Wi 1905 world war

Germaniac

Donor
Russia was in no condition to fight a war in 1905. The whole structure of the russian state would collapse after the initial burst of patriotism... if that even happens
 
What PoD are you proposing?

Probably the Morocco crisis going hot, but I dunno, the shape of this war might be different. The naval war in particular interests me, because the British were about to lay down the Dreadnought, a class of battleship which basically made all previous ships obsolete, but the Fisher Reforms had only just begun. I think the British might take some rather shocking defeats early on, but that's just impetus for further reform.
 
Probably the Morocco crisis going hot, but I dunno, the shape of this war might be different. The naval war in particular interests me, because the British were about to lay down the Dreadnought, a class of battleship which basically made all previous ships obsolete, but the Fisher Reforms had only just begun. I think the British might take some rather shocking defeats early on, but that's just impetus for further reform.

Wouldn't the British be fighting the French and Russians in this scenario? You could also use the Dogger Bank Incident as a reason for England going to war, perhaps instead of shooting up some merchantmen, a hapless cadet cruise is in their place?
 
In 1905 so soon after the Dogger Bank massacre there is no way Britain will fight on the same side as Russia so Germany would have full access to the world's seas. Russia is a basket case unable to fight even a minor power so despite the alliance France would face Germany alone. Germany is likely to win the second Franco Prussian war as it would not develop into a World War.
 
Wouldn't the British be fighting the French and Russians in this scenario? You could also use the Dogger Bank Incident as a reason for England going to war, perhaps instead of shooting up some merchantmen, a hapless cadet cruise is in their place?

The OP wanted a world war, not a massive curbstomp. :p Well, I assume it would be one, as once the Germans realize this is the big chance, they'll have to contrive some reason to launch into action.
 

kernals12

Banned
I've seen a few threads about Germany attacking the United States in 1905, such an attack would almost certainly draw the rest of Europe in.
 
Russia was in no condition to fight a war in 1905. The whole structure of the russian state would collapse after the initial burst of patriotism... if that even happens
Other than the one they did, you mean?
The Russo-Japanese War was already a clusterfuck for the Russians. Fighting at the end of a long and inefficient supply chain against a determined enemy wasn't the best for them, and their economy was tanking pretty badly. Not to mention the repeat disasters at sea, which enraged the population.

Hell, the reason the Russians did half as well as they did in 1914 because they spotted the problems they had back in 1905 and tried to fix them (with varying degrees of success). If they were to fight a World War alongside the Japanese one, they probably would have had a radical revolution back in 1906, not 1917.

Curiously enough, if the Russo-Japanese war takes too long, the Japanese might collapse too. Their economy was in no way prepared for a prolonged war, and they were hurting pretty badly by 1906. If the war had continued, perhaps both the Japanese and Russian economies would have imploded.
 

Germaniac

Donor
One of these led to the other.

And why do you think fighting Germany will lead to a better result. Are you saying if they didn't fight Japan? Even then the Russian Army was not capable of defeating Germany alone in 1905...

Even the Russian Foreign Minister said as much to Serbia during the Bosnian crisis and its why they even considered making a deal with Austria Hungary THREE years later than this.
 
And why do you think fighting Germany will lead to a better result. Are you saying if they didn't fight Japan? Even then the Russian Army was not capable of defeating Germany alone in 1905...

Even the Russian Foreign Minister said as much to Serbia during the Bosnian crisis and its why they even considered making a deal with Austria Hungary THREE years later than this.

I'm saying they were already at war in 1905 and am disagreeing with your statement that they were incapable of waging one due to that war. The Russian Empire waged a war on the other side of the world at the opposite end of history's longest maritime logistics chain. In 1904 - 1905. Or put very plainly Yes, Russia could and did go to war in 1905.
 

Germaniac

Donor
I'm saying they were already at war in 1905 and am disagreeing with your statement that they were incapable of waging one due to that war. The Russian Empire waged a war on the other side of the world at the opposite end of history's longest maritime logistics chain. In 1904 - 1905. Or put very plainly Yes, Russia could and did go to war in 1905.
Ah gotcha. I was saying that considering the war with Japan and the internal issues following it, Russia would be incapable of conducting a war following the war with Japan.
 
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