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Description
This one is based on Winston Churchill's (yes, that one) alternate history, If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg (my cover here , which is in turn QuantumBranching 's cover here ), with a twist: it's the Anglosphere that are the "bad guys" in the great war. This scenario is one of those parallel timelines where events and nations mirror those of our own world, perhaps to a degree that is greater than what may actually happen.

The PoD is the Confederacy winning the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to the British supporting them in the war. A later war in the 1880s between the USA and the CSA ends with the Confederacy winning with direct British intervention. The USA and CSA remain bitter enemies for another generation, but by the turn of the century, things are getting patched up. Neither American state gets involved in the European alliance systems too much, meaning little intervention in the First Great War[1] (Britain, Germany and Austria vs. France, Russia, Italy and the Ottoman Empire). All the best, since the war only ended in the collapse of the Second French Empire, the German Empire, the Italian Empire, and the Austrian Empire. Britain and Russia almost fell to communist revolutionaries, but nevertheless emerged...changed. The British came to be dominated by their military, although not to the same degree as the emerging Mitteleuropan stratocracy. Russia reforms into a constitutional monarchy. Nobody won the First Great War.

The 19th century saw the rise of strange ideologies in the Anglosphere, particularly as the turbulent political situation between Britain, America and the Confederacy led to crises of confidence in existing power structures. In the Americas, the United States became a hotbed for radical thought since the end of the Civil War. The National Union Party, initially an alliance between the Republicans and pro-war Democrats, slowly became the dominant political force in the United States. As the progressive movement changed both the remaining Republican and Democratic parties into progressive parties, the National Union Party - which represented military, economic and political elites - became radical as well, but through the leveraging of supremacist thinking among the American public. Although beginning as anti-Confederate, Manifest Destiny sentiment, the dominant American ideology became the belief that English speakers were intended to rule the world. This belief, which originated in Britain, became popular as the Americans lost faith in the notion that their government system was the best in the world, and because it gave those persecuted by the Confederates - American blacks - a place in the new American order. The American variant of this linguistic supremacy held that the United States was the natural core of the Anglosphere because of its greater long-term prospects as the center of a world order. The Anglosphere, in turn, would dominate the world and civilize it through teaching of the English language and English "civilization." Although inherently against the independence of the Confederacy, emphasis on this was reduced as the American government became allies with the Confederacy. By the end of the First Great War, the National Union Party had consolidated itself as the totalitarian ruling party of the United States, and it set its sights outward. Although traditionally seeking to reconquer the Confederacy, National Union policy changed when it became clear that reunifying with the Confederacy violently would come at a very high cost. Instead, it sought to dominate the Anglosphere through its superior economy, and by providing military support to its English-speaking allies.

Economic changes that made Southern cash crops less viable led to an economic crisis, which destroyed fortunes and made slavery economically unviable. The end of slavery in the Confederacy was controversial and required a constitutional amendment, but this was done with the support of a poor white farming class which historically disliked competing with slave labor, a mercantile class that wanted to improve the Confederacy's image worldwide and open new markets, and the planter class was no longer willing to put the political capital in to defend an economically non-viable practice. The Confederate States effectively became a military dictatorship after the decline in influence of the Southern planter class, as the military was necessary to maintain the Confederacy's continued independence. It was also necessary to maintain the Confederate social system, which had to deal with several black rebellions; although slavery had ended, blacks were still legally barred from political office, voting, and many areas of the country. This regime, naturally hostile to the United States, suddenly became friendly with it in the post-FGW era. Convinced that they could not survive a third war with the United States, the Confederacy was open to the Americans' offer of an alliance. Further securing the alliance was the Confederacy's need for military power to maintain its "colonial" empire in the Caribbean, Central America and Africa, and this was aid the Americans could provide, for the price of the Confederacy playing second fiddle to the Americans.

In Britain, the idea of British Israelism became popular among a British elite open to all sorts of esoteric ideas. British Israelism was the notion that the peoples of the British Isles were, in truth, descended from the lost tribes of Israel and thus chosen by God; by contrast, they did not consider modern Jews to be true Jews. This belief extended to believing that the English monarchs were the true inheritors of the biblical Davidic throne, and that Britain and both the US and CS were blessed as nations. Britain's economic and political dominance gave credence to this belief in some circles. As the First Great War raged on, more and more people came to believe the claims of British Israelism, in large part because it was promoted by British Israelists in government who disseminated it as propaganda for the war. The general public and the military, both eager to find greater meaning in British power as the traditional pillars of the British Empire's strength were ruined, flocked to the belief, if they did not become communists. By the end of the First Great War, British Israelism was one of the common threads between the traditional British elite of aristocrats and wealthy capitalists, and the new crop of military elites that now enjoyed a dominant position in government; as the bulwark against communism, the British military became very powerful. Many active military officers became members of Parliament, after laws disqualifying actively serving members of the armed forces was repealed. While British Israelism never became an "official" ideology, the idea that Britain could regain its lost glory because it is divinely ordained to rule became popular, and some officials were certainly motivated to go further because of it. What did become official policy was the idea that Britain needed to dominate the European continent directly, and use this as its source for a "new" empire after losing its colonial holdings. However, the British could not do it alone, and thus accepted America's offer for alliance. Britain would gain a new empire, but its economic and military heart would be in America. Thus formed the Anglosphere Triple Alliance, aligned against the "barbaric" great powers abroad.

