The Right Turn

World War I as we know it was only started because of a strange coincidence. Gavrillo Princip, a Yugoslav nationalist, only ended up killing Franz Ferdinand of Austria because the driver of the automobile he was in made the incorrect turn, and passed by the building Princip happened to be in, where he took the opportunity to shoot the Archduke. But what if the driver hadn't made this wrong turn?

Because of the complicated political situation on the European continent, a continental war was bound to happen at some point. In this timeline, Croats and Bosnians in Austria started a rebellion in the early 1920s, causing a civil war in Austria-Hungary. Serbia decided to send aid to the rebel armies, and Germany helped Austria due to their alliance, and Russia helped Serbia in a domino effect similarly to World War I in our timeline.

This world's World War I would be relatively similar to what it was in our timeline, but with more combatants. Italy would remain an axis power, and numerous militias and rebel armies would fight as well. Ireland would also side with the Axis as the Irish War of Independence was unrelated to WWI. This would cause Welsh and Scottish militias to side with the Axis. Saudi Arabia would become an Ally as they would go to war with the Ottoman Empire prior to WWI, wanting to gain Mecca. As Hejaz and other rebellious regions would side against the Ottomans, they would never be annexed by the Saudis and would remain independent states to this day.

Meanwhile, in eastern Europe, Tsar Nicholas II is putting similar conditions onto the Russian people as he did in World War I. The Bolsheviks would revolt like in our timeline, though it would be much less successful as Lenin would die during the later stages of the world war. Russia would still get dragged into civil war. Due to Russia's huge ethnic diversity, numerous people groups would rebel. New states would be formed like Khiva, Poland, Finland, and Alash.

The USA wouldn't join the war as Lusitania would never be sunk. The USA wouldn't be as friendly with the UK, France, and others but would still have decent ties with them and would have more of a place in Eastern affairs. The USA would never rise to superpower status like in our world, but would still be a major power.

The Nazi Party wouldn't be founded either, also changing history. Without a Nazi Germany to aid Nationalist Spain, the fascists would have less support, leading to a Republican victory. Mussolini would still rise to power, causing minor tensions in post-WW1 Europe. A second world war would happen, this time due to Japan's alliance with Italy and invasion of European and American colonies in Indonesia and East Asia. Overall, the war would be more focused in Asia than in Europe.