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Of course it hurts but no vital industry there and Germany gain very little strategic. Germany need to import most of the important material rubber, oil, rare metals..from far away land. That is why they need a quick victory! Some said they have only one year usage stockpile!
But the Germans faught hard till 1918 it wasn't like the Germans didn't put up a fight in 1915-1918 sure the front basically collapsed in 1918 but before that they launched a major offensive into France sure it was a failed one but it shows they still had the capacity to wage war during that time.
Second vehicles weren't in heavy use yet in WW1 weren't many things horse drawn so wouldn't demand on things like rubber and oil be far less and I will say this again Britain isnt in the war yet They can use the Ottoman ports in the middle east to import supplies even if the brits cut off the north seas.
Yeah that is another interesting matter later. Some said the Germans get import coals from England through neutral ports in North Europe. And when a British Lord went to Russia to plan for combined efforts to end the war soon, his ship is blown into the sea, perhaps by some darkness businessmen!
Well my point is with a Neutral Britain Germany could use the ottoman ports in the Arabian peninsula to import even if the Ottomans aren't in the war yet they Prefer Germany to Russia so it would be a good deal Germany pays the Ottomans to import goods for Germany Ottomans get money out of it and have Germany fight the Russians.
Let's see the Central Powers map in yellow, no direct route to Germany from Turkey!
And moreover, if British is neutral it is not guarantee they sell material to Germany. At that time most of the world is in the hand of a few big empires. Like the Japanese in WW2, if France, British, US don't sell oil to them, they won't find oil elsewhere!
Cough Netherlands Rubber from Indonesia and is neutral.Let's see the Central Powers map in yellow, no direct route to Germany from Turkey!
And moreover, if British is neutral it is not guarantee they sell material to Germany. At that time most of the world is in the hand of a few big empires. Like the Japanese in WW2, if France, British, US don't sell oil to them, they won't find oil elsewhere!
The US only became sympathetic to the allies due to British propaganda further more it toke the Lusitania and the Zimmerman telegram to pull the US into the war the US really didn't care to embargo Germany.
Also sure there is in This timeline Germany crushes Serbia thus creating the connection.
Conspiracy theory with little to no grounding in reality.
US opinion was favourable to the British anyway, even before the Rape of Belgium and various other German provocations. That's not to say it was interventionist, or that these events didn't have an effect. However, the underlying sympathy was with Britain.
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Neutrals blockade to the first. Rubber is an obvious war good. Warn torn serbia is no point for a major land connection to the second. If Serbia was an easy place for a rail connection, France would easily counter the German invasion and the Germans wouldn't take Serbia in the first place.
As a matter of fact, yes. They were so obsessed with the spectre of 'encirclement' that they considered no other options.
How would France even in our timeline Serbia fell its not like France could ship 2 million troops over there if the Central powers really wanted Serbia gone it would be gone as for the land connection while it may be war torn Im sure the Germans and Austrians seeing the importance of supplies would focus on building infrastructure there so a land connection with the Ottomans would be possible.
I wonder how good the Germans would have felt had the plan worked XD
Thessaloniki.
Yeah, because even with a major seaport and working rail lines, it was impossible for France to rail that much equipment to Serbia. Which shows you that Serbian rail lines dont have the throughput to put a dent in the blockade, especially after the war ruins them.
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Except there is a difference Germany and Austria can after Serbia is defeated develop those lines heavy investments in that area can get rails up you could argue that it would be expensive but considering the benefit of having war materials it seems acceptable.France wouldn't want to invest in the same thing because the fear of those newly developed supply lines falling into Austrian and German hands would be too great
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Sorry but that's totally ridiculous. You can't import war materials to Germany via the Ottoman Indian Ocean ports. Not possible no matter how much effort they put into it.
You could in theory set up a rail courier line that transports small items that way - maps, pens, trinkets - or very important people, spies, generals, exiled kings. But bulk good like saltpeter, ores, grain, oil? No way! Not enough locomotives, not enough capacity by far. I don't think you could even do that today.
And even if you could... the Royal navy had enough ships in the Indian Ocean to blockade all the Ottoman ports there. It's not like they would have needed battlecruisers like in the north sea to do that, Germany and the Ottomans didn't have many ships there after all.
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Well considering the British aren't in the war in my theory (at least not yet)
There are rail lines in the Ottoman lands sure it might not be able to get 100 percent of what the Central powers needed but surely it would be worth seeing what they could do with it.
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Okay so no British in the war. That means that the ottomans and Bulgarians can't both be on the central side because then there is nothing for the ottomans to gain if they are both allying with the Bulgarians, and not invading Egypt.
If the Bulgarians are in the war, France can completely interdict any stuff coming through the Aegean with a squadron of corvettes because Bulgaria doesn't have a navy to contest the blockade. All that is available is the strategic materials made by the ottomans themselves. Which is to say handcrafted textiles, their major export in this period. Unless one wants to consider taking imports all the way overland from Kuwait to Berlin. This would be a 5000 kilometer overland journey. The first leg of it would be by traditional swamp barge because Kuwait doesn't even have railways today let alone in the 1910s.
If the Ottomans are in the war, Serbia has no eastern flank so the Serbians can keep fighting on from the south successfully with the help of the French supplies in Thessaloniki. And France can send those supplies sooner because they aren't in a desperate defense at home. So no supplies are moving through Serbia because it's still a warzone with constant raids on the rail lines. France can also easily outclass the outdated Ottoman navy with a squadron of their oldest pre-dreadnoughts.
If the Bulgarians are in the war, France can completely interdict any stuff coming through the Aegean with a squadron of corvettes because Bulgaria doesn't have a navy to contest the blockade. All that is available is the strategic materials made by the ottomans themselves. Which is to say handcrafted textiles, their major export in this period. Unless one wants to consider taking imports all the way overland from Kuwait to Berlin. This would be a 5000 kilometer overland journey. The first leg of it would be by traditional swamp barge because Kuwait doesn't even have railways today let alone in the 1910s.
If the Ottomans are in the war, Serbia has no eastern flank so the Serbians can keep fighting on from the south successfully with the help of the French supplies in Thessaloniki. And France can send those supplies sooner because they aren't in a desperate defense at home. So no supplies are moving through Serbia because it's still a warzone with constant raids on the rail lines. France can also easily outclass the outdated Ottoman navy with a squadron of their oldest pre-dreadnoughts.
Well my theory wasn't even the Ottomans in the war But the Ottomans would rather a Stronger Germany because of the threat of Russia to the Ottomans my assumption was that Germany would import through the Ottomans to circumvent the Blockade the Brits would place on the north seas.
However I did not know of the lack of any railroads in the eastern Ottoman ports so that would cause a logistical Problem.
Well the Germans have this massive navy to use could they have landed forces in the Baltics or Finland? Even if it was just raiding activities?
Also if Russia retreats and refuses to engage the Germans, does that mean that they can't go on the offensive against the Austrians?
What if as the Russian retreats Germany declares Russian Poland free and under their protection?
Also if Russia retreats and refuses to engage the Germans, does that mean that they can't go on the offensive against the Austrians?
What if as the Russian retreats Germany declares Russian Poland free and under their protection?