Suggestions For WW1 Central Alliance Victory?

BlondieBC

Banned
See Admiral Essen incident. Having Sweden join the Central Powers may hasten the collapse of Russia.

We had a thread on this one about a year ago. Of course it helps, but there are differing opinions to how much. The main difference is how aggressive are the Swedes early in the war. Russian defenses in parts of Finland and the Alan Islands were weak at the start of the war, so there is an opening for a hugely successful Swedish impact. Losing the Alan Islands has a huge impact on the Russian plans and makes them defend a lot of extra cost line, very early in the war. It likely means the Russians have to pull an army out of the attack on A-H, and likely saves them.

The majority opinion seem to be the Swedes would move slow enough, the Russians would send reinforcements to SW Finland and fortify the Alan Islands in time. Then we look at the Swedes probably bleeding off 3 or so corps from the Russian army. These troops come from troops sent to reinforce losses on the German or A-H fronts, so we still see a pretty heavy pounding of A-H compared to the others scenario. In this TL, the devil is in the details.

How much is Austria helped? How early?
Can Germany delay sending the extra corps east?
Will Russia go on a defensive war plan? This has profound changes to war, pro and con for both sides.
How does Sweden influence USA perception of Entente who also violated a neutral nation now?
Does Italy still enter war if Austria does better? Austria has be doing better by very late 1914.

I would say it generally gives the CP a win, but not assured.
 
Italy going in for the CP, may or may not be enough to tipped the balance in the favor of the CP. Italy had some fairly poor troops, who as I recalled shot some of their own officers when they wanted to surrender.

Now if you want to have a money back guarantee to in a CP victory, you need America to get to tied up in Mexico to worry about what is going on in Europe. Arthur Zimmermann needs to go before 1916. If you get the Punitive Expedition to go into a full fedge war, the allies loose their source of funding and any hope of having the massive reinforcements that America would brough.
 
Rough Draft Of TL

Hi guys, I am going to put this TL on the backburner for a while. I will be investing most of my AH time into salvaging the only other TL I have put work into. This is a display of what I`ve so far crafted together, comments, reccomendations, and constructive criticism are welcome with open arms.
June, 1914:
28, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, are assassinated in Belgrade, Serbia while on (basically) a PR tour. Serbia was indignant to immediate demands for investigation. (the Assassin was arrested though)
July, 1914:
7, AH begins contemplating a surprise invasion of Serbia, but ultimately decides in favor of harsh demands
8-14, various minor negotiations begin, AH attitudes are shifted to war
23, AH sends an ultimatum to Serbia (all but one requirement is accepted)
26, AH begins negotiations with Italy concerning compensation for a successful war
28, AH declares war on Serbia
30, Russia begins partial mobilization in AH border provinces, Germany moves troops against Russia
August, 1914: (partially)
1, Germany declares war on Russia and occupies Luxembourg
2&3, the Schlieffen plan is put into place and German troops swarm through Belgium into France
4, Britain ,unsatisfied with the German response to their ultimatum regarding Belgium, declares war on Germany
 
Last edited:

Flubber

Banned
This is a display of what I`ve so far crafted together, comments, reccomendations, and constructive criticism are welcome with open arms.


That won't work at all for a great many reasons the chief of which is your assumption that Europe is somehow going to remained unchanged between 1914 and 1918 as if it has been sealed in amber. The truth of the matter is that a lot of feces is going to a lot of fans in 1914 whether a world war kicks off or not.

In the summer of 1914 all of the major powers and many of the minor ones are facing either immediate or looming domestic political crises. Britain is looking at an armed uprising in Ulster over Irish Home Rule. In France, the wife of the president is on trial for murdering a newspaper editor and Jean Jaures, a prominent socialist and anti-militarist, will be assassinated. In Germany, a constitutional showdown between the Reichstag and cabinet over ministerial appointments and the budget process is coming to a head. In Russia, the Duma is attempting to exert itself while dissatisfaction with Nicholas II is growing. In Austria-Hungary, the political compact between Austria and Hungary is due for renegotiation in 1917 with Austria hoping to reign in Hungary, Hungary hoping to gain even more autonomy, and several other ethnic groups hoping to gain a voice in the empire. Elsewhere, a third war in the Balkans is brewing, revolutions are taking place as far afield as Mexico and China, and the world is doing what it's always doing: constantly changing.

One of the other changes you failed to appreciate is the very good chance that one of your 1918 assassination victims, Franz Ferdinand, has been A-H emperor since 1917.

The 1918 described in your time line could only exist if an ASB held it's thumb on some universal pause button for four years.
 
That won't work at all for a great many reasons the chief of which is your assumption that Europe is somehow going to remained unchanged between 1914 and 1918 as if it has been sealed in amber. The truth of the matter is that a lot of feces is going to a lot of fans in 1914 whether a world war kicks off or not.

In the summer of 1914 all of the major powers and many of the minor ones are facing either immediate or looming domestic political crises. Britain is looking at an armed uprising in Ulster over Irish Home Rule. In France, the wife of the president is on trial for murdering a newspaper editor and Jean Jaures, a prominent socialist and anti-militarist, will be assassinated. In Germany, a constitutional showdown between the Reichstag and cabinet over ministerial appointments and the budget process is coming to a head. In Russia, the Duma is attempting to exert itself while dissatisfaction with Nicholas II is growing. In Austria-Hungary, the political compact between Austria and Hungary is due for renegotiation in 1917 with Austria hoping to reign in Hungary, Hungary hoping to gain even more autonomy, and several other ethnic groups hoping to gain a voice in the empire. Elsewhere, a third war in the Balkans is brewing, revolutions are taking place as far afield as Mexico and China, and the world is doing what it's always doing: constantly changing.

One of the other changes you failed to appreciate is the very good chance that one of your 1918 assassination victims, Franz Ferdinand, has been A-H emperor since 1917.

The 1918 described in your time line could only exist if an ASB held it's thumb on some universal pause button for four years.
holy crap that is my bad, the entire thing was set to occur in 1914, FACEPALM
I`m changing it now
 
Top