What Happens to Austria-Hungary after a Late CP Victory?

[Hörnla]

1. I do not see formal reasons for a Coronation in Zagreb, but the political aim to make the Croats not to side with the Hungarian leadership in an upcoming strike against the Ausgleich.

2. I see no reason to discuss Mittelafrika or the fate of the Ottoman Empire on this thread.

3. I cannot see something like a "reversed Versailles" with this POD. Even with Italy struck down at the Piave, I do not see a CP ability to decisively beat France/Britain in a way that allows them to demand a lot. I am even sure that the Entente can hold Lake Garda / Adige against Austria-Hungary.

Any peace in this scenario is likely to be very close to the Status Quo in the West of Europe. The East and the Balkans would be a wholly different thing, though.

4. I also reckon that Otto, whom I once had the honor to be introduced to, would be an excellent monarch, also probably with a very long reign. The man is still alive.

I am not sure about the line of succession, but maybe even the Hohenzollern could produce a decent Kaiser in the second half of the 20th century.

 

[LordIreland]

1. I do not see formal reasons for a Coronation in Zagreb, but the political aim to make the Croats not to side with the Hungarian leadership in an upcoming strike against the Ausgleich.

As for Karl's coronations, I agree he would have to be formally crowned King of Bohemia, something Franz Joseph I never did because the circumstances surrounding his ascension to the throne, but I don't know that he would have to be formally crowned King of Croatia. It might just piss off the Hungarian Nobles who need to be placated in the immediate future (while slowly working to undermine them in the long run) and honestly the Croatians were one of the more loyal ethnic groups to the Habsburg. He might have a formal ceremony to honor the Croatians for their years of loyalty, but it's not necessary.

Ok, so, definitly a third coronation in Prague and perhaps some sort of 'non-coronation' ceremony in Zagreb.

3. I cannot see something like a "reversed Versailles" with this POD. Even with Italy struck down at the Piave, I do not see a CP ability to decisively beat France/Britain in a way that allows them to demand a lot. I am even sure that the Entente can hold Lake Garda / Adige against Austria-Hungary.

At this stage of the war, all the combatents we're starting to have problems with their countries continued will to fight. From whati've read most people seem to think that France and Germany were the most likely to collapse first, followed by Italy and finally GB. In this case the Italans have not had a good war. All their offensives have failed and rather than rallying and winning a 'great victory' they are beaten again. The issue here becomes not how good is the terrain, but will the troops actually have the will to fight for it. Also, its easy in hindsight to say, they should have held, their enemy was in a worse state (Percival at Singapore for example), but perceptions at the time are what matter and at this point in time the Austrians seem unstoppable. It is entirely possible the civilian leadership in Rome will panic and request a cessation of hostilities.

Re France, check the PoD, no Americans coming, another massive defeat, Paris threatened by the Germans, the BEF pinned against the channel, the French army mutinied in 1917 and were promised things would change, they haven't. On this basis, I figured the French army would probably mutiny again, whilst the various political factions would pull apart causing the French gov't to start to loose control. This would be enough imho to bring the French cap in hand to he negotiating table as the vanquished. The 'Reverse versaille' will probably be the subject of my third post on this topic

I am not sure about the line of succession, but maybe even the Hohenzollern could produce a decent Kaiser in the second half of the 20th century.

Perhaps te introduction of some French blood into the line might help

 

[Susano]

Well, after WW1 Louis Ferdinand ended up becoming the Hohentzollern pretender, and he was an allright guy. Of course, most likely he wouldnt have become Emperor if the Kaiserreich had remained, he had an older brother after all who IOTL renounced his rights to marry "beneath his station"...

 

[von Adler]

You tend to forget that when you say "the Hungarians" what you really mean is the very reactionary and nationalist landed Gentry of Hungary. The massive majority of the Hungarian people were not enfranchised like the Austrian people was. While the Hungarians might want to force the Austrians to give even more at the next Ausgleich, it is not entirely certain that Hungary will get there at all.

Hungary fell completely to a communist revolution 1919 that had to be chased away by the Romanians. The minorities (Romanians, Serbs, Slovaks, Croats) claiming for more self-government at the same time as socialists and communists gain lots of support calling for enfranchisement. Can the gentry even trust the Honved?

