WW I, what if.

M

mathman

Valued Senior Member
During 1917, there were two major events determining the end of the war. First Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare leading to U.S. entry on the side of the allies,. Second the communist takeover of Russia, leading to an end of its war against Germany.
What if Germany had not started unrestricted submarine warfare, leaving U.S. to remain neutral? The collapse of Russia would have allowed Germany to greatly strengthen the western front without reinforcements for the allies by American troops. In addition, German occupation of Ukraine would have mitigated food shortages of Germany by using Ukraine harvest. As a minimum, Germany and Austria would have been able to fight on much longer.
 
Would the US have remained neutral even if USW was not put into action by the Germans? Hindenberg and Co. thought the submarine campaign would win them the war BEFORE the US came in. Seems that they expected the Americans to come in and that provoked USW.)

(Side note, it is interesting that both the Germans of WWI and those of WWII thought USW would win them the war before the US got involved.)
 
Gawdzilla Sama said:
Would the US have remained neutral even if USW was not put into action by the Germans? Hindenberg and Co. thought the submarine campaign would win them the war BEFORE the US came in. Seems that they expected the Americans to come in and that provoked USW.)

(Side note, it is interesting that both the Germans of WWI and those of WWII thought USW would win them the war before the US got involved.)
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WWI - It is possible the Germans were still worried about Russia at the time, since Lenin didn't take over until November, while the revolutionaries in March were continuing to fight.

US got into WWII because of Pearl Harbor, which started war against Japan. Germany declared war on US a day or two later. We'll never know when the US would have gotten into the German war otherwise.
 
mathman said:
WWI - It is possible the Germans were still worried about Russia at the time, since Lenin didn't take over until November, while the revolutionaries in March were continuing to fight.

US got into WWII because of Pearl Harbor, which started war against Japan. Germany declared war on US a day or two later. We'll never know when the US would have gotten into the German war otherwise.
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No later than the end of June, 1942, by my estimation. The "short of war" policy would have guaranteed it.
 
If the US had not fought in WW1, I might not have existed. If my grandfather had not gone to Europe for the war, he would have done different things, gone to different places & known different people. Perhaps he would have been killed in a work accident before he had children. There is a significant chance he would not have married my grandmother or he would have married her earlier or later.
If my grandfather had not served in the military, maybe my father would not have joined the military then his life would be very different before he met my mother. He was on leave when they met so if my father had not been in the military, they may not have met.

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