The War to End All Wars

Hello! I'm Alex, I currently study history and also take classes in English literature. Now, I've gotten rather interested in late 19th-century to early 20th-century political history. And squarely, I would like to do an alternative history roleplay, and I would like it to focus on politics mostly. Ideally, it would follow a rather large cast of characters across the world in different circumstances. If you aren't literate in English and can't handle that, don't bother reaching out.

The Great War has dragged on for nearly five full years, having begun in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war has utterly broken the European empires, grinding away their industry, their populations, and their entire existence. But it has persisted so long, taken so much, that no power is willing to call for peace if it doesn't mean major gains. The people, however, have called for peace for years, demanding a simple return to the situation before, even if that means another war in just a few years.

Of those empires to be destroyed, the first were Russia and the Ottomans. It began with the Ottomans, whose fall became destined when Entente forces invaded Gallipoli. The campaign was, to the shock of many, rapid success. It was so successful that the Entente forces devoted more and more each day, as did the Ottomans. For the Ottomans, that meant sacrificing soldiers to pacify the Levant. During the "Thracian Campaign," which lasted from 1916 to 1918, the Entente forces would push to Constantinople, which would be put under siege. Meanwhile, in Asia, the Entente pushed from Palestine to Anatolia, capturing Arabia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. They managed to link with Russian Caucasian forces, opening up a second path to supplying Russia- the first having been through the straits. In 1918 the Ottoman government petitioned for a ceasefire and would allow Entente forces to partition the empire. This would cause Turkish nationalists to attempt to overthrow the government, but without solid leadership, the movement would fall apart into civil war.

The situation didn't turn out to be better for Russia. Despite Western aid flowing in through Crimea and the Caucasus, they couldn't make any major advances against Germany and Austria-Hungary. That said, they did manage to hold back the Central Powers from invading Russia proper. The majority of the fighting took place in Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic region. The Central Powers, by 1917, began promising more nations a state of their own and forcibly recruited soldiers for those states. In early 1918 they would invade Finland. By that point, though, the will for war to continue was nonexistent. The Russian Revolution would see the overthrow of the old government and a civil war ensued. The Germans and Austrians capitalized on this and moved in as much as they could, but they settled on peace soon after. The treaty of Riga would see Germans occupying Poland, the Baltics, and Finland. Revolutions would soon break out in the occupied regions.

Despite their technical victory in Russia, the Austrians weren't doing great. Due to the success of the Austrian invasion, Bulgaria was removed from the war soon after with the capture of their capital, and from there the Balkan states were able to push into Austria-Hungary. In support, the British, French, and Italians heavily ramped up naval operations in the Adriatic Sea, culminating in a Dalmatian campaign that would manage to capture the entire Adriatic coast, though not much more. Not that it mattered, because of the capture of the coast the Austrian cause wavered. The Austrian government's support for the war dwindled, especially as it meant that Austria proper could lose its territory. Hungarians, as well, began to question why they were fighting a war for Austria that the population never agreed to. Czechs and Croats felt similarly enough that widespread protests began in late 1918. In late 1918 Hungarian nationalists and other revolutionaries seized several locations across the kingdom. Austria would send soldiers in from other regions of the empire, but by that time Czechs were more desiring of their state, and Slavs seemed to grow their support for a Yugoslav state. With Entente aid Hungary was able to achieve its independence in early 1919, subsequently reorganizing into the People's Republic of Hungary. Austria would surrender soon after, with civil war soon taking every other part of the Austrian empire.

By February 1919, Germany was the last surviving Central Power, and they were losing fast. Support for the war had plummeted throughout 1918, and the defeat of all of their allies only caused the people to lose all hope in victory. The Kaiser, however, refused to surrender, and with the Entente refusing any white peace, the war continued. In November of 1918 the military, who had controlled the state for a few years by then, placed the Kaiser under house arrest and began to pursue peace. However, negotiations constantly stalled and hit roadblocks, and with less and less support the Germans were slowly being pushed back. By January of 1919 French soldiers pushed into German territory. It seemed that Germany would fall. Just a few days after Austria gave her surrender the German Reichskanzler, Friedrich Ebert, sent for a ceasefire and allowed Entente forces to occupy up to the Rhine River. Concurrently, socialist revolutionaries were making moves across Germany. It seemed Germany would go the same way as Russia, who was by then making moves in Poland and the Baltic states.

But the surrender couldn't have come any sooner. The Entente powers were facing their protests and strikes constantly. In Britain, they had to face war from Ireland since 1916, and they were constantly on the back foot. France had lost the most in the war, and anti-war activists were rampant across the state. Italy wasn't much better. The governments all had to make constant promises and swear to fend off instant revolution. Even successes were pyrrhic for those powers.

Outside of Europe things seemed much better. The colonies saw significant growth as industry had to be built up all over the world to fill in where European industries failed. Japan saw massive growth in its own right, expanding as much as it could- so much that it even eclipsed the European powers by 1919. The United States, though, saw the most growth. President Theodore Roosevelt, re-elected in 1912, had vehemently supported U.S. intervention in Europe, but Congress never supported it. Despite their will, he used all of his power to profit off of the war as he could, and he certainly picked the side he wanted to win: the Entente. The U.S. boomed during the war by profiting off of it. The arms industry was sold to the powers, boats were built for the naval war, farmers made massive amounts selling in Europe, and the government gave the European states loans. The Latin American states were also all quick to profiteer off of Europe's war.

All told, the world teeters. Revolutions are sweeping across the world, nationalist and socialist, and borders are being redrawn and argued over constantly. What's easy to see is that the world will certainly not be the same when the dust settles.