With revolts springing up, perhaps politically supported by the Austrians as "legimate", you can suddenly have a Hungarian gentry facing losing everything and the Austrians demanding a lot of things to send in the army to restore order - or they could even be toppled and a new government asking to be recognised by the King.

 

[Campbell1004]

Could Austria integrate itself into the German Empire while Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bosnia, Croatia and the rest gain independence but are German vassals?

Germany has the experienced military in order to push them around, but they probably don't want to occupy the entire Balkan region.

 

[Lokari]

As a sidepoint, does anyone know if the Entente recognition of the Czech and Polish forces as fully fledged Entente co-belligerents at the Rome Congress of Oppressed Nationalities in April 1918 actually amounted to anything within the empire's territory? I know there was a Czech Legion in Russia, but I can't seem to find anything on whether it had any effect before the general collapse of the army OTL.

By 1918 the Polish forces of AH have mutined against Central Powers and their leaders have been imprisoned. They were also riots and protests against splitting of Galicia with Ukrainians which was taken as betrayal by Polish supportes of AH alliance. The Regency Council established by CP declared this as Fourth Partition of Poland on 9th of February 1918 and all members of government resigned in sign of protest on 12th February.

 

[Mikestone8]

As a sidepoint, does anyone know if the Entente recognition of the Czech and Polish forces as fully fledged Entente co-belligerents at the Rome Congress of Oppressed Nationalities in April 1918 actually amounted to anything within the empire's territory? I know there was a Czech Legion in Russia, but I can't seem to find anything on whether it had any effect before the general collapse of the army OTL.

According to Alan Palmer "Victory 1918" (p187) France recognised the Czech National Council a "Supreme organ of the nation and the first basis of a future Czechoslovak government" on 28 June 1918. Britain followed on 9 August and the United States on 2 September.

As far as I can see, Palmer doesn't give a date for when the Polish National Council was similarly recognised, but probably about the same time.

 

[Nivek]

According to Alan Palmer "Victory 1918" (p187) France recognised the Czech National Council a "Supreme organ of the nation and the first basis of a future Czechoslovak government" on 28 June 1918. Britain followed on 9 August and the United States on 2 September.

As far as I can see, Palmer doesn't give a date for when the Polish National Council was similarly recognised, but probably about the same time.

Yes but in This scenario if I understand correctly the OP,who said a Succesful Kaiserlatch(Spring Offensive) and no USA meddling when are no their business, the peace gonna will be for Middle Summer-Early Fall(to July to September) to avoid another winter in war time, and an action of recognised a runaway state will be a idiotic manevoer for the Entente(defeated in the battlefield, with france and Italy in their last legs) and a reason to crush brutally the Czechs... i think the comission will become an Unrecgonized state unless the A-H Empire collapse(in this scenario is like throw a coin)

 

[Lokari]

According to Alan Palmer "Victory 1918" (p187) France recognised the Czech National Council a "Supreme organ of the nation and the first basis of a future Czechoslovak government" on 28 June 1918. Britain followed on 9 August and the United States on 2 September.

As far as I can see, Palmer doesn't give a date for when the Polish National Council was similarly recognised, but probably about the same time.

Polish National Council was recognised on 20th September 1917 by France as Polish national representation. Even earlier, in June 1917 France allowed creation of Polish Army on French soil.

 

[Franz Josef II]

Perhaps the French did, and perhaps there was even a 'council of repressed nationalities' in Rome made up of dissatisfied Czechs and others, but these lacked credibility in their home country until the US came along w/their dumbass and stupid 14 points; this and the loss of the Army against the Italians was pretty much the undoing of AH.

 

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

The war ends in July 1918 after the successful conclusion of AHs Piave River Offensive.

Here is a copy of the proposed Reverse versaille from the earlier thread, posted by Machine3589

Additions generated by this thread:

1 - OE looses southern territories to the British - With the French designs on Lebanon/Syria removed and given that GB is the only Entente power capable of negotiating from a position of any real strength it is conceivable the GB would want a loyal ally sitting squarely on the overland route to India. This has the ramification of the British being more likely to seriously consider the Indian Dominion proposal.

2 - OE is compensated with ex-Russian territory: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and perhaps the Crimea - Tbh. I looked at an historical atlas for those choices, so if anyone has a better idea please comment.

