Never Ending Struggle

In this timeline, the 20th century is alot like the 18th- geopoiltically. Four PODs lead this to occur. Britain and France are, like usuall, at war on and off over colonies, alliances, and a general struggle for supremacy. In 1940, Winston Churchill calls this "the Never Ending Struggle" between Britain and France. In this world, Britain, the Netherlands, and Austria-Hungary are close allies. Similarly are France, Spain, and Italy. Germany is divided into North and South German confederations, while Russia is a weak, war-weary democracy struggling in the aftermath of a bloody civil war in the 1920s.

PODs:

 * Otto Von Bismarck was killed in the 1948 small-scale revolution that occured in Prussia. The revolution was defeated, but Bismarck never lives.
 * Britain and France go to war following the Fashoda incident.
 * Britain and Russia go to war following the Dogger Bank Incident
 * Nazim Pasha never ordered Zekki Pasha to engage the Serbian army at Kumanovo.

The 20th Century
The 20th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on January 1, 2001 at 12:00 AM.

The 20th century opened with World War I waging, becasue of a culmination of great tensions in Europe ever since the end of the Great Prussian War in 1876. During a period of time between World War I and World War II, the Ottoman Empire enjoyed a short period of expansion, while Russia was embroiled in a civil war between Russian monarchists, capitalists, and communists. Following a crisis in the Balkans and an independence movement in Austria-Hungary, World War II broke out, pitting the Allied Powers (chiefly Russia, South Germany, the United Kingdom, and Austria-Hungary) against the Axis powers (chiefly France, North Germany, and Spain) which eventually resulted in a victory for the Allies, at the cost of over 60 million lives and complete devastation of many nations. Power shifted from Eastern and Central Europe to Western Europe and North America. The United States, remaining neutral in all European conflicts, emerged as a superpower because it wasn't devastated in the fighting. Britain and France were largely weakened, but both sought to restore glory by winning a war against the other. World War III, or the Great Anglo-French War, raged from 1956 to 1963. Britain won, with massive American support. The USA meanwhile defeated another potential superpower, Japan, in the East Asian War from 1951 to 1955. Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, and remaining memers of the British Empire all merged into the "Federation of Oceania."

The creation of the FO hugely upset the balance of power in Europe, triggering another World War. Following it's creation, the FO was declared war on by France, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, and was attacked by American and Japanese nationalists rallying for independence. The war lasted until 1986, when Britain agreed to break up it's empire. Europe's economy was destroyed, and a weak USA was unable to aid it. This led to the rise of communism in Europe. A fifth and final World War occured in 1989. Communist revolutionaires took over Russia, South Germany, Italy, and France. The other nations started a war to "liberate" these countries from communism. The so-called "War on Communism" rages to this day, and is still a stalemate.

Culturally and technologically, the 20th century is parrallel to OTL. Just not politically/militarily.

List of Wars
World War I

World War I was a military conflict centered on Europe that began in the fall of 1898. The fighting ended in late 1914. This conflict involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred around the Triple Entente) and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history More than 15 million people were killed, making it also the second deadliest conflict in history. The war is also known as the First World War, the Great War, the World War (prior to the outbreak of World War II), and the War to End All Wars.

The invasion of British Sudan by France to end a long-standing territorial dispute is seen as the immediate trigger of the war. Long-term causes, such as imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Europe, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the British Empire, France, and Italy, played a major role. The British-French war that began in 1898 escalated in 1904, when Russia joined the conflict following the Dogger Bank Incident. Members of the Balkan Leauge launched a preemptive strike against Austria-Hungary, for it seemed obvious war was going to occur their anyway. North Germany and Russia supported the Balkan Leauge, while South Germany and Turkey supported Austria-Hungary. Within weeks, the conflict spread around the world.

In 1901 Italy launched the first offensive of the war against Italian/French forces in northern Italy. Meanwhile, Anglo-Dutch troops invaded northern France. By 1904, French, Italian, and Russian troops repelled most attacks and seemed well on there way to victory. The following year, Portugal joined the war on the side of Britain, and the Allies created a diversionary front on the Spanish-Portugese border. Meanwhile, the Allies launched an amphibious invasion from the Bay of Biscay on Spain's northern coast. Meanwhile, the French-South German front was a stalemate. In 1911, Britain promised the French it would not launch a full-scale invasion if it quietly signed a peace treaty with terms leaning towards Great Britain. France accepted, with Britain leaving it's allies to fight a stalemate against France, Spain, North Germany, and Russia.

By 1913, Spain, North Germany, and Russia have all captiulated and left the war. Turkey and Italy left because they saw no reason to keep fighting. Austria, the Netherlands, and Portugal luanched a final offensive on all fronts at the stat of 1914. With most of it's army destroyed, and not wanting to defend an invasion of France, France negotiated a peace treaty. In November, 1914, World War I was over.

Europe was devastated, and the neutral states of Japan and the United States grew in power because they weren't weakened by the war. Because the war left many issues unresolved, ultimatly the Treaty of Vienna's repercussions would eventually lead to World War II in 1940.