Originally posted by Pellaken
what if:
1.germany and austria had invaded russia first instead of france?
2.germany had not attacked belgium, would britain still have joined?
3.austria had given italy what it asked for, and italy joined the centrals?
4.the centrals had won?
5.germany did not back austria in june 1914, after the assanation
6.russia never fell into revoulition
7.the americans never came
8.italy had remained neutral
and anything else you can think of 
I'll post my responces tomarrow, as for now, ite bed time!
1. Russia would have fallen rather quickly and Germany could have held off France and/or England with its forts and trenches the same way the French and English held them off in the real war. Serbia would have been destroyed and Germany would be become supreme in Europe and perhaps the world, Austria would still have remained a declining power, however.
2. The Briitish would have eventually joined after a short (few monthgs to a year) period of Neutrality, it may have been enough of a delay in getting the Germans to Paris (and ending the war), however.
3. Italy would not join the Centrals as the Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance and clearly in WW1 Austria was an aggressor, and even if the Italians HAD joined the Central Powers, I think its effect would be marginal at best, they would be as ineffective invading the French Alps as they were in invading the Austrian Alps.
4. Germany would be master of Europe and Austria its little sister, eventually alliances woudl shift again and there would be a coalition to balance power again. (WW2?)
5. The Austrians would still have attacked the Serbs anyway. The Austrian Minister Berchtold (I think was his name) got the Archduke to declare war on Serbia by lying to him and telling him the Serbs made a pre-emptive attack on Austria, the archduke preferred a diplomatic resolution, not war. The British were ready to step in and mediate.
6. Russia was doomed from the the start. They were committed to fight to the bitter end because they were ont he fast track (at least in diplomatic circles) to becoming another Austra or Turkey, because they had lost the 1905 war to Japan, and been humbled by the Bosnian Crisis of 1909, they could not face another humiliation. Thus Russia had to fight and had to stay - revolution was and inevitability. However if the 'whites' had won the revolution, then Russia's future would look a lot different, perhaps more like France after 1871.
7. The English blockade is what eventually what did the Germans in, a war of attrition requires the use of trremendous resources and the Germans could not produce enough. SO the outcome would be the same, perhaps taking a bit longer. However without Presidnt Wilson's 14 Points, would the Treaties of Versailles and Saint Germain been as harsh as they ended up being? Also America would have remained as isiolationsist as always, even more so then they were in the 1920s and 30s - its influence on European affairs would have continued to be negligible.
8. I think the Italian involvement was minor from any perspective.
