Stop the Trains: War in the West averted in 1914

Snake Featherston

Banned
informationfan said:
Hi,

the russians fighting with the french and brits, with a blocade, with the italian frontline hold 3 years

without this second front in the west the russians are dead. not in 3 years, not in 2... the whole german army crush the russians, logistic is the ONLY problem - but still a huge problem.

So the russians will ask for peace in autum 1915, otherwise BL will happen (just to be sure that the russians understand the message)

But i doubt the french stay passive - or the brits...

the french need to attack - they will suffer terrible. But the brits will find a way -even if the germans do nothing at all, the brits are forced by contracts to attack germany (so much to "defend belgium" :p;))

but it could be better for the germans, if they change their schlieffenplan (just like before) and try to take the russians. if they do so, the austrians do not loose so many troops and do not suffer so heavy... the russians will be crushed (at last they get much faster much more serious problems, a fast defeat in 1916 is realistic - so no romania siding with the russians, the austrians will defeat the serbs quickly - another enemy out of the war
with this, the greec will not allow french and british troops... bulgaria could joint faster the cp and italy will stay neutral.

In the long run the german situation is improved, the russians crash way earlier, the germans do not suffer so much by the blocade, etc.
Being the evil agressor, british and french propaganda will sound hollow in the us of a - maybe they will even be real neutral - so no little toys by the us of a for france and UK...
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Even after Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes, the Russians won two defensive battles against Germany. Imperial Germany has as much chance to conquer Tsarist Russia as Nazi Germany did the Soviet Union.
 

ScottColo

The rising tide of nationalism of the European revolts lends encouragement to nationalist groups elsewhere, particularly in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans had briefly joined the German and Austrian war against Russia, but taken little part in the fighting after being badly beaten at Sarikamish, and had gained virtually nothing from the treaty. Arab, Armenian, and Kurdish nationalism see an increase in popularity, causing increased anxiety in the Ottoman government. It begins a campaign to suppress seditious activity, arresting many activists and minority intellectual figures. The collapse of Russian authority in the Caucasus brings the threat of Armenian armed resistance spreading into Eastern Anatolia. The government begins targeting Armenians for particularly harsh repression, and begins preparing for an invasion of the Caucasus.

A revolution breaks out in Egypt in 1923 against the British occupiers. Although the Egyptians seek full independence, some Ottoman officials concoct a fanciful scheme to encourage the revolt and restore Ottoman control over Egypt. Word of the plan creates a major backlash, creating serious hostility between the British and Ottomans and increased anti-Ottoman feeling in the Arabian provinces. The British send aid to the Armenians through Iran, and as the Ottomans struggle to advance, they face a new revolt by the Arabs late in 1924. Sharif Hussein of Mecca declares himself king of an independent Hejaz, and resistance appears in Syria and Mesopotamia. Britain bars Ottoman ships from the Suez Canal, fearing an attack on Egypt and their other protectorates in the Red Sea, preventing a counterattack on the Hejaz. Unable to cope with the fighting on both fronts, the Ottoman government is toppled in a military coup. The new regime scales back its objectives, focusing on maintaining control in Eastern Anatolia, while virtually abandoning Arabia. Under British mediation, the conflict in the Caucasus ends in a territorial status-quo-ante, with Armenian resistance inside Turkey ended.

As Ottoman control of the Arabian provinces evaporates, Sharif Hussein’s son Faisal marches into Damascus in 1926. A congress of nationalist activists declares the independence of greater Syria with Faisal as king. Under British and French pressure, and in order to secure the recognition of the great powers, he agrees to accommodate the self-government of Christians in Lebanon and Zionist immigrants in Palestine, which are made into autonomous regions of the kingdom.

syria.png
 
Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
I guess this explains why the Ottomans don't bother standing up for the Tatars, then

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Atlantic Friend

Snake Featherston said:
If this happens, then the alliances would be null and void, the result of which is that nobody in Europe trusts anybody ever again.
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France and Britain would be thrown together, though. An even more powerful German Reich in the middle of Europe isn't going to sit well with either, regardless of how many time Kaiser Willy expresses love for his late granny or pretends to like escargots à l'ail.
 

Grimm Reaper

This portrayal of the Ottoman Empire is ridiculous.

OTL it took four years and war on multiple fronts against the UK, the British Commonwealth, France, Italy, Greece, Russia, the US and many other powers to bring down the Ottomans. The odds of Armenian and Arab guerrillas being able to win at all, let alone take so much, are nil.
 

Swiftbread

The Ottoman Empire and Russian Empire seem to be cursed in this TL. I wonder who else will be infected by this curse....my bet is on France. Germany always seems to get a nice bite out of France in TLs like this.

I did like the coat of arms you showed and I think the title for this TL is really cool even though I may not like where the TL is going.
 

mrmandias

anon_user said:
France mobilized August 1, 1914 in OTL - they had no reason not to do so, and in fact ordered the mobilization July 30. As for Britain, it already was seizing Agincourt and Erin even before it declared war; further, I don't see the British willing to give up the alliance with France.
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And, contrary to what a poster said upstream, this wasn't from belligerence or revanche. It was sheer geopolitical calculation.

If France didn't want to jump whenever Germany whistled, it needed powerful allies. Russia was that ally. Period. France's choice was to accept German suzerainty or fight.
 

ScottColo

I finally found some good maps of Ukraine from the Brest-Litovsk period, showing the differences from its present borders. Now here's what the Ukrainian State would have looked like at the end of the war:

ukraine.png
 

ScottColo

The reforms enacted by the SPD government from 1927 on are eventually combined into a new constitution, which is formally adopted in 1942, after Kaiser Wilhelm dies and is succeeded by his grandson Ludwig Ferdinand. Its principal features include:

• Making the Chancellor and government responsible to the Reichstag
• Prohibiting the Chancellor from holding any other office (i.e. prime minister of Prussia) simultaneously
• Expansion of voting rights, including female suffrage
• Protects fundamental rights and civil liberties
• Limiting the kaiser’s powers of appointment and decree

Reforms are also made to the organization of the states of the empire, to simplify the complex internal borders and make the territories more contiguous. The two Mecklenburgs are unified, (the ducal line of Strelitz having died out), Hohenzollern is made a separate state in personal union with Prussia, and Frankfurt is re-established as a free city. Most affected are the Thuringian states. Several are absorbed into Saxony, parts of others combined into the new grand duchy of Weimar, under the house of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the grand duchy of West Thuringia, under the house of Saxe-Meiningen, and Saundershausen, under the house of Schwarzburg. Alsace-Lorraine becomes a state on equal standing with the rest.

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