Could we see eventual Russian revanchism if Germany wins a late victory in World War I? I'm thinking something like Brest-Litovsk in the East and at least a negotiated settlement in the West, either due to no US entry into the war (due to no USW resumption) or for some other reason.
While Russia would endure extremely massive and crippling territorial losses at Brest-Litovsk, it's worth noting that Russia endured comparable territorial losses for a time during World War II and yet was still able to fight on with the help of British and American aid, especially in the form of Lend-Lease. In turn, this raises a question: Could some kind of revanchist and possibly totalitarian Russian leader eventually emerge in this scenario (possibly in the 1930s or beyond, assuming that the Bolsheviks are quickly overthrown by the victorious Germans after they win WWI in the West), aggressively industrialize and rearm his country, seek large-scale Western military assistance, especially from the Anglo-Americans, and eventually seek to pursue a revanchist war against Germany?
You might say that Germany might aim to quickly decapitate such a Russian regime, but I'm not so sure about that. France, after all, refused to act when the Rhineland got remilitarized in 1936, and Germany might likewise fear sparking a major insurgency in Russia, preferring to believe that Russia's form of government is not a threat to it so long as it's not Communist and so long as Germany has adequate military deterrence in its eastern borderlands. Still, might Russia eventually have enough courage to try waging a war against Germany to recover at least some of its lost territories--possibly sometime in the 1940s or beyond? I'm thinking of, say, a Russian advance up to the Daugava-Dnieper Line here, after which point Russia could offer to convert the existing front line into Russia's new western border while also allowing Germany to save face by allowing Germany to preserve a significant part of its informal Eastern European empire.
Anyway, what do you think?
While Russia would endure extremely massive and crippling territorial losses at Brest-Litovsk, it's worth noting that Russia endured comparable territorial losses for a time during World War II and yet was still able to fight on with the help of British and American aid, especially in the form of Lend-Lease. In turn, this raises a question: Could some kind of revanchist and possibly totalitarian Russian leader eventually emerge in this scenario (possibly in the 1930s or beyond, assuming that the Bolsheviks are quickly overthrown by the victorious Germans after they win WWI in the West), aggressively industrialize and rearm his country, seek large-scale Western military assistance, especially from the Anglo-Americans, and eventually seek to pursue a revanchist war against Germany?
You might say that Germany might aim to quickly decapitate such a Russian regime, but I'm not so sure about that. France, after all, refused to act when the Rhineland got remilitarized in 1936, and Germany might likewise fear sparking a major insurgency in Russia, preferring to believe that Russia's form of government is not a threat to it so long as it's not Communist and so long as Germany has adequate military deterrence in its eastern borderlands. Still, might Russia eventually have enough courage to try waging a war against Germany to recover at least some of its lost territories--possibly sometime in the 1940s or beyond? I'm thinking of, say, a Russian advance up to the Daugava-Dnieper Line here, after which point Russia could offer to convert the existing front line into Russia's new western border while also allowing Germany to save face by allowing Germany to preserve a significant part of its informal Eastern European empire.
Anyway, what do you think?