These are inconceivable. A victorious power does not give up territory - especially not virtually all of it, and especially not when most of it is still held. The British army has only reached Jerusalem in Palestine, the Ottomans still hold everything in Arabia except Mecca, and the British are at Baghdad in Mesopotamia.

There is no reason for the Ottomans to give up this territory and no incentive for the Germans to either make them or allow this.

As for Austria-Hungary, 1918 is getting pretty late. After the Brusilov Offensive, I don't think Austria-Hungary's military was capable of independent activity without Germany, and you'd require Germany to prop up a monarchy composed of constituent parts that began to view it as hopeless. Any Poland existing will cause the Galician Poles to want to join it, upsetting the ethnic balance of power. Serbia has been crushed, which is good, but I don't think it's going to be as easy as some of you think to keep the ship afloat.

In case of an early CP victory, survival is a no-brainer.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Well, of course, we would have to stay in the doghouse for a few years for that, but if German leaders think about it a bit, they know that Italy never had any serious quarrel with them. Our Entente lapse, sheer geopolitical idiocy as it was IMO (we betrayed our natural business and strategic partners to aggrandize revanchist cheese-munchers that sold us for the useless Serbs at the peace table, if we had stayed in the CPs, A-H would have still fallen in the long run, we would have feasted on French booty, and we would have been in an excellent position to pick Habsburg spoils), was from bottom to end about Austria-Hungary. Differently from the "innatural" alliance with Austria, the one with the Kaiserreich was always genuinely popular in Italy. And from the Italian PoV, yes, the Entente lapse was a most serious mistake, but Germany's obsessive love of the Habsburg inbreds instead of picking us as preferred ally was frustrating and maddening. Now that Austria is no more, we can easily and genuinely won over to the victor's side for good (differently from UK, France, or Russia) if we are treated well. Ask the Americans.

Since the whole point is a proper disposition of former Habsburg territories, well there are some that only makes real sense to give Italy, and it shall make us quite loyal afterwards: No South Tyrol of course, but Trento, western Istria, and Gorizia-Gradisca are packed with Italians and of no real use to Germany, and differently from Austria, Germany does not really need Trieste, which is likewise full of Italians. As it concerns eastern Istria and Dalmatia, we may or may not get it in this situation, our chances would of course not be nowhere that good as if we had picked the CP side. It depends whether Germany wants to appease Italy or Hungary more, but Italians quite likely care to get them more than Hungary does, Budapest would mostly really care to get Fiume.



Nonetheless, in the long term, such weakness would be fleeting. Italy would still be one of the demographic and economic big guys of Europe, and poised to make the economic boom within the German-led economic community. Differently from Britain, France, or Russia, Italy has no serious geopolitical quarrel or revanchist bone with the German hegemony if we are given the Irredenta stuff, quite the contrary Germany was and is our natural economic and strategic partner (even today, our industry is practically an extension of theirs). If we are treated well, after the A-H demise, we can amaze Germany with our eager loyalty in a few years much as we did the Americans OTL, and we can a much useful tool to help the Germans keep the real revanchists to the west and east into line.

Not this Dribble again...and again unsubstantiated...

You are suggesting that the Hohenzollern Empire would turn on its faithful ally in its time of need...When they are the victorious party


Balderdash and BS in the Extreme.

They simply did NOT act in this matter during the period in question.


The only logical answer is to prop them up ( they already aided their longtime ally once already they will not be abandoning them given that it was the Habsburg offensive that finally broke the back of the Italians leading to the paralyzation of France and CP victory.) Lets be clear..While the Germans have did much of the heavy lifting to gain this victory, The Habsburg have provided the death blow. this is a Joint victory in every sense of the word) and stabilize the empire long enough for Karl to implement some kind of federalized Empire. That means breaking the power of the Magyar Aristocracy. Karl cannot do that without German help if needed ( Even money on whether he has to ask for German assistance or not, as the Magyar's will have their own problems to deal with if they choose to succeed over the issue within their part of the Empire. A larger federalized Austria is a more powerful partner than a smaller Hungary bent on keeping the Slavs of its realm at the bottom of the pecking order.

