What if …

The top 5-historical figures debate has caused me to think (really :diablo: ?). What would have happened if … for example Gavrillo Princip didn’t shoot the Austrian prince Franz-Ferdinand.

Some might suggest WWI was unevitable. However, I think different. The world could look quite different today if that shot had not occured. Britannia would still rule the waves, the US would be a major economic power but by all means no political and military superpower. There would have been no Communism, no nazism, no Cold War? Or am I completely wrong.

Let’s say the murder did not occur. Germany was eager to start a war back then, but Austria-Hungary most certainly wasn’t. They attacked Serbia because that was the only option they had, but by no means did they want to trigger a massive war on that scale. The Kaiser would have got no allies, not even the Austrian emperor, if he started a war on his own. So if he did, France, UK and Russia could have won the war. The Plan Von Schliefen would enable the Russians to move their troops directly to the German border instead of battling the Austrians. Belgium would have been invaded anyway, but France and the UK would be able to fight back while the Russians were moving west. It would look like the other wars of the 19th century, bloody but nothing compared to WWI. Germany would be punished, but not humiliated. The UK, France and Russia would become more powerfull once again, and the US would still be isolationist.

Is this pure crap I’m telling? :confused: