What if Franz Ferdinand and his wife survive their trip to Sarajevo in late June 1914 whereas it is German Kaiser Wilhelm II who gets assassinated later on in 1914 instead--specifically by this guy, who somehow manages to secure a trip to Germany in this TL and to get close enough to the German Kaiser in order to assassinate him:
en.wikipedia.org
I would presume that the new German Kaiser Wilhelm III and his advisers would be very eager to use this as an opportunity to spark a war with France and Russia by presenting an ultimatum to France that they would know would be so severe that France would not be willing to accept it. That said, though, what would Austria-Hungary's position on such a war be? Would Franz Joseph be in favor of such a war? What about Franz Ferdinand, who after all just had his friend German Kaiser Wilhelm II be assassinated by a French nationalist who was obssessed with Alsace-Lorraine? And how would Britain, Italy, Russia, the US, Japan, and other countries have responded to all of this?
Thoughts?
Raoul Villain - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I would presume that the new German Kaiser Wilhelm III and his advisers would be very eager to use this as an opportunity to spark a war with France and Russia by presenting an ultimatum to France that they would know would be so severe that France would not be willing to accept it. That said, though, what would Austria-Hungary's position on such a war be? Would Franz Joseph be in favor of such a war? What about Franz Ferdinand, who after all just had his friend German Kaiser Wilhelm II be assassinated by a French nationalist who was obssessed with Alsace-Lorraine? And how would Britain, Italy, Russia, the US, Japan, and other countries have responded to all of this?
Thoughts?