Franz Ferdinand Had a Much Better Day: a TL

[Hobelhouse]

After several abortive attempts in the past, I've decided to start my first full timeline. I'm using a narrative style instead of a historical one because a) I write it better and b) it's easier Anyway, read on!


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28 June, 1914

Leopold Lojka was not enjoying himself.

Oh, yes, when he had agreed to serve as the Archduke's chauffeur in Sarajevo, he had known it might be dangerous. But today was the first time he had actually had to dodge a bomb before. The grenade throwing Serb.... it had to be a Serb, or maybe some kind of anarchist... had had terrible aim, and his bomb bounced away from his swerving car - only to explode on some of the nearby soldiers. The Archduke had been furious. The mayor had uttered the standard platitudes about the greatness of the Hapsburg monarchs and the eternal friendship of the people of Sarajevo, only to be interrupted by the Archduke himself: "Herr Burgomaster, I came here on a visit only to get bombs thrown at me! This is outrageous!" The Archduke had redirected the entire motorcade to visit the soldiers wounded by the terrorist bomb, as a statement. In the backseat, the Archduke and his wife were having a hushed discussion. "My love, I only came here so you could enjoy the honors you deserve but the duties of the monarchy deny you. I didn' -" but the duchess interrupted: "I always wanted to be able to sit by you in public, but I never thought it would mean -" Leopold, still a bit shaken from the bombing earlier, tuned them out and turned right, following the other cars in the motorcade.

He drove a few feet down the street, and then the cars in front of him stopped. Then started to back up. 'Oh, great,' he thought, 'they managed to fuck up the directions to the hospital. Goddamn incompetents...' he thought as he put the car in reverse and looked in the rearview mirror, seeing how the cars behind him were reacting. And then he saw.... a man running out of a cafe, shoving pedestrians to the street. A man with a gun. 'I am never, ever doing this again', thought Leopold. He screamed to the backseat nobles, "GET DOWN!" and he he brought his foot down violently, and...

and

and

...he just barely avoided missing the accelerator entirely. The car screamed into reverse as the would-be assassin fired one, two, three shots. Leopold felt a sting in his shoulder. The car lurched into Appel Quay, went back into forward, and took off down the street as fast as possible. The Archduke and countess sat back up, shaken but unharmed. Leopold saw blood dripping down his arm. 'Well, at least we're going to the hospital', he thought, numbly.

 

[joea64]

Darn, you beat me to it. I've been wanting to write a "Franz Ferdinand and Sophie live" TL for the longest time. Well, here's hoping for this one!

I do have a correction to offer right off the bat (and, having done a fair bit of reading on FF and Sophie, I may be able to offer additional help later on); at 28 June 1914, Sophie Chotek hadn't been a countess for many years now. She was created Princess shortly after her wedding to the Archduke, then elevated to Duchess of Hohenberg in 1909. (At that time, the Emperor also gave her the right to become honorary colonel-in-chief of army regiments, and from that time on she could accompany Franz Ferdinand in his capacity as Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian Army, which is how she came to be in Sarajevo that day.)

Also, the 28th of June was their wedding anniversary, which I think should further explain the Archduke's anger over the bomb attempt; the whole trip was, in a way, an anniversary present to his adored Sophie.

(Having saved their lives, by the way, I think Herr Lojka is going to enjoy a long career in FF's service. FF was notorious for his nasty temper and misantrophy, but he was also capable of great warmth and kindness to the few people who achieved entry into his circle of intimates.)

One of those intimates, by the way, was the Archduke Karl, FF's nephew and the next in line in succession. The two couples - FF and Sophie, and Karl and his young Archduchess Zita - were quite close. Gordon Brook-Shepherd, in his biography of FF, writes about an incident where Zita, wanting to honor her aunt-by-marriage, once dropped a curtsy to Sophie when they met at a theater. Sophie, greatly alarmed, asked Zita not to do such things anymore in public, as she had actually received death threats in the mail after receiving such honors!

