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1''[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=81846 A Central East]]'' is a counterfactual history of the Great War and what comes after, posted at Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom (also home of ''Literature/LookToTheWest'', ''Literature/DecadesOfDarkness'', ''Literature/HoldingOutForAHeroGustavStresemannSurvives'',and ''Literature/SuperpowerEmpireChina1912'').
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3The divergence is Henry Hughes Wilson dying in an accident in December 1901 (although that is only revealed a little while in; the author didn't come up with the idea until the first few chapters had already been written). This leads to Britain being ever so slightly less bound to alliance with France, which in turn leads to Germany maintaining East First plans. Cue 1914, German High Command deciding to expect a long war and going for Russia first, and Italy being persuaded to join the Alliance...
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5!!Contains examples of:
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7* TheAlliance: Not really as such, but the alliance that in our world would have been called the Central Powers is consistently identified as the Alliance.
8* AlternateHistory: Well, obviously.
9* BalkanizeMe: Russia after the Great War is smaller than modern-day Russia. There are two Chinas (and that is not counting all the warlords ostensibly part of one China or the other).
10* BindingAncientTreaty: A certain 'scrap of paper' meant Britain was supposed to declare war on France. While they don't actually ''do'' that, Belgium and Germany use that little fact to encourage Britain to remain officially neutral.
11* CivilWar: Both Russia and China suffer from that particular affliction. Russia's is resolved within three years of beginning. China has a brief burst of intense fighting, after which it freezes and transists into an unofficial cease fire.
12* DirtyCommunists: Russia does not avoid left-wing extremism. So far it seems to be less dirty and extreme than the OTL counterpart, though.
13* DoubleMeaningTitle: A Central East refers both to that Germany's East First policy lead to the Eastern Front being more central to the War, especially in Germany's eyes, and to that much of Eastern Europe ends up under the influence of what in another world would have been known as the Central Powers.
14* TheEmperor: The Tsar is mentioned in passing, and the German Kaiser and the Chinese Emperor (despite not being Emperor of China at that point) are even named. Interestingly, one case is averted compared to OTL?while Yuan Shikai plays a fairly important role in the Far East towards the end of the Great War, one of the main differences for China is that he ''doesn't'' declare himself Emperor.
15* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The very first chapter title is ''The Black Week and the beginning of the Great War, Part 1'', and is about the Black Week of failed diplomacy and the beginning of the Great War.
16* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Averted. [[GreyAndGrayMorality Neither side is all that good or bad]]. For that matter, both the Alliance and the Entente include both republics ''and'' empires.
17* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The changes only really beginning in 1914, and the timeline being around 1925ish depending on the region, means practically everyone so far is historical.
18* {{Irony}}: Historical irony, to be precise. Among other things, France ends up invading Belgium in an attempt to bypass Germany's defences, and Stalin ends up in exile from the Soviet Union-analogue.
19* NoPartyGiven: Partly averted. Parties are mostly mentioned when applicable. However, not all politicians are actually members of parties...
20* OhCrap: September 1914: Counting states able to strike directly at them, Russia is at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Dangerous, but should be survivable, even winnable with luck, right? September 1915: Counting states able to strike directly at them, Russia is at war with Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Japan, Romania and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Sweden]].
21* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: For one, the U.S. president at the end of the Great War is Charles Evan Hughes.
22* PuttingOnTheReich: The German Empire, being the Deutsches Reich, has some of this. Their need to be rid of surplus equipment once the War is over leads to this cropping up in Eastern Europe and southern China as well.
23* ShoutOut: Many of the chapter titles.
24* TakeThat: 'The Bloody Baron' UsefulNotes/RomanVonUngernSternberg was a Russian noble and officer, strangely popular in Alternate History (possibly for being the kind of blend of AxCrazy, temporary successes and just plain weird that goes into near-insanely cool). He is killed off in a footnote.
25* WhatIf: What if Britain remained neutral, Germany went East First, and Italy remained in the Alliance in the Great War?
26* WordSaladTitle: A later chapter title is ''The Tri-Crescent Falters''. This is one of the slightly better cases: [[spoiler:the chapter is about the surrender of the French government, by then located in Bordeaux... whose traditional symbols happen to include three interlocking crescents.]]

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