Unlike World War II, where Germany was bound to lose one way or another, Germany was not doomed to failure in the First World War; it had a strong chance of winning, even with its incompetent allies (the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires). In many battles, the Allies felt they were on the verge of losing the war. But why did Germany ultimately lose? Factors included the Schlieffen Planwhich involved attacking France first by passing through Belgium, inevitably drawing the United Kingdom into the waras well as the US entry into the conflict, Italy's betrayal (which hindered Germany somewhat), and internal uprisings. But what if Germany had actually been victorious? What if they had managed to defeat France, somehow prevented the US from entering the war, delayed the UK's entry, and convinced Austria-Hungary to accept Italy's territorial demands? Well, I envision a few consequences of a German victory, particularly regarding Russia: We would see spheres of German influence taking the form of German puppet states carved out of occupied Russian territory, specifically: Poland, the Baltic Duchy, Ukraine, White Ruthenia, and Don-Volga. Furthermore, the White Army would have won the Russian Civil War; although the Germans had escorted Lenin’s train from Switzerland to Russia, they did so solely to knock Russia out of the war. Moreover, the Kaiser did not want a socialist country of continental proportions bordering the nations within Germany's sphere of influence. The Austro-Hungarian Empire would have collapsed; despite emerging victorious, such a multi-ethnic and multinational empire would have suffered from instability. Perhaps socialist revolutions would have broken out in France and the United Kingdom, or perhaps nationalist and populist leaders would have seized powerwhich, in turn, might still have led to a Second World War.
