The proposed wargame begins around 1906-07 with a Franco-Russian-American alignment and a Franco-American attack on Japan. Britain enters through its relationship with Japan, allowing the Royal Navy to contain French and American Atlantic forces while Japan confronts the American Pacific Fleet. Germany and Italy are the principal wild cards: under the suggested assumptions, Germany tends to align with Britain, Austria-Hungary follows Germany, and Italy often remains neutral. The result can resemble a proto-First World War in Europe, although the British Army need not deploy there. Dice and player choices can still send the wider conflict in very different directions. The counterfactual tests alliance dynamics and global naval geography without claiming that such a war occurred.
Notable Point · 51:37-53:16
Wargaming a Mahanian alliance crisis in 1906
A 1906-07 counterfactual tests how an attack on Japan could pull Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy into a naval alliance crisis.