WI: The Dogger Bank Incident escalates to war?

So IRL the Russo-Japanese War saw quite a bit of tension between Russia and England, and during the long voyage of the Black Sea Fleet the Russians attacked English fishermen because they thought they were Japanese destroyers (seriously.)

So what if the incident was worse- and it escalated to war between Russia and England? This almost certainly could spiral out of control- the Franco-Russian allaince was, after all, initially intended as much against Russia as anything else and it's not impossible that France also decides to get involved... at which point Germany and/or Italy could also decide to jump on France and Russia. I can't see this ending well for France- say that the Triple Alliance (with Japan) inflict a decisive defeat (Germans take Paris), and you see a general dismantling of France's colonial empire plus some other changes (say Italy gets Corsica and/or Nice, maybe even Savoy), and Japan takes both Manchuria and Indochina. Germany only takes colonies (Morocco, plus French West or Equatorial Africa) and establishes a Congress Poland client kingdom in the east.

What happens next? Obviously IMO Italy will be heavily courted by the English (to peel her away from the Triple Alliance), and depending on what she has taken from France the latter could probably be brought to terms as well... or it could see Germany and Italy remaining allied to a wary England against a revanchist Franco-Russian alliance (including perhaps also Austria).
 
So IRL the Russo-Japanese War saw quite a bit of tension between Russia and England, and during the long voyage of the Black Sea Fleet the Russians attacked English fishermen because they thought they were Japanese destroyers (seriously.)

So what if the incident was worse- and it escalated to war between Russia and England? This almost certainly could spiral out of control- the Franco-Russian allaince was, after all, initially intended as much against Russia as anything else and it's not impossible that France also decides to get involved... at which point Germany and/or Italy could also decide to jump on France and Russia. I can't see this ending well for France- say that the Triple Alliance (with Japan) inflict a decisive defeat (Germans take Paris), and you see a general dismantling of France's colonial empire plus some other changes (say Italy gets Corsica and/or Nice, maybe even Savoy), and Japan takes both Manchuria and Indochina. Germany only takes colonies (Morocco, plus French West or Equatorial Africa) and establishes a Congress Poland client kingdom in the east.

What happens next? Obviously IMO Italy will be heavily courted by the English (to peel her away from the Triple Alliance), and depending on what she has taken from France the latter could probably be brought to terms as well... or it could see Germany and Italy remaining allied to a wary England against a revanchist Franco-Russian alliance (including perhaps also Austria).

There is a current restarted story dealing with this. https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...nk-or-the-anglo-russian-war-version-2.454928/
 
True. Other threads discussing the matter
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...ts-pulled-into-the-russo-japanese-war.452262/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...ank-incident-doesnt-cause-world-war-1.439257/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/rn-cruiser-sunk-at-dogger-bank-oct-1904.403765/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...o-open-war-between-britain-and-russia.369653/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/world-war-one-in-1905.344062/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...ntervention-in-the-russo-japanese-war.322953/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-dogger-bank-war.308999/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/alt-world-military-history-class.297666/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...he-japanese-in-the-russo-japanese-war.297495/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-dogger-bank-incident-escalates.289527/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/dbwi-dogger-bank-incident-is-ignored.289497/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...hoda-a-tl-without-an-entente-cordiale.274099/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/dogger-bank-incident.266709/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/ahc-make-russo-japanese-war-into-great-war.269288/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/britain-joins-russo-japanese-war.250608/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-dogger-bank-sparks-a-war.219594/
 
It's a classic. I did an RPG scenario for AITAS called The Dogger Bank Divergence based on the idea (and a time travelling Gotland sub).

The man who'd come to think of himself as Gandalf Grey relaxed in his armchair and sighed. It was good to be, well if not exactly 'home' (did he even have a home anymore?) at least relaxed, comfortable and in a reasonable facsimile of home. He poured a cup of tea from the service one of the club's stewards had left and contemplated the warm muffins. He'd breakfasted well, as he preferred, but didn't he deserve a treat? Sorting out that business with the Earth Reptiles down at Canvey had been trickier than he'd expected and he was tired; it'd been difficult to turn off his brain last night and get some needed sleep. At least the weather was tolerably pleasant for October, if damp and dull.

He glanced at the stack of newspapers and started, then shook his head. Of course, that business at Dogger Bank! He'd forgotten about it in his anxiety about the Sea Devils -
Earth Reptiles he mentally corrected himself. The Russian Baltic fleet had shelled some fishing boats. He accessed the implant in his brain and 'read' a summary of the incident; five dead, two of them Russians, in a crossfire between their own ships, and a fishing boat sunk. Luckily Balfour and his cabinet had cooled things off. The Russo-Japanese war had led to enough tensions.

He looked at the headlines in the 'papers and had an instant of blinding panic; he headlines were wrong! The Times led with a condemnation of the Russians' actions, but it reported at least fifty dead, eleven boats sunk or missing and two Russian ships sunk; the
Aurora and the Knyaz Suvorov.

Oh dear, it looked like he wouldn't be getting a chance to relax after all...
 
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