A-H falling apart inevitably is a cliche that is way overdone by many posters even in a CP victory scenario. The POD suggested gives the impression of a resurgence of strength for Habsburg fortunes. This should not be dismissed out of hand. The various nationalities clamoured for their independence only when it was obvious the A-H and the CP's were going down to defeat, and latched on to Wilson's 14 points. None of this will be a factor. Their will be nationalist tendencies clamouring for greater autonomy and power over their own affairs, but outright leaving the protection of the victorious Empire is not likely to be one of them. More moderate elements will latch on to any compromise position. the hot heads within the Slavic population can be dealt with case by case probably by their own governing bodies. The only group likely to lose power will be the Magyars and to a lesser degree the Germans of the Empire. The Germans can still likely count on being the major force in government in the short term and there will no doubt be Magyars as well within the Hungarian government who will see that many of them will still retain positions of power and influence as long as they are not strident in their opposition to an increase in the influence and power for the minorities of the Empire. there may or may not be Civil War within the empire, it really depends on the reform plan put forward. Personally I dislike the Federalized Greater Austrian divisions as it emphasizes too much of a division on nationality. Simply making all of the various Kingdoms of the Austrian Reich provinces/lander with little in the way of border changes makes the most sense. But give the nationalities within those divisions their proper representation in Government. Germans and Magyars would remain the dominant influence in many key provinces or lander then. Breaking up the Hungarian kingdom into such provinces along the lines of the Austrian side of the Empire shouldn't be too hard.

Again whether the Empire dissolves into chaos really depends on the reform plan put forward. That reform is needed and recognized by the Kaiser is not in doubt. Its simply a matter of how far to proceed and how quickly. winning the war provides him with breathing room for a go slow cautious approach that can be phased in incrementally over the next decade or so.

As to the Hohenzollern's and Germany they have more to gain from securing the Habsburg position over the minorities of the Danubian monarchies. They can view it as a test case for their own designs on a Mittel Europa.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

The war ends in July 1918 after the successful conclusion of AHs Piave River Offensive.

Here is a copy of the proposed Reverse versaille from the earlier thread, posted by Machine3589



Additions generated by this thread:

1 - OE looses southern territories to the British - With the French designs on Lebanon/Syria removed and given that GB is the only Entente power capable of negotiating from a position of any real strength it is conceivable the GB would want a loyal ally sitting squarely on the overland route to India. This has the ramification of the British being more likely to seriously consider the Indian Dominion proposal.

2 - OE is compensated with ex-Russian territory: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and perhaps the Crimea - Tbh. I looked at an historical atlas for those choices, so if anyone has a better idea please comment.

3 - Former Entente powers forced to recognise treaty of BL - No brainer tbh

4 - AH occupies Lombardy and Venetia, their troops to be wthdrawn in line with reparation payments - Think German occupationof France after the Franco-Prussian war

5 - Italy forced to accept guilt for the war with AH and to renounce all territorial ambitions on AH territory - This is essentially Germany & AH punishing Italy for choosing the wrong side.

Honestly... The reverse Versailles as proposed is simply not doable even under your proposal.

Britain is not defeated and the RN controls the sealanes. the BEF may be hostage, but Britain is still master of the Channel

Britain will give up nothing itself. they will balk at returning the colonies, at first They will agree only if they can get the Dominions onside ( Australia and Sth Afr.)

Japan need not ever return anything, as there is little that even a victorious Germany can do.

If the Germans want recompense, they can get it from France or Italy. but Morocco is a protectorate...not a colony ( a minor quibble of course I am sure you simply mean that Germany would assume the protectorate of the Sultan). Did not the Kaiser even just recently before the war proclaim him as an independent sovereign. They could add Dahomey and French Equatorial Africa probably with only superficial opposition.
Same with the Belgian Congo ( they won't be happy about it though)

Some of the Italian colonies might be recompense to the Ottomans ( Libya ) for their loss of the Arab territories. Not so certain what would befall Italian Somaliland, Fr. Somaliland or Eritrea. Britain really has no interest in any of the CP powers being in position to threaten sealanes to India. Return of some of the German colonies then, contingent on a hands off policy there by the CP.

Portugal as far as I know has not been defeated by the CP and with Spain a non-combatant and the RN in control at sea cannot be so..They cannot be forced to give up anything as long as Britain supports them, which they will. the Germans can offer to buy the colonies of course...but the Portuguese can refuse if they choose too. Whether they do is another matter. Non-interference from Britain in such German negotiations with Portugal would seem a more appropriate demand.