 

[Hobelhouse]

Darn, you beat me to it. I've been wanting to write a "Franz Ferdinand and Sophie live" TL for the longest time. Well, here's hoping for this one!

I do have a correction to offer right off the bat (and, having done a fair bit of reading on FF and Sophie, I may be able to offer additional help later on); at 28 June 1914, Sophie Chotek hadn't been a countess for many years now. She was created Princess shortly after her wedding to the Archduke, then elevated to Duchess of Hohenberg in 1909. (At that time, the Emperor also gave her the right to become honorary colonel-in-chief of army regiments, and from that time on she could accompany Franz Ferdinand in his capacity as Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian Army, which is how she came to be in Sarajevo that day.)

Whoops, duchess it is then. Thanks for reading!

(Having saved their lives, by the way, I think Herr Lojka is going to enjoy a long career in FF's service. FF was notorious for his nasty temper and misantrophy, but he was also capable of great warmth and kindness to the few people who achieved entry into his circle of intimates.)

I am sure Herr Lojka will massively enjoy innumerable more opportunities to get shot at.

One of those intimates, by the way, was the Archduke Karl, FF's nephew and the next in line in succession. The two couples - FF and Sophie, and Karl and his young Archduchess Zita - were quite close. Gordon Brook-Shepherd, in his biography of FF, writes about an incident where Zita, wanting to honor her aunt-by-marriage, once dropped a curtsy to Sophie when they met at a theater. Sophie, greatly alarmed, asked Zita not to do such things anymore in public, as she had actually received death threats in the mail after receiving such honors!

And another was the Kaiser of Germany... which is going to be quite important later on.

 

[joea64]

Whoops, duchess it is then. Thanks for reading!]

All part of the service. Tidbit: By 1914, Franz Ferdinand was quite reconciled to his children's not being in line for the throne; in fact, he was on record as remarking to members of his circle that he believed Princes Max and Ernst and Princess Sophie (his daughter and eldest child) would be much happier as members of the landed gentry, with the comparative freedom of that class, than hemmed in by the stultifying protocol of Schonbrunn (sorry, no idea how to do proper accent marks) Palace. In particular, he wanted young Sophie to be able to find the same kind of marriage for love that he had; in OTL she did this, marrying Count Frederick Nostitz in 1920.

Another tidbit: OTL, Max and Ernst were prominent conservative opponents of the Nazis and the Anschluss, and got tossed into Dachau for their pains. Accounts are conflicting on how long they spent there, but it certainly damaged their health sufficiently that they died much earlier than they otherwise might have (Princess Sophie lived on till about 1990).

I am sure Herr Lojka will massively enjoy innumerable more opportunities to get shot at.

"Ach, himmel, ANOTHER assassination attempt this week?? I swear I am going to ask His Imperial Highness to install armor plating in this miserable car, for his poor lady's sake if nothing else!"

And another was the Kaiser of Germany... which is going to be quite important later on.

They were close friends, certainly; OTL the last prominent visitor that FF had at his Bohemian castle, Konopischt (sp?) before his death, was the Kaiser, who came on a private visit with a whole crowd of his people including Admiral von Tirpitz himself. I believe I have a group picture somewhere.

FF deeply valued Wilhelm's friendship, but was irritated by his hail-fellow-well-met manner; he was known to refer to the Kaiser as "Europe's greatest fellow-me-lad". (On the other hand, FF didn't care much for excessive pomposity either.)

Tidbit the next: FF was a voracious reader of newspapers. He may not have cared much for high culture (Brook-Shepherd, in his book, dryly states that FF's idea of music was probably the hurdy-gurdy, whether with or without monkey is not specified ), but he did a great deal of practical reading and was, one may assume, quite well-informed.

