WI: Central Italy

How would a CP Italy affect what the USA did?
Make the situation enough better for Germany that they don't feel the need to go with USW?

Make the US more pissed about the blockade, because the Entente would have to be much more intrusive to effectively enforce it, and also make the US more economically interested in the CP. Again possibly enough to convince Germany that no the US is not considering joining the Entente and obviating the percieved need to distract the US, and thus get the US in anyway?

Add another Democratic Voter group that would be hostile to the Entente and cause the Democrats to be more "True Neutral" in alignment
 
My understanding is the biggest import was coal from the UK and I have no good notion if Germany can get her coal to Italy so I believe Italy is unwilling to risk going cold. This is why Italy is deemed dependent on Britain, if Britain is at war then Italy can be pushed to join the Entente.
Are these of any use?

Italian Coal and Iron Ore Supply 1913-18.png


European Coal Production 1913-18.png
 
This is from the Italian National Statistics website.

AFAIK an Italian Quintal is 100kg. Therefore:

the 7,503 thousand quintals of steel imported in 1917 = 750,300 metric tons.

and

the 108,340 thousand quintals of coal and coke imported in 1913 = 10,834,000 metric tons

Italian Imports 1910-20.png
 
Germany has coal and iron ore (Lorraine!), just don't know whether it's enough. - What about food? Could Italy feed herself?
 
Germany has coal and iron ore (Lorraine!), just don't know whether it's enough. - What about food? Could Italy feed herself?
The blanks are because there weren't any figures for those years in the source document. Unfortunately the source documents only gives world iron and steel production from 1920 onwards.
Central Powers Iron Ore Production.png
 
Germany has coal and iron ore (Lorraine!), just don't know whether it's enough. - What about food? Could Italy feed herself?

Italy was producing a net food surplus, and while she was importing some specific agricultural products from France could easily adjust the war economy and have the population change its diet to be a fair net positive to the CP on that front. They might run into some infastructural strain, though, since the rail systems connecting Germany and Italy will have their capacity stretched if they're swapping mass amounts of coal and grain back and forth through the alps.

Make the situation enough better for Germany that they don't feel the need to go with USW?

Make the US more pissed about the blockade, because the Entente would have to be much more intrusive to effectively enforce it, and also make the US more economically interested in the CP. Again possibly enough to convince Germany that no the US is not considering joining the Entente and obviating the percieved need to distract the US, and thus get the US in anyway?

Add another Democratic Voter group that would be hostile to the Entente and cause the Democrats to be more "True Neutral" in alignment

Germany will certainly be feeling fewer hunger pangs, which would reduce public pressure to make the Brits starve like they were. However, I'm not sure how heavily it would impact the blockade: Italy is effectively locked out of commerce by a strong presence in Gibraltar and the Suez, so a distant blockade out of British waters would still be the primary order of the day.
 
Germany will certainly be feeling fewer hunger pangs, which would reduce public pressure to make the Brits starve like they were. However, I'm not sure how heavily it would impact the blockade: Italy is effectively locked out of commerce by a strong presence in Gibraltar and the Suez, so a distant blockade out of British waters would still be the primary order of the day.
The issue is that you have to add Spain to the blockade, because one can always dock on Spanish west coast, unload products, sail through Gibraltar in ballast, pick up cargo on east coast and set off from there. Adding another neutral country to the blockade would not sit well with the US, even if it is Spain
 
Top