Current Events > What would the world be like today if the Central powers had won WWI

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How different would the world be today? Probably wouldn't have been a ww2 or nazis. Would America and Britain have perhaps been the "nazis" because of similar reasons that created the national resentment the Germans felt?
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the kaiserreich mod from the hearts of iron series explores this possibility
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bob742omb posted...

the kaiserreich mod from the hearts of iron series explores this possibility

I have no idea what that is. What happens?
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glitteringfairy posted...

bob742omb posted...

the kaiserreich mod from the hearts of iron series explores this possibility

I have no idea what that is. What happens?

Communist France and Britain, 2nd American Civil War among other things
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PanzerElite posted...

glitteringfairy posted...

bob742omb posted...

the kaiserreich mod from the hearts of iron series explores this possibility

I have no idea what that is. What happens?

Communist France and Britain, 2nd American Civil War among other things

Interesting. What was the reason for a 2nd civil war?
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Germany would have been like a modern Holy Roman Empire that took over most of Western Europe. It would probably absorb Austria-Hungary as well at some point because their leadership was incompetent. So it would basically like a German Napoleon Bonaparte in the 20th century, except this time they would have beaten Russia too (which they did in the real war anyway).

Germany would have been the most powerful country in the world. Instead of having an international culture that has been mostly lead by the English speaking world since the end of WWII, it would have been a German speaking culture. German would be the international language. Goethe would be far more relevant than William Shakespeare. Many of the world's technological advances would come from this German Empire.
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Sativa_Rose posted...

Germany would have been like a modern Holy Roman Empire that took over most of Western Europe. It would probably absorb Austria-Hungary as well at some point because their leadership was incompetent. So it would basically like a German Napoleon Bonaparte in the 20th century, except this time they would have beaten Russia too (which they did in the real war anyway).

Germany would have been the most powerful country in the world. Instead of having an international culture that has been mostly lead by the English speaking world since the end of WWII, it would have been a German speaking culture. German would be the international language. Goethe would be far more relevant than William Shakespeare. Many of the world's technological advances would come from this German Empire.

So basically it would be America post ww2 minus the whole empire thing.
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A lot of it would depend on why the Central powers won. Like a competent Austria maybe could have swung the balance of power. Or maybe Germany trashes Russia in a year resulting in a quiciker rebellion in Russia. Or maybe USA joins the central powers early on, like a reverse Lusitania.

Probably a few things would be consistent though.

1) Ottoman Empire maintains for a while and slowly breaks off pieces or has constant wars of independence. Resulting nations are likely to be more natural. Possible that Israel does not exist in this timeline.

2) Austro-Hungarian empire breaks up shortly after WWI. There was a general desire to de-centralize the empire prior to WWI, Archduke Ferdinand being a proponent of it even. Would likely result in kingdoms based on ethnicity.

3) Germany maintains original borders and maybe gains some land to the east. Alsace Lorraine remains German. Vassal states are set up as buffers between German and USSR that was previously Germany land. Poland/Poland Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. Belgium is a puppet of Germany. Germany does well economically post-war but gets by global depressions same as everyone else. Likely slowly moves away from a monarchy towards some sort of republic.

4) UK loses it's empire. Well, mostly. Canada and Australia likely stay connected somehow. This causes them to have a worse economy than they did in our timeline. Germany maybe doesn't have much of a desire to enforce a new empire, likely focusing on a few strategic locations. Gibraltar, Suez Canal, Singapore/Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc. They likely have some level of control but not the level of the British Empire. Civil war is possible. Ireland may get Northern Ireland in the turmoil.

5) France loses it's empire and likely suffers the worst of them economically. Radicalizes one way or another. Whether it's communism or some sort of right wing awfulness. Civil war is possible.

6) Italy is a bit worse off but likely only pays reparations. Maybe could fracture or have civil war. Likely one kind of radicalism or another takes over.

7) If US joined Germany, German is still commonly spoken in the Midwest. Great depression still happens, though probably not the exact same time. I don't think Central Powers winning causes another civil war like the Kaiserreich mod though. Possible the US takes on some French and British territories in the Atlantic, such as Bermuda.

Overall reparations are likely to be similar but in the opposite direction. Some sort of global depression still happens. Some strong arm dictators still pop up. Some sort of world war likely still happens. Seems most likely it is against USSR at a later date. Like starts late 1940s or early 1950s. Technology is closer to like 1941 or 1942 at that point than it would be at our time since WWII drove forward so much progress. I don't think France or UK would be itching for an external fight the same way the Germans were.

As a result of the communist war the world is probably pulled a good deal further right. US and Germany work co-operatively to set up puppet heads of states across the globe after the communist war.
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KILBOTz posted...

6) Italy is a bit worse off but likely only pays reparations. Maybe could fracture or have civil war. Likely one kind of radicalism or another takes over.

I could see punishment against Italy being tougher for waffling on the Triple Alliance
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UnholyMudcrab posted...

KILBOTz posted...

6) Italy is a bit worse off but likely only pays reparations. Maybe could fracture or have civil war. Likely one kind of radicalism or another takes over.

