WI: the Ottoman Empire remains Nuetral in WWI

[Mister Abbadon]

What if The Ottoman empire Avoided destruction at the end of WWI by refuseing to ally with Germany? How would this affect the rest of the war? and if they survive can they make a comeback later on?

 

[Anaxagoras]

If the Ottomans remain neutral, the Russians could do better during the war on account of easier access to British and French supplies, more hard currency due to easier exports of Russian grain, and more troops available to deploy against Germany and Austria-Hungry on account of there being no Caucasus Front.

The British and French would obviously avoid the fiasco at Gallipoli and not be distracted by the theaters in Sinai/Palestine and Mesopotamia.

The impact of no Gallipoli on the social and cultural development of Australia and New Zealand should not be underestimated.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

The troops sent to fight the Ottomans could have been helping Serbia.

 

[BlondieBC]

If the Ottomans remain neutral, the Russians could do better during the war on account of easier access to British and French supplies, more hard currency due to easier exports of Russian grain, and more troops available to deploy against Germany and Austria-Hungry on account of there being no Caucasus Front.

The British and French would obviously avoid the fiasco at Gallipoli and not be distracted by the theaters in Sinai/Palestine and Mesopotamia.

The impact of no Gallipoli on the social and cultural development of Australia and New Zealand should not be underestimated.

The Ottomans closed the Straights October 1. They started the war October 29. A neutral Ottomans lean CP, so likely no supplies will get through and likely the UK will eventually attack.

 

[Mister Abbadon]

Well in order to avoid attack they may eventually open the straights under some conditions. Especially later in the war when things are starting to drag and Britain is trying to avoid another Spanner being thrown into the works.

 

[Anaxagoras]

The Ottomans closed the Straights October 1. They started the war October 29. A neutral Ottomans lean CP, so likely no supplies will get through and likely the UK will eventually attack.

Did they close it to all traffic or just to warships?

 

[Magneto]

The impact of no Gallipoli on the social and cultural development of Australia and New Zealand should not be underestimated.

I think this is a bit overstated. The impact would just come from the Western Front instead. The reason why the impact came at Gallipoli was because it was the first large scale deployment of ANZACS in a trench environment.

Had they deployed to the Western Front in 1915 instead they'd have encountered all the bungling they encountered in Gallipoli and blamed the British for it, just as much as they did at Gallipoli even if it was more of a case of struggling to adapt to modern warfare than a case of bad British leadership and British callousness towards the colonials. However that gets in the way of a good national foundation myth! Either way there would still be the same impetus towards national identity. Canada started developing it's national identity on the Western Front in the same way the ANZACs did at Gallipoli.

 

[Mister Abbadon]

Perhaps No Ottoman Empire in WWI could mean no US intervention, or possibly it comes at the very end.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

Perhaps No Ottoman Empire in WWI could mean no US intervention, or possibly it comes at the very end.

I see Germany being more desperate and it more necessary to starve Britain. aAn earlier policy of unrestricted submarine warfare gets the US in the war sooner

 

[Faeelin]

The Ottomans closed the Straights October 1. They started the war October 29. A neutral Ottomans lean CP, so likely no supplies will get through and likely the UK will eventually attack.

This seems unlikely to me. Even in an ATL without the Ottomans, the British will be stretched thin defending France. Who's going to support a war with the Ottomans?

 

[Paul V McNutt]

Perhaps No Ottoman Empire in WWI could mean no US intervention, or possibly it comes at the very end.

I see Germany being more desperate and it feels it is more necessary to starve Britain. aAn earlier policy of unrestricted submarine warfare gets the US in the war sooner