Return of the colonies...difficult... East Africa, probably...yes as its only recent. Kamerun and Togo ..also likely they largely ended up as French mandates OTL but I can't remember whose forces actually got there...However there is not the problem with the Dominions so they could be returned. A reasonable counter offer is to return some and finance on behalf of the Dominions the purchase of SW Africa. Nauru, Samoa and German New Guinea. Similiar things likely would then follow with the Japanese over German Polynesia. A face saver for all parties.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

These are inconceivable. A victorious power does not give up territory - especially not virtually all of it, and especially not when most of it is still held. The British army has only reached Jerusalem in Palestine, the Ottomans still hold everything in Arabia except Mecca, and the British are at Baghdad in Mesopotamia.

There is no reason for the Ottomans to give up this territory and no incentive for the Germans to either make them or allow this.

As for Austria-Hungary, 1918 is getting pretty late. After the Brusilov Offensive, I don't think Austria-Hungary's military was capable of independent activity without Germany, and you'd require Germany to prop up a monarchy composed of constituent parts that began to view it as hopeless. Any Poland existing will cause the Galician Poles to want to join it, upsetting the ethnic balance of power. Serbia has been crushed, which is good, but I don't think it's going to be as easy as some of you think to keep the ship afloat.

In case of an early CP victory, survival is a no-brainer.

Okay I wasn't sure where the Br. were at this point given our PoD but if this is the case then I can't see the Br. backed Hashemites getting their way either. However, its possible given the collapse of France to have a cessation of hostilities on the Western front to negotiate terms with the allies on that front, but still have an active front in the Middle East of course were the Br offensive is still a going concern its not an absolute certainty but it will colour negotiations. Indeed it would seem to be the one Ace that the British have left besides the Allied control of the German colonies and sea lanes to them.

Of course with the CP unbroken this does strengthen the Ottoman position and there is no certainty that the Br offensive may be as effective this time around. The offensive could end up stalled or the Ottomans could push more heavily into the Caucasus and NW Persia.

 

[Lokari]

The various nationalities clamoured for their independence only when it was obvious the A-H and the CP's were going down to defeat, and latched on to Wilson's 14 points.

The mutiny of Polish troops against CP happened on 9th August 1917.
Wilson's points were delivered on 8th January 1918.

Both Polish and Czech national committees were established before Wilson delivered his points.

You are making a mistake of confusing cause and effect-Wilson made those points in reaction to already ongoing demands for freedom. Not the other way around.

Also-he was not the first and only one. From beginning of the war there were promises of freedom and self determination, and national movements.

For example Sazonov's 13 points from November 1914, or Act of November, 1916 by CP.

As to AH-it will dissolve either into chaos or territorially -by the very act of its German "allies" in 1916 who created Kingdom of Poland-which means that either the Galicia Poles will be attached to it, or become a rebelious group.
However it was pretty much agreed that Galicia would be split between Polish and Ukrainian puppets-making both sides hostile to each other and their rulers.

 

[yourworstnightmare]

Austria- Hungary, since this is what the thread is all about;
(I doubt the Empire would really have expanded that much except perhaps annexed Montenegro and a few Serbian border areas)

After a war where many minorities have fought in the KuK army change has to happen. The Czechs and Croats etc. won't take anything else. However the Magyars wouldn't want their territory to be touched, and there would probably be a general unwillingness to give autonomy to Romanians and Serbs. Kaiser Karl would indeed have to act quickly, and the solution wouldn't make everyone happy. The key players would be the South Slavs and the Czechs, and to a degree the Magyars. Some ethnic groups would be screwed over, but that couldn't be helped.

Here's a plan for a federal Austria I have played with in my mind;

1)Austria- Austria and Slovenia +Italian speaking parts including Trieste and Gorz.
2)Bohemia- Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia
3)Galizia- East and West Galizia
4)Bukovina- Bukovina
5)Hungary- The kingdom of Hungary including Slovakia, Transylvania and the Banat
6)Croatia- Croatia and Slavonia, still in close cooperation with Budapest, but separate from Hungary proper.
7)Bosnia- Dalmatia; Bosnia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, territory annexed from Serbia

Would create a Austrian Federation consisting of 7 autonomous States. If that would be a stable solution; perhaps not, but it would be an attempt to solve the Habsburg problem.