I assume you know, of course, that FF was, in comparsion to most of the rest of the upper echelons of the Austro-Hungarian government, something of a pacifist (COMPARATIVELY speaking); for instance, he argued quite strenuously against jumping into the Balkan Wars against Serbia (or maybe that was at the time of Bosnian annexation, I'll have to check the book again). This will become important. In 1913, he and Sophie had enjoyed an outstandingly successful private visit to Great Britain, including meetings with the King and Queen, and he had invited King George V to go shooting (FF's favorite entertainment) in the fall of 1914. Perhaps a private summit of crowned and soon-to-be-crowned heads if FF issues an invitation to the Kaiser?

Any ideas as to how you plan for the Great War to start - if, that is, it even does start - in your TL?

 

[joea64]

Oh, I almost forgot. One of FF's key ideas for reforming the Empire was to elevate the Slavs to a co-equal monarchical status with the Austrians and the Magyars - FF very much wanted a counterbalance to the Magyar aristocracy, which he despised (he was a staunch conservative, but considered the Hungarian nobles to be outrageous reactionaries!). Several possibilities; off the top of my head, either the Croats, or the Bohemians (Sophie came from a very old Bohemian noble family; she was so blue-blooded that at least one writer has noted that, had she been Protestant, she would have had no trouble marrying into the British Royal Family. It was the nutty ideas of Habsburg protocol about only royal blood being good enough for the imperial family that gave her so much trouble when she fell in love with the Archduke.)

 

[Hobelhouse]

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Some weeks later...

"This is outrageous! The impudence of these Slavic ... schweinhunden! To launch such an attack on your royal person!"

The Count Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf, head of the K. u. K. Army of Austria-Hungary, walked alongside the Archduke as he harangued him. "Your Highness, surely now you must realize Serbia must be punished. They cannot even keep their own people in line! And they attack you, their greatest advocate!"

The Archduke turned to the Count. "The last thing the Empire needs now is another war. And the current political situation in the Slavic territories cannot last forever, either. Fighting Serbia would only inflame tensions. I know this, all of my advisers know this, and Franz Josef listens to us."

Franz Conrad was incredulous. "They attacked you, your Highness, their greatest friend in the Empire! And you would let your attackers go unpunished?"

"They are being punished," said the Archduke. "We have already caught two of the plotters. Our agents close on the others. They will be executed. Does that sound like punishment to you? I would think so."

"You Highness," said the Count, "you know the Serbian government encourages these terrorists! We will never be free of their harassment unless we remove it ourselves!"

The Archduke was getting tired of this. "Franz Conrad. Everyone knows you itch for a war with Serbia. You want to ensure Austrian domination of the Balkans and you want it now. We could devour Serbia and grind them under our heels if we so wished. But that would only drag in the Czar, and that would be our ruin. You have submitted a request for declaration of war more than twenty times. You can keep submitting them, as many times as you want! It will not happen, not while I am alive!" Franz Ferdinand stormed away from the Count. This coward is our prince?! thought the Count. I wonder if that Serb had grazed him, if that might have given him the stones to destroy the regicidal whelps! Or would he be even more scared of the Serbs? Weakness! But that was that. There would be no war. Not today.
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(OOC: I think if got Hotzendorf's personality right, frm what I've read he was something of a German surpremacist and thought a Germano-Slavic war was inevitable and desirable. Seems that train of thought runs far further back than Hitler... I'm wondering if Hitler being Austrian was essential for the development of Nazi racial thought, or if a German would have come to the same conclusions regarding the Slavs.)

 

[Hobelhouse]

Any ideas as to how you plan for the Great War to start - if, that is, it even does start - in your TL?

It's going to happen, and Austria-Hungary will be where it starts. Just a few years down the line, and entirely differently.

My planning is for Franz Ferdinand to try to introduce the liberal reforms, which make him beloved to the Slavs but hated by the Hungarian aristocracy - who declare independence, starting a civil war. The Austrian army suffers from back luck and incompetence and the Hungarians get the upper hand. Serbia senses its moment, allies with Hungary in exchange for the rights to Bosnia, and attacks. Franz Ferdinand, being friends with the Kaiser, asks for German aid and gets it. Serbia's ally Russia demands a halt to German aid, and mobilizes. German mobilizes. France mobilizes. Europe burns.

