Quote:
Originally Posted by Astromancer
This would set up a radically different WWII. The German Imperial state would still be around. That would prevent the rose of Hitler, although both anti-Semitism and German chauvinism would still be likely to grow in Germany (if for no other reason than the Prince Imperial, if I read correctly, was a bigot). Germany would be stronger, but there would be more hostility directed towards them. Willy boy wanted to make the Ottoman Empire and Iran German colonies. The loss of Germany's overseas territories would only make this desire stronger. As a German India was the final goal, Willy boy's desires mean he'd force WWII early. Maybe the late 1920s would see Germany making a grab for the near East and getting an alliance of Britain, France, Russia, the Ottomans, the Arabs, and others all aligned against them.
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Could there have been a negotiated peace to end The Great War, where Czarist Russia and maybe the Ottoman Empire falls, but not Imperial Germany (and maybe Austro-Hungary)? It took until 1917 for the Romanovs to fall - by that point, it seems like The War To End All Wars was going to the bitter end.
The concept of this timeline seems to be more pragmatic/less dogmatic/not as bad leadership, the kind who could accept just some territory swaps and the like (what would happen to Alsace-Lorraine?). But it wasn't just the will of some leaders that made WWI, but everything from the alliances to rising nationalism.
Maybe better leaders means that The Great War doesn't happen (like if the Archduke isn't killed). But that's just putting off the inevitable.
Maybe a different war ensues somehow - France does better, but Russia does worse (involve Rasputin). Germany calls off the war early to feast on the collapsed Czarist Empire.
If there isn't a whole defeat of Imperial Germany, its colonies would likely be restored - far too minor to make a fuss over between family. Japan & South Africa might demand to keep their conquests, but no one in the Colonial Office cared about Tanganyika.