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Sure, but that wasn't what the Germans were trying to do. They were trying to get a buffer zone and mobilization area in event of a future war. Plus those territories were quite economically valuable and could theoretically at least yield considerable numbers of soldiers to fight for the CPs...

Sure, in the general sense that is the definition of fittest. However based on reading and interviews about the various calamities that hit Russia in the 20th century I've repeatedly seen reference to these events, namely the famines and general collapse of social functions not the deliberate...

I'm not saying that your family was stupid or weak, especially given that as you say they were murdered by the Soviets not died through all the calamities that fell on the population outside of deliberate murder, just that many of those who fit that description in Russia society died due to the...

Seems like they considered Russia the real threat, so wanted to close that out as quickly as possible, rather than getting dragged into a long war in the East. Plus Nicky and Willy seemed to have liked each other much more than the British and German monarchs did, which IMHO at least in a short...

No. B-L wasn't even wanted by the CPs IOTL, but since the Bolsheviks refused to make peace hoping that revolution would spread to their countries. The CPs opted to attack and since that worked out so well they opted for a putative peace since they assumed the Bolsheviks were too weak to deliver...

True. Feudalism often fits the description. Edit: The White Russian movement after WW1 did delve into Fascist ideology: https://www.ridl.io/en/ivan-ilyin-a-fashionable-fascist/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Ilyin

The Czar was an autocrat with only a very weak Duma to answer to, blended religion with the monarchy, pushed a pan-Slavic racial policy to further foreign policy goals in the Balkans and to divert the internal political ambitions of subject minorities like the Poles. National Socialism wasn't...

Certainly Montenegro is better than nothing, but given the risk of offending the Italians in their backyard, the lack of infrastructure, and the threat of the A-H navy (which did surprisingly well in WW1 in the Adriatic, in fact that is where von Trapp made his name as a submarine commander and...

True. Likely support for the Russians by going after the Ottomans would be politically easier ITTL assuming the Ottomans even join in. If not then I don't see how they don't pull something with Greece given the lack of other options. Well besides sending an expeditionary force to Russia much...

Maybe. Though I think they could be just as likely to land in Greece to support Serbia and end up like OTL; still there they'd have to worry about international opinion if they did that since they wouldn't have the cover of the German invasion of Belgium ITTL. And there is domestic opinion to...

Agreed, though I have a feeling that if Russia is retreating out of Poland and facing substantial defeats France would not have a choice but to attack regardless of cost to keep Russia in otherwise they might cut a deal and drop out due to feeling betrayed (shades of WW2). IOTL it took the...

The Germans basically led the relationship and got the Bulgarians in. The Austrians had no objection to their entry or territorial demands and wanted them in. It was the Serbs who refused to give up territory and blocked potential Bulgarian entry on their side (IOTL with very different...

Sadly protracted violence can negatively influence people's politics. I do think Bulgaria would join in with Russia getting the boots put to them early on, Romania possibly too given that the German king is still alive at that point. Part of the consideration I made there as well is with the...

@stevep I haven't forgotten your post, it just takes a while to respond to the big ones. Gotcha. I think the Irish today have a more nuanced understanding of their history than earlier since the 'Troubles' ended a generation ago and emotions have cooled somewhat. TBH I'm a bit surprised, but...

Most of these issues are overly complicated, especially the historiography! Haha, yes, I've run into that problem before. You are a rare breed. That's interesting, I didn't know that Ukrainians were moving to Poland. I thought the historical friction would potentially make them look for...

If you read the one link the commission ended up mostly (like 70% or so) buying German owned land because Poles wouldn't sell and couldn't be legally compelled to. So that was a pretty big part of the effectiveness of the resistance movement. And increased Polish population had nothing to do...

I forgot about the G variant of the Russian war plan. That guarantees the Austrians do very well then in 1914. The Russian 5th army is likely screwed even with Conrad's major mistakes. Dankl's 1st army basically has zero resistance when it advances, which means the Russian 9th army is going...

Per the OP the invasion of France is off the table and by the time Russia is dealt with it wouldn't likely even be a viable option to try and invade given French defenses and mobilization, plus the likely chance that Russia and France would negotiate as a bloc to get the best deal possible with...

(y) Yeah, having had these arguments a lot on forums like this I've found that most people haven't really read more in depth histories and they're more arguing from bias than knowledge on issues like this. The few financial histories of the conflict are pretty clear about the limitations of...

Thanks for all the info! That definitely explains why some fell so fast and the Russians abandoned the rest, some with up to 1 million artillery shells in storage! So how long do you think it would have taken to break through what was completed in 1914 with the Russians preparing their...