Does that sound plausible? There will be other things turning out different in other parts of the world as well... but I'm not going to spoil them yet! (plus I've not finished researching them yet either)

 

[Gladi]

It's going to happen, and Austria-Hungary will be where it starts. Just a few years down the line, and entirely differently.

My planning is for Franz Ferdinand to try to introduce the liberal reforms, which make him beloved to the Slavs but hated by the Hungarian aristocracy - who declare independence, starting a civil war. The Austrian army suffers from back luck and incompetence and the Hungarians get the upper hand. Serbia senses its moment, allies with Hungary in exchange for the rights to Bosnia, and attacks. Franz Ferdinand, being friends with the Kaiser, asks for German aid and gets it. Serbia's ally Russia demands a halt to German aid, and mobilizes. German mobilizes. France mobilizes. Europe burns.

Does that sound plausible? There will be other things turning out different in other parts of the world as well... but I'm not going to spoil them yet! (plus I've not finished researching them yet either)

Bright day
Why would not Austria get help prior to being attacked by Serbia? Why would Germany nor Italy offer assistence before-hand?

Also would Russia and all its allies be openly willing to prosecute a war of open aggression? And how could Italy stay out of its obligation it its' treaty partner is so opnely attacked?

 

[joea64]

Mmmm....I'm not sure that entirely grabs me. I can see a critical split between the Austrians/Slavs and the Magyars if FF proceeds with his reforms, possibly going so far as a Hungarian secession. However, if Serbia jumps in on the Magyar side, they will be the aggressors, which means there will be much less sympathy for them amongst the rest of Europe, which means in turn that Russia will find it much more difficult to come in on their side. I do see Germany lending its help to Vienna if asked.

Personally, I think a war between Austria-Hungary and Italy is a better bet for touching off this TL's Great War. A-H and Italy were historic enemies - it always seemed faintly bizarre to me, if not ASB, that Italy would have allied with its historical enemy (but then we live in a word where Greece and Turkey are members of the same military alliance) - and FF hated Italy, which makes it all the more peculiar that he adopted the Italian title of "d'Este" (though he was instructed to take that title as a condition of inheriting some valuable goodies in a will, so.) Maybe try this: have Austro/Magyar tensions in the Empire percolate, but not so far as open conflict, but have the Triple Alliance break down in squabbling between Vienna and Rome which, sooner or later, bursts into full-scale warfare, and then have the rest of Europe stumble in. Workable? If the Triple Alliance breaks up, Italy can make nicey-nice with France and the UK, so when war starts between A-H and Italy, FF can ask his buddy the Kaiser for help, Berlin sends the mountain troops, France pitches a hysterical fit and mobilizes, one thing leads to another, and BOOM!

Franz Ferdinand, in his imperial office at the Schonbrunn, studying the morning papers: "I don't understand this. I just don't understand. Why would the British and French want to help those nasty, dirty, greasy Italian scoundrels??"

Great conversation snippet between FF and von Hotzendorf, BTW. While von Hotzendorf was FF's choice to command the Royal and Imperial Army, they didn't always get along. ISTR Brook-Shepherd, in his book, mentioning an incident in which FF dressed down von Hotzendorf in front of most of the German high command, including the Kaiser, at a party at the Kaiser's hunting lodge.

 

[joea64]

Also, I don't think it's necessarily a given that the A-H army would be as incompetent as all that. OTL - and I presume this TL, too - one of FF's main interests is military reform and modernization. He took his position as Inspector-General of the A-H army VERY seriously, and was also a keen navalist though he didn't personally have any naval experience, being responsible for a lot of the modernization in the Imperial and Royal Navy. (For a few grins, how about one Captain von Trapp, a skipper of one of the new K.u.K. U-boats, becoming a protege of FF? Yes, folks, there really was a Captain von Trapp - The Sound of Music is based on a real-life story - and OTL he was a notable A-H naval hero of World War I.)

