Re-reading Persico's WWI work 11th Month, 11th, Day, 11th Hour, and a couple of random possible PODs jumped out:
1. Schlieffen lives/stays in the army long enough to actually oversee the plan named for him (supposedly a kick from a horse in 1905 made him "incapable of battle" and led him to retire the following year, so maybe call this a different version of the "for want of a nail" scenario? ). What changes, if anything, in summer-fall 1914 and the war in general with him in charge, even if only for the opening stages of the war?
2. Wilson fails to win California by his narrow OTL margin (Hughes apparently snubbed Gov. Johnson when campaigning in the state, so the latter didn't provide what turned out to be crucial support to the GOP candidate), and thus loses the Presidency. Presuming he follows through with his & VP Marshall's plan to appoint Hughes as SoS and then resign to avoid a lame duck period, what's likeliest to happen next? Does the U.S. still go to war in 1917, and if so, how does the war effort turn out with Hughes at the helm?
1. Schlieffen lives/stays in the army long enough to actually oversee the plan named for him (supposedly a kick from a horse in 1905 made him "incapable of battle" and led him to retire the following year, so maybe call this a different version of the "for want of a nail" scenario? ). What changes, if anything, in summer-fall 1914 and the war in general with him in charge, even if only for the opening stages of the war?
2. Wilson fails to win California by his narrow OTL margin (Hughes apparently snubbed Gov. Johnson when campaigning in the state, so the latter didn't provide what turned out to be crucial support to the GOP candidate), and thus loses the Presidency. Presuming he follows through with his & VP Marshall's plan to appoint Hughes as SoS and then resign to avoid a lame duck period, what's likeliest to happen next? Does the U.S. still go to war in 1917, and if so, how does the war effort turn out with Hughes at the helm?