China were at odds as it was, Japan suddenly attacking nations recognizing the "Open Door Agreement" is going to be very poorly received in Washington. Remember Japan had constantly made assurances that it violated (eg. Seizing of the Manchurian railroad and using rhetoric to shift what was actually considered to be "China"). The US is going to interpret continued aggression against the Entente holdings as continued violation of the "Open Door" policy, and it would correctly deduce that Japan is trying to take control of the Chinese markets for itself. Also suddenly turning on Britain isn't going to do wonders for the Japanese diplomatically either, would the US be willing to trust the agreements of a nation that constantly refuses to acknowledge US interests and then turns against a major ally?
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CthulhuFhtagn
Banned
I think it's far more likely that a more Anglophobic USA would just stay out of the war entirely. No pro-Entente policies from 1914-16, and certainly no unsecured loans in 1917 and 1918 (which were critical to the Entente victory). That alone might be enough to tip the balance in favor of the Central Powers.