 

[joea64]

(OOC: I think if got Hotzendorf's personality right, frm what I've read he was something of a German surpremacist and thought a Germano-Slavic war was inevitable and desirable. Seems that train of thought runs far further back than Hitler... I'm wondering if Hitler being Austrian was essential for the development of Nazi racial thought, or if a German would have come to the same conclusions regarding the Slavs.)

I think that strain of hostility to Slavs goes as far back as the Teutonic Knights, so yeah, it's a Germanic thing overall, not just an Austrian thing. Assuming that the A-H and German monarchies survive your version of the Great War, and that FF is still on the throne, have you any thoughts as to how he might react for agitation for an Anschluss?

For that matter, I'm quite certain the Nazis will be butterflied out of existence if one monarchy or the other or both survives. Hitler might have a completely different wartime career, or might not even survive. For that matter, ISTR that the A-H government was making noises about wanting the Bavarian government to ship him back as a draft dodger or something like that before WWI broke out OTL. Assuming no war in 1914, Hitler may well get his keister put on a train back to Vienna. May need further research to make sure I'm not just talking through my hat on this one.

 

[joea64]

For the record, Franz Ferdinand and his family lived quite a peripatetic existence. In the Empire, they mainly divided their time among Belvedere Palace, their residence in Vienna; Artstetten, the family's ancestral castle near Vienna; and Konopischt, FF's palace in Bohemia (the location of his prized rose gardens - he was a noted rose enthusiast who, IIRC, even wrote published articles on roses for several horticultural journals). FF liked to take his family to various resorts inside and outside the Empire; they would often go to Dalmatia, or to Ostend (in Belgium) in the summer, and St. Moritz (in Switzerland) in the winter. There's a funny picture of FF and Sophie, accompanied by a lady-in-waiting (possibly Countess Lanjus, who accompanied Sophie on that fateful day in OTL 1914), fighting high winds on a London streetcorner in 1913. And of course, FF would go just about anywhere the shooting was especially good.

 

[Hobelhouse]

Mmmm....I'm not sure that entirely grabs me. I can see a critical split between the Austrians/Slavs and the Magyars if FF proceeds with his reforms, possibly going so far as a Hungarian secession. However, if Serbia jumps in on the Magyar side, they will be the aggressors, which means there will be much less sympathy for them amongst the rest of Europe, which means in turn that Russia will find it much more difficult to come in on their side. I do see Germany lending its help to Vienna if asked.

Well, the Austrian ultimatums OTL were pretty aggressive as well... I was thinking Serbia might trump up its alliance with Hungary as a casus belli, and Russia being Russia would like to support a fellow aristocratic conservative power in Europe. Plus I doubt the rest of Europe would enjoy seeing German troops marching against Hungary. Once the rebellion is put down Austria would be in their pocket for a while. But this other suggestion... ----->

Personally, I think a war between Austria-Hungary and Italy is a better bet for touching off this TL's Great War. A-H and Italy were historic enemies - it always seemed faintly bizarre to me, if not ASB, that Italy would have allied with its historical enemy (but then we live in a word where Greece and Turkey are members of the same military alliance) - and FF hated Italy, which makes it all the more peculiar that he adopted the Italian title of "d'Este" (though he was instructed to take that title as a condition of inheriting some valuable goodies in a will, so.) Maybe try this: have Austro/Magyar tensions in the Empire percolate, but not so far as open conflict, but have the Triple Alliance break down in squabbling between Vienna and Rome which, sooner or later, bursts into full-scale warfare, and then have the rest of Europe stumble in. Workable? If the Triple Alliance breaks up, Italy can make nicey-nice with France and the UK, so when war starts between A-H and Italy, FF can ask his buddy the Kaiser for help, Berlin sends the mountain troops, France pitches a hysterical fit and mobilizes, one thing leads to another, and BOOM!