In Europe, the stratocracy of Mitteleuropa tries to keep its empire together. Dominated by Germans but ostensibly open to every member state, the Mitteleuropan military forms the entire government and officers are elected from within active duty members. Considered a major threat by Russia and France, the Mitteleuropans made a deal with the Anglophones to divide the French between them, while the French still reeled from political chaos stemming from the end of the First Great War. Although this agreement holds, both sides know it cannot last. Mitteleuropa's existence as a powerful continental empire is offensive to the British, even without their colonial ambitions on the continent. Russia and Sweden, the only "traditional" European great powers left, declared war on Britain after the invasion of France, and are contemplating declaring war on Mitteleuropa. However, with memories of the First Great War still lingering, both sides are hesitant to commit to major attacks and simply hope that the Anglosphere-Mitteleuropan agreement breaks down. This is becoming harder as it becomes clear that the Anglophone powers are preparing an invasion of Scandinavia.

In Japan, the traditionalists won out over the reformers, meaning both Japan and China were more dominated by the European powers than IOTL. This ended with the First Great War, which was followed by an uprising against the Qing Dynasty and their foreign backers [2]. A new Republic of China, modeled on the United States of America, emerges from the ashes. India, freed from British control in the immediate aftermath of the First Great War, finds itself under British attack, as the British seek to regain their supremacy in the subcontinent. Free India is divided between a Hindu-dominated government and Islamic rebels against said government, both of whom despise each other, but are currently working together against the British threat.

[1] The Confederacy did eventually declare war on Russia and send some troops over, and some American volunteers found themselves fighting in British and German units.

[2] Think a cross between Boxer Rebellion and the 1911 revolution.

Description
This one is based on Winston Churchill's (yes, that one) alternate history, If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg (my cover here , which is in turn QuantumBranching 's cover here ), with a twist: it's the Anglosphere that are the "bad guys" in the great war. This scenario is one of those parallel timelines where events and nations mirror those of our own world, perhaps to a degree that is greater than what may actually happen.

The PoD is the Confederacy winning the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to the British supporting them in the war. A later war in the 1880s between the USA and the CSA ends with the Confederacy winning with direct British intervention. The USA and CSA remain bitter enemies for another generation, but by the turn of the century, things are getting patched up. Neither American state gets involved in the European alliance systems too much, meaning little intervention in the First Great War[1] (Britain, Germany and Austria vs. France, Russia, Italy and the Ottoman Empire). All the best, since the war only ended in the collapse of the Second French Empire, the German Empire, the Italian Empire, and the Austrian Empire. Britain and Russia almost fell to communist revolutionaries, but nevertheless emerged...changed. The British came to be dominated by their military, although not to the same degree as the emerging Mitteleuropan stratocracy. Russia reforms into a constitutional monarchy. Nobody won the First Great War.

The 19th century saw the rise of strange ideologies in the Anglosphere, particularly as the turbulent political situation between Britain, America and the Confederacy led to crises of confidence in existing power structures. In the Americas, the United States became a hotbed for radical thought since the end of the Civil War. The National Union Party, initially an alliance between the Republicans and pro-war Democrats, slowly became the dominant political force in the United States. As the progressive movement changed both the remaining Republican and Democratic parties into progressive parties, the National Union Party - which represented military, economic and political elites - became radical as well, but through the leveraging of supremacist thinking among the American public. Although beginning as anti-Confederate, Manifest Destiny sentiment, the dominant American ideology became the belief that English speakers were intended to rule the world. This belief, which originated in Britain, became popular as the Americans lost faith in the notion that their government system was the best in the world, and because it gave those persecuted by the Confederates - American blacks - a place in the new American order. The American variant of this linguistic supremacy held that the United States was the natural core of the Anglosphere because of its greater long-term prospects as the center of a world order. The Anglosphere, in turn, would dominate the world and civilize it through teaching of the English language and English "civilization." Although inherently against the independence of the Confederacy, emphasis on this was reduced as the American government became allies with the Confederacy. By the end of the First Great War, the National Union Party had consolidated itself as the totalitarian ruling party of the United States, and it set its sights outward. Although traditionally seeking to reconquer the Confederacy, National Union policy changed when it became clear that reunifying with the Confederacy violently would come at a very high cost. Instead, it sought to dominate the Anglosphere through its superior economy, and by providing military support to its English-speaking allies.

