Wilhelmine Germany ISOT from Europe to East Asia 1888

[Otto Kretschmer]

In 1888 Germany disappears from Europe and appears in East Asia off the eastern coast of Japan. Kaiser Wilhelm can now build his fleet without worrying about being invaded from the land.

With now a giant sea in place of Germany, how wre alliances in Europe affected?

Whom does Kaiser Wilhelm invade given his new geopolitical position?

[stevep]

Dec 10, 2022 16:15:00 GMT Otto Kretschmer said:

In 1888 Germany disappears from Europe and appears in East Asia off the eastern coast of Japan. Kaiser Wilhelm can now build his fleet without worrying about being invaded from the land.

With now a giant sea in place of Germany, how wre alliances in Europe affected?

Whom does Kaiser Wilhelm invade given his new geopolitical position?

  Well Europe is now vastly different.  The German sea makes Denmark an island and the Low countries a peninsula while many areas now have high cliffs which are likely to be unstable on the sea.  There are a hell of a lot of road and rail links cut along with both the Rhine and Danube among other rivers being affected.  Switzerland now has a coastline - once enough of it crumbles that they have a usable port and Russia - via its Polish provinces - has an extensive section of coastline that is no longer frozen in winter.  Actually this body of water will also have a moderating impact on the climate so you could see less of the Baltic freezing in winter.  Its also going to be somewhat saltier although what impact that would be I don't know.

  At this point France was isolated and Germany had close relations with both Austria and to a lesser degree Russia.  France no longer has any real chance of getting Alsace-Lorraine back as its now half a world away.  Other than this both France and Russia have tensions with Britain.  It could be that France and Russia link up to [seek to] dominate the continent, possibly prompting a British-Austria counter seeking to protect smaller nations which is likely to be supported by the Ottomans while Italy could go either way.  Or alternatively you get a Franco-Austria alliance to keep Russia from becoming too powerful in Europe while Britain will for a while continue its splendid isolationism, then possibly being drawn in when either side looks too powerful.  Germany is developing rapidly as an industrial power as well as a railway hub so their loss will have impacts on everybody in Europe.

  Not sure how Germany will be affected economically although it will take some hits in the short term and in the longer will probably have to adjust to a different climate and possibly also weather with it being hit by typhoons and the like.  Also would parts of it now be on the ring of fire?  Might depend on how close it is too Japan and what changes the ASB makes.  Hopefully the ASB prevents major world wide changes such as a rise in sea levels - since the waters east of Japan are I think a good bit deeper than the continental shelf area of Europe so unless the new German sea is very deep a lot of water would be displaced. 

  It going to have to develop new trade relations with a lot of people and also adjust to having much longer coastlines - although until some of the cliffs crumble, which could be nasty for the locals especially in the southern regions this coastline is of little use.  On the plus side the potentially big markets [huge populations but many very poor] of eastern Asia are now on its doorstep.

  In terms of foreign relations and expansion - unless both Wilhelm and a lot of the establishment have drastic changes in their viewpoints which is possible but unlikely they will be looking for expansion.  Its about the time that they gained most of their colonies in Africa but some of this might be butterflied as a few of them are further away now and there are juicier prospects much closer.  Germany might look toward control of Japan and more influence in China - the latter causing tension with Britain, Russia and possibly France and the US.  Especially considering Wilhelm made a number of comments about the 'yellow peril' which is now on its doorstep and it would have the issue that for cheap imported labour neighbouring areas of eastern Europe would no longer be practical but there is a massive potential for some sort of contracted labour from E Asia although this is likely to cause issues both internally and in foreign relations.

  The other options is to expand in the Pacific region.  Can't remember exactly when it gained its possessions in the New Guinea/Bismark Sea region and it bought the bulk of the Spanish possessions after the US victory lead to the annexation of the Philippines, Guam and Wake, which hasn't happened yet.  As such the existing Spanish empire might be a target, either by force or purchase and you could see Germany being a lot more assertive in some of the Pacific islands, such as Samoa since its now a Pacific nation and hence has much shorter supply lines.  This could lead to tension with Britain which also have interests in the area and a large fleet and multiple bases to operate from and of course the US.  France is also a player in the region and with the primary threat of Germany on its border being removed might seek to switch resources from the army to the navy.  However Europe will continue to be far more important to them. 

  As such there are potential for expansion and conflict both on the Asian mainland and in the Pacific and given Wilhelm's bull in a china shop personality something is likely to happen.  Japan could well become a German vassal, albeit probably a really troublesome one and German/British relations could be tense over China.  If Germany seeks to expand into Korea that's likely to clash with Russia as well.  In the Pacific there could also be tension and it would depend on how things work out.  The other big players are Britain and increasingly the US.  Britain is likely to win a naval war in the next couple of decades but the US would probably lose in that same time period.  This assumes however that Germany is fighting a single opponent.  You could see an alliance between any two of the three and also other great powers being pulled in.  In the longer term Germany would be a major threat to British interests and also potentially prompt an earlier USN expansion so another war could well come along a generation or so later.

  Anyway initial ramblings on the issue.