Hmm, Italy was my second choice. I was thinking perhaps that Italy started meddling in the civil war in hopes of gaining Dalmatia, Sudtirol and Istria. It happens that Italian agents are found openly abetting irredentistas in Sudtirol and this causes war to break out. This triggers the secret alliance with France which triggers the alliance with Russia and so on.


One reason I was thinking about having Serbia start the war is because it switches the alliances around. Romania and Italy were in defensive alliances, if the Entente are the attackers then they are compelled to side with the CP. This would make the fight more even, since A-H is fighting itself and is therefore useless.

I'm not sure if Britain is going to get involved. They were on the fence about WW1 and here Germany is not really seen as the aggressor, Italy is. If Britain does get involve then the CP are pretty much guaranteed to lose; they have the disadvantages of OTL plus A-H is dead weight. It's essentially Germany versus everyone and Germany can't win that. I am thinking this WW1 is going to be mostly a draw if I can help it.

Great conversation snippet between FF and von Hotzendorf, BTW. While von Hotzendorf was FF's choice to command the Royal and Imperial Army, they didn't always get along. ISTR Brook-Shepherd, in his book, mentioning an incident in which FF dressed down von Hotzendorf in front of most of the German high command, including the Kaiser, at a party at the Kaiser's hunting lodge.

Thanks!

Also, I don't think it's necessarily a given that the A-H army would be as incompetent as all that. OTL - and I presume this TL, too - one of FF's main interests is military reform and modernization. He took his position as Inspector-General of the A-H army VERY seriously, and was also a keen navalist though he didn't personally have any naval experience, being responsible for a lot of the modernization in the Imperial and Royal Navy. (For a few grins, how about one Captain von Trapp, a skipper of one of the new K.u.K. U-boats, becoming a protege of FF? Yes, folks, there really was a Captain von Trapp - The Sound of Music is based on a real-life story - and OTL he was a notable A-H naval hero of World War I.)

Well, he's only going to have a year, if that - Franz Josef dies in 1916 assuming the butterflies aren't doctors and the Ausgliech comes up for renewal in 1917. Plus as the author I can have them suffer a terrible string of bad luck if it's narratively expedient. The AH.commers of TTL need something to speculate on after all.

Hitler survived 42 assassination attempts; that sounds like our TL's author really really wanted him to live for the story.

 

[joea64]

I hope in this TL, BTW, you'll give Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, a happier ending than she got OTL. If you need description and characteristics, perhaps this:

At the time the TL begins, Sophie is 46 (born 1868, FF was born 1863). She's tall - nearly as tall as her husband, and in her youth was rather athletic; Brook-Shepherd has a photo in his book of the pair on the tennis court during their courtship. As she enters middle age, she's putting on some weight, not that FF considers that a bad thing (he commented favorably on her "fatness" in several letters OTL, and in the late Victorian/Edwardian era, plumpness was considered attractive in women - remember that Lillian Russell was considered the definition of hot stuff when she tipped the scales at 200 pounds!) While not a classic beauty, she's quite attractive in a quiet way; her best features are her dark-brown hair and a quite beautiful pair of dark eyes.

Personality-wise, she's a remarkably gentle, serene woman, and has had to call on that serenity a lot over the past decade-plus to deal with all the petty crap she's had to go through because of her "inferior" status. She has a positively magical effect on her husband's temper; when he flies into one of his notorious rages, she can calm him simply by placing her hand on his arm and murmuring "Franzi, Franzi" (his nickname). FF, in fact, gave her a brooch in the shape of a lamb to commemorate this key aspect of her character. She's a devout Catholic - the Serbian author of Sarajevo 1914 states that she even took part in/led several conservative Catholic demonstrations in Vienna! (Personally, I don't know whether to buy that; it seems weird to me to think of gentle Sophie marching in the streets.)