I could see punishment against Italy being tougher for waffling on the Triple Alliance

I was actually just thinking that as I went to smoke a bowl. Like maybe Austria annexes some land, such as Istria and is no longer land locked when the empire breaks up. Yeah Italy probably gets hit pretty hard and has no ability to pay. Ottoman empire probably takes Italian North Africa. Maybe lose Sardinia or something or break off Sicily.
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Came in to post Kaiserreich.

Dang kilbotz, awesome post. Sounds like a fun TV series or movie. It sounds like such a different world but yet somehow still familiar
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The Germans would absolutely have imposed a harsh peace on the French(the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk they imposed on Lenin and the Russians is informative).
Austria-Hungary would probably survive long-term, but the Ottoman Empire probably wouldn't have been able to cope well with the rise of Arabic nationalism or the Saudis.

The criticism I have of Kaiserreich is that it's utterly fantastical to suppose the Germans would plunge themselves into basically every war they could find after a grinding, six-year struggle(yes, the Weltkrieg is LONGER in Kaiserreich). OTL Germany was on the verge of socio-economic collapse in 1918, which is why they launched a massive offensive in spring of that year: they needed to win, and soon. The French weren't any better off. The Imperial German regime wouldn't survive propping up White Russia, an extensive campaign in China in addition to occupying all the restive new territory they acquired.
Kaiserreich is fun, but definitely implausible in many ways.

Should I just buy this hearts of iron game
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Germany would have a lot less migrants and refugees
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RE_expert44 posted...

Germany would have a lot less migrants and refugees

Ayyyyyyy
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glitteringfairy posted...

Should I just buy this hearts of iron game

Yes. I think of scenarios like this all the time and its fun to play. The other day in the Kaiserreich mod I played as Siam and took over the Eastern Hemisphere other than Dutch East Indies and Australia.

If you buy it I can teach you how to play. Took me like 20 hours of videos and 40 hours of game play to have any idea how to make it fun. Takes me a few hours to teach a new player the basics in game.
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KILBOTz posted...

glitteringfairy posted...

Should I just buy this hearts of iron game

Yes. I think of scenarios like this all the time and its fun to play. The other day in the Kaiserreich mod I played as Siam and took over the Eastern Hemisphere other than Dutch East Indies and Australia.

If you buy it I can teach you how to play. Took me like 20 hours of videos and 40 hours of game play to have any idea how to make it fun. Takes me a few hours to teach a new player the basics in game.

Holy crap a 40+ hour learning curve? Lol. Well I looked at it and it does look fun. I may get it next week. I'll send ya a PM when I get it, I appreciate the offer
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ElatedVenusaur posted...

The Germans would absolutely have imposed a harsh peace on the French(the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk they imposed on Lenin and the Russians is informative).
Austria-Hungary would probably survive long-term, but the Ottoman Empire probably wouldn't have been able to cope well with the rise of Arabic nationalism or the Saudis.

The criticism I have of Kaiserreich is that it's utterly fantastical to suppose the Germans would plunge themselves into basically every war they could find after a grinding, six-year struggle(yes, the Weltkrieg is LONGER in Kaiserreich). OTL Germany was on the verge of socio-economic collapse in 1918, which is why they launched a massive offensive in spring of that year: they needed to win, and soon. The French weren't any better off. The Imperial German regime wouldn't survive propping up White Russia, an extensive campaign in China in addition to occupying all the restive new territory they acquired.
Kaiserreich is fun, but definitely implausible in many ways.

Part of Kaiserreich lore is that Germany stopped unrestricted submarine warfare after sinking the Lusitania. Later UK began submarine warfare, sunk a ship with American citizens and Christmas gifts on it so in order to not bring the US into the war it ceased the blockade allowing critical material to Germany.

I do think the German Empire would have still been quite the warring country. Reminds me of the quote "Prussia was not a country with an army, but an army with a country". I think wars was part of their national identity and as national identity was rising in the early 20th century I could very well see them acting as world police.
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glitteringfairy posted...

KILBOTz posted...

glitteringfairy posted...

Should I just buy this hearts of iron game

Yes. I think of scenarios like this all the time and its fun to play. The other day in the Kaiserreich mod I played as Siam and took over the Eastern Hemisphere other than Dutch East Indies and Australia.

If you buy it I can teach you how to play. Took me like 20 hours of videos and 40 hours of game play to have any idea how to make it fun. Takes me a few hours to teach a new player the basics in game.

Holy crap a 40+ hour learning curve? Lol. Well I looked at it and it does look fun. I may get it next week. I'll send ya a PM when I get it, I appreciate the offer

When I first started playing 40 hours was about 2 games to 1949 with the world war still going on.

Having someone teach you I think I think the learning curve drops down to about 3-5 hours to be able to accomplish reasonable objectives. I.e. defeating USSR as Germany.

By about 100 hours with a good foundation of learning you should be able to take over USA as Mexico. At about 200 hours global conquest with Tibet becomes feasible. I have played 1166 hours as of now.
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RE_expert44 posted...

Germany would have a lot less migrants and refugees

Yeah, the Middle East probably would have been much more stable if the Entente didn't backstab their Arab allies and arbitrarily draw ridiculously borders to carve up the territory based on personal gain for them and their allies over actual input from the people living there.