Deleted member 189829
Great War history is not my forte so I'm not sure if this is possible. But, assuming everything goes comically wrong for the Central Powers, and everything right for the Entente--perhaps with earlier PODs resulting in a better prepared France and Russia--I was wondering if this scenario is possible. That is, Belgium allows Germany military access in order to avoid war, but the Entente still manage to pull off a victory in 1914 (or early 1915 if so inclined). I suggest this because I imagine that this is the best possible scenario for France in WWI. Not only is a quick victory secured and revanchism complete, but it is highly likely that Belgium would be partitioned in this scenario--I do not think Britain has enough clout to force France to leave Belgium unblemished. France would annex Wallonia (with the exception of Belgian Luxembourg), and the Belgian Congo. Interestingly, if Belgian Luxembourg is transferred to Luxembourg proper, I think it is likely Luxembourg becomes extremely Francophone. I do not possess the population statistics of Belgian Luxembourg in 1914, but in 2023 they have a similar population to Luxembourg and they seem to be primarily French speaking. This means that over half of Luxembourg would speak French as their first language in this scenario, and German would become taboo considering the invasion and all. I'm unsure of the prevalence of Luxembourgish in Belgian Luxembourg though. So France would regain Alsace-Lorraine, annex most of Wallonia, possess undue influence on Luxembourg, and perhaps even a Flemish client state to boot. Not to mention further additions to their colonial empire. Of course, France would still become only the fourth most powerful European nation even despite this, as Germany would still remain an economic juggernaut, you would have the Russian goliath in the east, and a Britain whose colonies aren't traumatised by war. Still the best nonetheless!