Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland on CPs side

Valdemar II

Banned
Whatwould the effect be if all these three countries ended up on the Central Powers side?

Sweden because Russian tries a first strike against their navy. (1914)

Denmark because the British tries to invade North Germany through it. (1915-1917)

And Switzerland because the French try to make a surprise attack to against South Germany through it (1916-18)
 
Whatwould the effect be if all these three countries ended up on the Central Powers side?

Sweden because Russian tries a first strike against their navy. (1914)

Denmark because the British tries to invade North Germany through it. (1915-1917)

And Switzerland because the French try to make a surprise attack to against South Germany through it (1916-18)

Sweden wouldnt have made much impact since we had arms that were modern, in the ACW
 
Well, now all three major Entente powers have made unprovoked(ish) attacks upon neutrals during the course of the war, which I could see having Bad Effects on their PR (those three might not be the only non-OTL CP powers that are a part of the Central Powers in such a timeline, and some OTL Entente powers might be firmer in their neutrality). Of course, with less neutrals to buy things from, Germany will have some problems, as well...
 
Whatwould the effect be if all these three countries ended up on the Central Powers side?

Sweden because Russian tries a first strike against their navy. (1914)

Denmark because the British tries to invade North Germany through it. (1915-1917)

And Switzerland because the French try to make a surprise attack to against South Germany through it (1916-18)

-Sweeden would have probably been overrun by Russia. As mentioned before their military wasn't up to date and numbers alone would favor Russia. Between this and the Finnish rebellions this could tie down a good number of troops from the main front against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Why would Russia do this though?

-There's a reason the British didn't try any amphibious moves against Germany. It'd be a logistical nightmare. Denmark might be initially easier, but the terrain is a natural bottleneck so it wouldn't take many German reinforcements to bog the front down. Only real advantage of this I see is it'd give the Royal Navy access to the Baltic.

-Invade Switzerland to hit south Germany? Okay... let's lay off on the wine. Instead of fighting to defend the main thrust of the German attack, you're going to divert several thousand troops in an attempt to cross some of the most rugged terrain the world has to offer, against a country that hasn't been successfully invaded in some 500 years. The Swiss wouldn't even have to use guns, they could just roll rocks down on the attackers and probably beat them back.

So in conclusion, if the three major powers of the Entente all decided to do something monumentially stupid, yes there's a good chance the Central Powers(not the Axis, wrong war), would have won.
 
Here's the link:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=130544&highlight=Essen

I'll concede that scenario then, as it very well could have happened. So a larger Finnish uprising and war with Sweeden. Germany probably helps out with weapons and the area ties down a large number of Russian troops.

Would Scandanavia tie down enough Russian troops to effect the war? Would Germany defeat them sooner? Their strategy's always been to smother their foes with thousands of dead bodies, though that didn't pay dividends in WW1 even without a larger Scandanavian problem.
 
Switzerland? How dare you think the Swiss would fight in war?

Oh they'd fight if someone attacked them, but no one's that dumb. Worst terrain in the world for military operations just about. Air power only goes so far, especially in WW1, and in the Alps a trench mortar would do for an artillery battery.

So good job France, you just rammed your head into a brick wall. :p
 

Valdemar II

Banned
-Sweeden would have probably been overrun by Russia. As mentioned before their military wasn't up to date and numbers alone would favor Russia. Between this and the Finnish rebellions this could tie down a good number of troops from the main front against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Why would Russia do this though?

See the mentioned "von Essen" threads, I doubt Sweden would be overrun, it almost impossible for Sweden to be overrun through the north, and the German High Sea coulsd roam the Baltic freely sabotage any naval invasion of Sweden (Sweden would likely occupy the Ålands rather fast, but have little succes in contignental Finland), but Sweden would likely grow more and more dangerous through the war when it modernise.

-There's a reason the British didn't try any amphibious moves against Germany. It'd be a logistical nightmare. Denmark might be initially easier, but the terrain is a natural bottleneck so it wouldn't take many German reinforcements to bog the front down. Only real advantage of this I see is it'd give the Royal Navy access to the Baltic.

With Sweden in the war, access to the Baltic is a very good reason, it would cut Sweden of from German support and open Russia up. So with Sweden in the war there's enough reason to do such a stupid thing.

-Invade Switzerland to hit south Germany? Okay... let's lay off on the wine. Instead of fighting to defend the main thrust of the German attack, you're going to divert several thousand troops in an attempt to cross some of the most rugged terrain the world has to offer, against a country that hasn't been successfully invaded in some 500 years. The Swiss wouldn't even have to use guns, they could just roll rocks down on the attackers and probably beat them back.

While I have a hard time to find a good reason to invade it, Switzerland defensiblity is quite overrated, must of the north where the majority live is no worse to invade than South Germany, if not a lot easier, if the allies decide to invade, the Italians would fast occupy Ticino (through no more), while much of west Switzerland would fall to France, the only thing save the rest of the north would German reinforcement, my guess is Switzerland west of the lake Neuchal would end up in French hands.

So in conclusion, if the three major powers of the Entente all decided to do something monumentially stupid, yes there's a good chance the Central Powers(not the Axis, wrong war), would have won.

I wrote CPs not Axis. But yes these military disasters give the CPs a better chance.
 
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