What if, after some deep thought, one of the Great Powers considers the prospect and impact of German unification in the mid 19th century, and manages to persuade the other Great Powers to prevent the expansion of Prussia?
With Prussian power suppressed at all costs by the other powers, and no hope of German unification, how would late 19th century and 20th century history have panned out?
Would France and Britain be able to just keep Austria-Hungary and Russia in check by playing them off against each other when one of them tried to expand into the Balkans?
Could WW1 have been avoided: perhaps Austria-Hungary would be humiliated by the other Great Powers when they side with Serbian nationalists over Franz Ferdinand's assassination, forcing a small indeminity on Serbia and nothing more. Austria-Hungary could have been the next "sick man" after the Ottoman Empire breaking apart in Europe, and there would have been a potentially more peaceful nationalist movement in Eastern and Central Europe in the 20th century?
Without all the worries about reparations, maybe the Wall Street Crash wouldn't have been so harsh, lessening some of the extremes of the 1930's.
Would the Russian Empire have democratised further, or was revolution inevitable without WW1? If it didn't happen, or failed, would there even have been a Cold War? Perhaps only relatively small European states, like Czechoslovakia, would give communism a go (and fail), thus discrediting the ideology before it spreads worldwide?
How much longer would the European empires/ European dominated world have lasted without the huge world wars?
With Prussian power suppressed at all costs by the other powers, and no hope of German unification, how would late 19th century and 20th century history have panned out?
Would France and Britain be able to just keep Austria-Hungary and Russia in check by playing them off against each other when one of them tried to expand into the Balkans?
Could WW1 have been avoided: perhaps Austria-Hungary would be humiliated by the other Great Powers when they side with Serbian nationalists over Franz Ferdinand's assassination, forcing a small indeminity on Serbia and nothing more. Austria-Hungary could have been the next "sick man" after the Ottoman Empire breaking apart in Europe, and there would have been a potentially more peaceful nationalist movement in Eastern and Central Europe in the 20th century?
Without all the worries about reparations, maybe the Wall Street Crash wouldn't have been so harsh, lessening some of the extremes of the 1930's.
Would the Russian Empire have democratised further, or was revolution inevitable without WW1? If it didn't happen, or failed, would there even have been a Cold War? Perhaps only relatively small European states, like Czechoslovakia, would give communism a go (and fail), thus discrediting the ideology before it spreads worldwide?
How much longer would the European empires/ European dominated world have lasted without the huge world wars?