Economic changes that made Southern cash crops less viable led to an economic crisis, which destroyed fortunes and made slavery economically unviable. The end of slavery in the Confederacy was controversial and required a constitutional amendment, but this was done with the support of a poor white farming class which historically disliked competing with slave labor, a mercantile class that wanted to improve the Confederacy's image worldwide and open new markets, and the planter class was no longer willing to put the political capital in to defend an economically non-viable practice. The Confederate States effectively became a military dictatorship after the decline in influence of the Southern planter class, as the military was necessary to maintain the Confederacy's continued independence. It was also necessary to maintain the Confederate social system, which had to deal with several black rebellions; although slavery had ended, blacks were still legally barred from political office, voting, and many areas of the country. This regime, naturally hostile to the United States, suddenly became friendly with it in the post-FGW era. Convinced that they could not survive a third war with the United States, the Confederacy was open to the Americans' offer of an alliance. Further securing the alliance was the Confederacy's need for military power to maintain its "colonial" empire in the Caribbean, Central America and Africa, and this was aid the Americans could provide, for the price of the Confederacy playing second fiddle to the Americans.

In Britain, the idea of British Israelism became popular among a British elite open to all sorts of esoteric ideas. British Israelism was the notion that the peoples of the British Isles were, in truth, descended from the lost tribes of Israel and thus chosen by God; by contrast, they did not consider modern Jews to be true Jews. This belief extended to believing that the English monarchs were the true inheritors of the biblical Davidic throne, and that Britain and both the US and CS were blessed as nations. Britain's economic and political dominance gave credence to this belief in some circles. As the First Great War raged on, more and more people came to believe the claims of British Israelism, in large part because it was promoted by British Israelists in government who disseminated it as propaganda for the war. The general public and the military, both eager to find greater meaning in British power as the traditional pillars of the British Empire's strength were ruined, flocked to the belief, if they did not become communists. By the end of the First Great War, British Israelism was one of the common threads between the traditional British elite of aristocrats and wealthy capitalists, and the new crop of military elites that now enjoyed a dominant position in government; as the bulwark against communism, the British military became very powerful. Many active military officers became members of Parliament, after laws disqualifying actively serving members of the armed forces was repealed. While British Israelism never became an "official" ideology, the idea that Britain could regain its lost glory because it is divinely ordained to rule became popular, and some officials were certainly motivated to go further because of it. What did become official policy was the idea that Britain needed to dominate the European continent directly, and use this as its source for a "new" empire after losing its colonial holdings. However, the British could not do it alone, and thus accepted America's offer for alliance. Britain would gain a new empire, but its economic and military heart would be in America. Thus formed the Anglosphere Triple Alliance, aligned against the "barbaric" great powers abroad.

In Europe, the stratocracy of Mitteleuropa tries to keep its empire together. Dominated by Germans but ostensibly open to every member state, the Mitteleuropan military forms the entire government and officers are elected from within active duty members. Considered a major threat by Russia and France, the Mitteleuropans made a deal with the Anglophones to divide the French between them, while the French still reeled from political chaos stemming from the end of the First Great War. Although this agreement holds, both sides know it cannot last. Mitteleuropa's existence as a powerful continental empire is offensive to the British, even without their colonial ambitions on the continent. Russia and Sweden, the only "traditional" European great powers left, declared war on Britain after the invasion of France, and are contemplating declaring war on Mitteleuropa. However, with memories of the First Great War still lingering, both sides are hesitant to commit to major attacks and simply hope that the Anglosphere-Mitteleuropan agreement breaks down. This is becoming harder as it becomes clear that the Anglophone powers are preparing an invasion of Scandinavia.

In Japan, the traditionalists won out over the reformers, meaning both Japan and China were more dominated by the European powers than IOTL. This ended with the First Great War, which was followed by an uprising against the Qing Dynasty and their foreign backers [2]. A new Republic of China, modeled on the United States of America, emerges from the ashes. India, freed from British control in the immediate aftermath of the First Great War, finds itself under British attack, as the British seek to regain their supremacy in the subcontinent. Free India is divided between a Hindu-dominated government and Islamic rebels against said government, both of whom despise each other, but are currently working together against the British threat.

[1] The Confederacy did eventually declare war on Russia and send some troops over, and some American volunteers found themselves fighting in British and German units.

[2] Think a cross between Boxer Rebellion and the 1911 revolution.