re: This year is the centennial of America's entry into World War I

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This year is the centennial of America's entry into World War I by prplhze2000
True.

I don't think any of them realized how bad the A-H army really was

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Good point. They helped Germany in WWI about like the Italians helped the Germans in WWII.

Never should have gotten involved in WWI.

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It was the most important war of modern history.

But for WWI no Hitler, no USSR, no division of the Middle East, no rise of Japan.

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Exactly. I'd go so far as to say the First World War is the most pivotal event in human history since the discovery of the New World.

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If Germany had prevailed in WWI I wonder what would have happened?

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Great question, one that I've wondered about as well. I think the world would be very different.

First off, the only time Germany was going to win the war was in 1914. Period. After Germany failed to knock out either France or Russia in the opening weeks of the war, and Great Britain entered the war, Germany's fate was sealed to eventually lose a two Front war.

But let's assume Germany's Schlieffin Plan worked. Germany knocks France out of the war in six weeks, moves those forces east and knocks Russia out of the war by the end of the year. As for Britain, they never get into the fight.

1. No collapse of the Ottoman Empie. The Middle East as we know it today never exists.

2. Germany emerges as the dominate land power in Europe and has a Navy to rival Great Britain. I'd imagine a Cold War emerges between the two. But instead of building nuclear bombs to counter one another, they build battleships. Japan remains an ally of Britian. And with Japan's rise in prominence and influence in the Pacific, which conflicts with American interests, its possible we see an alliance emerge between The German Empire and the USA.

3. Following her second defeat at the hands of Germans in a generation, France's government once again collapses, which seems to be a French pastime almost BTW. It's possible France swings to some form of Socialist government. Considering her history up to that point (remember the "comunards" during the Franco-Prussian War) it's most likely France becomes the world's first communist state.

4. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Russian Empires plod along, at least for a while longer. Although it's very possible communists (supported by France) subvert those governments and eventually bring one or both down. If this happens do we see a new alliance of old enemies where Britian and Germany set aside their differences to unite against the communist forces that have taken over all of Eastern Europe and France? And does that eventually lead to a WWII?

5. The right wing of the socialist movement (AKA Facism) never materializes. Humanity totally skips that phase. This means no Holocaust followed by no mass emigration of Jews back to the Holy Land. No emigration of Jews coupled with the continuation of the Ottoman Empire means no Israel, at least not yet anyway.

6. Great Britian remains as the world's biggest super power thanks to the fact she does not go bankrupt trying to pay for a long war with millions of casualties. The US continues its economic growth, which is a natural concern to Britian. This is one more thing that points to a possible Great Britain/Japan alliance against Germany/USA.

7. A wile lot of military innovation either never happens or happens a whole lot slower. It's possible things like the tank, poison gas, flame thrower, and sub-machine gun are never invented. Aircraft development advances at a much slower pace.

8. The age of colonies goes on at least for a while. Britian maintains its overseas empire, Germany grows her overseas empire, and Japan and the US vie for dominance in the Pacific.

9. The women's and civil rights movements either never come to fruition or take a lot longer to get where they are. In fact I'd say there is a good chance even today it's doubtful most women would work outside the home and quite possibly would still not be allowed to vote.


I could go on but I've got to go to a meeting. Needless to say, had Germany won WWI, we'd be living in a vastly different world.

ETA: I love that some asshat dork downvotes my post before they even had time to read it.
What a loser.

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It made the mistake of sending it's western divisions to Russia early in war. Would've knocked out France if it hadn't.

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Possibly but while they were knocking out France the Russians would have been raping their wives in Berlin.