FF has rocky relations with the majority of his immediate family because of their opposition to his marriage. A key exception is the Archduchess Maria Theresa (originally of Portugal), FF's stepmother - his biological mother died when he was very small - and, in many important ways, his real mother; she supported the romance and marriage from the get-go. The couple is also close to Sophie's youngest sister, Henriette, and Sophie is closely knit to her various siblings.

Prince Max, the elder of the two sons, is 12 and has just passed his entrance examinations to (I think) secondary school at the time this TL begins. Princess Sophie is 13, and Prince Ernst is 8 or thereabouts.

 

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Conrad seems to have had a very difficult personality. You might have made him too mild.

 

[joea64]

Old Franz Josef could go to join his Elisabeth at any time, actually; OTL, he came very close to dying from bronchitis in April of 1914. FF was actually standing by at either Konospicht or Artstetten, waiting to hop a train back to Vienna if the news came through that the Kaiser was dead, long live the Kaiser. So it doesn't have to be 1916; you could reasonably have the old gentleman have his last illness anytime in late 1914 or during 1915.

I want to note, by the way, that while FF and FJ weren't close, they respected each other and got on reasonably well most of the time; they shared a passion for hunting. Franz Josef came to respect Sophie deeply in the last few years OTL, greatly admiring her dignity in the face of all the slights she was forced to endure, and after her elevation to Duchess did what he could to give her additional honors. He made a point of being seen in conversation with her at several public events to emphasize his good opinion of her.

 

[joea64]

Conrad seems to have had a very difficult personality. You might have made him too mild.

Yes: OTL he and FF clashed on several occasions about various military matters, notwithstanding that he was the Archduke's protege. Might could be that he pushes a little too far one time and FF decides to give him the boot...

 

[Hobelhouse]

I think that strain of hostility to Slavs goes as far back as the Teutonic Knights, so yeah, it's a Germanic thing overall, not just an Austrian thing. Assuming that the A-H and German monarchies survive your version of the Great War, and that FF is still on the throne, have you any thoughts as to how he might react for agitation for an Anschluss?

For that matter, I'm quite certain the Nazis will be butterflied out of existence if one monarchy or the other or both survives. Hitler might have a completely different wartime career, or might not even survive. For that matter, ISTR that the A-H government was making noises about wanting the Bavarian government to ship him back as a draft dodger or something like that before WWI broke out OTL. Assuming no war in 1914, Hitler may well get his keister put on a train back to Vienna. May need further research to make sure I'm not just talking through my hat on this one.

Hitler will become a famous Viennese sculptor. It just so happens that he picked the wrong genre of art TTL. However a Hitleresque figure is going to arise in Germany. A-H and Germany will be taking very different courses after WW1; in fact they may even be on separate sides in WW2.

 

[Zacoftheaxes]

This looks promising, and I absolutely love the title.

 

[joea64]

Hitler will become a famous Viennese sculptor. It just so happens that he picked the wrong genre of art TTL. However a Hitleresque figure is going to arise in Germany. A-H and Germany will be taking very different courses after WW1; in fact they may even be on separate sides in WW2.

Heh heh. If your WWI is a draw, it's going to be interesting to see how you get your quasi-Hitler figure to the fore in Germany. A different variant of "stab in the back", maybe, robbing the Reich of its certain victory? And OTL Kaiser Wilhelm II lived until 1941; if you still have him on the throne when WWII comes around, he may be unable to influence events directly any longer.

I Wiki'ed just now to check something, and I'm pretty sure the A-H succession will be FF - Karl - Otto (Otto was born in November 1912, so he'll be around in this TL). Not sure how long you plan to have FF live, but I should think Karl will live longer; I believe his fatal illness OTL had a lot to do with the stress caused by WWI and the breakup of the Empire. I'm interested to see if this TL's Otto becomes as much of an advocate for European unity as he has been OTL.