WWI was pretty much as bad as it could have been, or so it seems to me. It hit the sweet spot of politics (enough alliances on both sides to keep either from getting quickly over runner) and technology (advanced enough to make the killing horrible, primitive enough to make a knock-out punch impossible.)
But imagine two different possibilities: a WWI starting in 1904 and a WWI starting in 1924
Would either of these WWIs have been “worse” than the one we got in 1914?
WWI starting in 1904 would have been worse overall but Germany wins, and no WWII.
WWI starting in 1925 would have been better but Germany would have lost and the eventual WWII would be fought with atom weapons and destroyed civilization completely.
Alternate History Quantum Slipstream Event Sequencer (TM) predictive analysis certainty 68% +/- 14%.
>WWI starting in 1904 would have been worse overall but Germany wins
Literally how?
The Russians weren't ready so there's no eastern front to take away troops from the Western Front. Also the Mountainbitches might have been able to hold their own for once.
>The Russians weren't ready
The Russians were never ready, but don't underestimate the value of just shipping men to the front in massive waves.
Isnt that literally how the Entenre won with Americans though and how the Allies won in WW2 with Americans and their supplies.
It was also how the Union won the Civil War by just sending more and more Irish to the front.
It would have been better if germany won ww1 because they wouldn't have taken over the world, and there would have been no ww2.
>It would have been better if germany won ww1
Didn’t the confederacy have a higher proportion of Irish in their forces
>and destroyed civilization completely.
I doubt that.
It would have.
Now which of these outcomes saves the Romanovs?
None, the Romanovs we’re dead as soon as they unlatched the serfs from the land
Elaborate
>The Russians were never ready, but don't underestimate the value of just shipping men to the front in massive waves.
it's amazing how often this cliche is repeated even thought history reveals it to be farce
in WW1? They were literally sending unequipped soldiers to the front.
Russia would be weaker in 1904 and stronger in 1924
Does this assume the October Revolution occurs without the stressors of WWI starting in 1914
Of coursh
Providing n*cholas ii didn’t start any dumb shit
The union used germans
But the communists were only inserted into Russia by the Germans as a alternate means of war
You have a very good point but may I add a point in which a lot of revolutions / failed at coups may not happen entirely because of a lack of a substantial spark to trigger said events at a set time, World War 1 was a checkbox of everything that could go wrong in the world also keeping note that World War 1 happened during a specific time in history so if it was delayed to say 1925 these revolutions may still happen but there would be a lot more nationalism and a lot updated tactics because of all the new technology, now you may ask why didn't they update the tactics during the actual first World War well that is because all that technology was so new and foreign so give it enough time and tacticians would adjust to the new doctrines, these new tactics would most likely prevent the deaths of Millions thus not giving a substantial Spark for revolution at home.
( this Theory does not include developed internal struggles if someone else would like to do that and please answer me back with it we'll see if it stands up with with the developed internal struggles)
>WWI starting in 1925 would have been better
Except by 1917 Russia would have overtaken Germany in industry. By 1925? We're looking at a Russian takeover of Europe.
More like as soon as Alexander II is assassinated days before reforming Russia into a constitutional monarchy
Or more like Alexander III dying young of injuries from a train accident before training Nikky to rule
Or more like Stolypin getting assassinated before he could fully implement his reforms
Seriously, while late Imperial Russia was unstable it had largely recovered from 1905 by 1914. In fact, it had one of the highest rates of industrialization and GDP growth rates of the European powers and was seen as having a brighter future than many of its competitors.
Assuming things continued on the path they did.
By 1913, Russia was hitting some industrial roadblocks hard