Q&A · 56:49-1:00:04

Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands join Germany in 1915

Joining Germany would turn useful neutral trade into blockaded enemy shipping and expose overseas possessions to Allied seizure.

Question

What if Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands entered World War I on Germany’s side in 1915?

Short answer

It would go badly: they would lose neutral trading privileges, expose overseas possessions, and add too little strength to overcome the established Allied blockade.

Notes

Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands would add less military strength to Germany than they would surrender by abandoning neutrality. Because the Allied blockade was already established in 1915, their merchant ships and cargoes outside it would become enemy assets vulnerable to immediate seizure. The Dutch East Indies would invite a race between Britain and Japan, while other overseas holdings and shipping would be similarly exposed. If the Central Powers still lost, all three states would also face the punitive territorial and treaty consequences imposed on Germany and Austria-Hungary.