 

[Janprimus]

Austria- Hungary, since this is what the thread is all about;
(I doubt the Empire would really have expanded that much except perhaps annexed Montenegro and a few Serbian border areas)

After a war where many minorities have fought in the KuK army change has to happen. The Czechs and Croats etc. won't take anything else. However the Magyars wouldn't want their territory to be touched, and there would probably be a general unwillingness to give autonomy to Romanians and Serbs. Kaiser Karl would indeed have to act quickly, and the solution wouldn't make everyone happy. The key players would be the South Slavs and the Czechs, and to a degree the Magyars. Some ethnic groups would be screwed over, but that couldn't be helped.

Here's a plan for a federal Austria I have played with in my mind;

1)Austria- Austria and Slovenia +Italian speaking parts including Trieste and Gorz.
2)Bohemia- Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia
3)Galizia- East and West Galizia
4)Bukovina- Bukovina
5)Hungary- The kingdom of Hungary including Slovakia, Transylvania and the Banat
6)Croatia- Croatia and Slavonia, still in close cooperation with Budapest, but separate from Hungary proper.
7)Bosnia- Dalmatia; Bosnia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, territory annexed from Serbia

Would create a Austrian Federation consisting of 7 autonomous States. If that would be a stable solution; perhaps not, but it would be an attempt to solve the Habsburg problem.

IMHO a more federal Austro-Hungarian Empire seems to be a more reasonable outcome for a victorious Austria-Hungary. Furthermore it does not make sense in such a scenario to demand dismemberment of Austria Hungary, which party could demand or enforce such demands on the negotiation table? If Austria-Hungary would fall apart, it would be by caused by internal struggle; however a victory might have had a positive outcome on the internal cohesion of Austria Hungary.
However I have a slightly different plan for a federal Austria Hungary:
1 Austria (traditional Austrian hereditary lands (+/-Austria+'Slovenia'), including Trieste and Gorizia)
2 Kingdom of Bohemia (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia)
3 Kingdom of Croatia (Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro and territory annexed from Serbia)
4 Kingdom of Hungary (Hungary excluding former Croatia-Slavonia)
5 Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria (Galicia and Bukovina)

So perhaps this might be a solution for a more federal Austria-Hungary.

 

[Mikestone8]

Okay I wasn't sure where the Br. were at this point given our PoD but if this is the case then I can't see the Br. backed Hashemites getting their way either. .

Istr reading (some years ago now, but I think it was in the Times) that papers had turned up showing that the Hashemites were in communication with Constantinople until virtually the end of the war, keeping channels open so that they could revert to the Turkish side if the Allies lost. I never heard any more, but it sounded very plausible.

 

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Okay I wasn't sure where the Br. were at this point given our PoD but if this is the case then I can't see the Br. backed Hashemites getting their way either. However, its possible given the collapse of France to have a cessation of hostilities on the Western front to negotiate terms with the allies on that front, but still have an active front in the Middle East of course were the Br offensive is still a going concern its not an absolute certainty but it will colour negotiations. Indeed it would seem to be the one Ace that the British have left besides the Allied control of the German colonies and sea lanes to them.

Of course with the CP unbroken this does strengthen the Ottoman position and there is no certainty that the Br offensive may be as effective this time around. The offensive could end up stalled or the Ottomans could push more heavily into the Caucasus and NW Persia.

If there is an armistice, it's for the whole war, not just the Western Front. There are German and Austro-Hungarian personnel fighting on the Middle Eastern fronts, and Ottoman troops fighting in Western theaters. These are not separable situations. Germany is not going to surrender its predominant position in the Ottoman Empire, not to mention its oil concessions in Mesopotamia, and throw away a loyal ally. It's just simply not going to happen.

The Ottomans already have pushed to Baku and into Northern Persia. Germany had forestalled them in Georgia by declaring it a protectorate and sending troops, but the Ottomans were in occupation of Persian & Russian Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Caspian coast up to Derbent.

 

[Lokari]

The Czechs and Croats etc. won't take anything else

Here is an interesting information I found:
On November 14 1915 the Czecho-Slovak Foreign Committee in Paris issued an official declaration of war upon the Habsburg Empire and demanded independent Czecho-Slovak state.