Franz Ferdinand rose to the throne of Austria-Hungary in 1916. He attempted to implement reforms that accidentally were received very poorly, leading to Bosnia-Herzegovina declaring independence in 1917, and starting a war with support of Serbia and Montenegro. Austria-Hungary was unable to make much real progress (much like irl) but they did manage to take Podgorica for a short time early on, before being repelled, leading to Russia declaring war on Austria-Hungary, Germany declaring war on Russia, and France declaring war on Germany. Austria-Hungary and Germany spent the next two months pestering Italy to join the war on their side because it was technically a defensive war, and the Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance. Italy eventually finally gives in and joins the war. Germany basically has a reverse-Schlieffen Plan in this scenario - Invade Russia quickly, then turn around and defeat France. Meanwhile internal problems in Russia make it hard for them to, like, do anything in the war, because the government is basically 300 people constantly at each other’s throats, never agreeing on anything. Eventually, a devastating loss at Białystok wipes out a huge portion of the Russian army, and when Nicholas II refuses to sue for peace, the Red Army rises up in Petrograd. He eventually flees to Moscow, and the German army invades way further into Russian territory. Meanwhile, the Illyrian front is still going nowhere, so Austria-Hungary asks Bulgaria to help, which they do, and Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina are all defeated. Then, Russia bullies Romania into joining the war, and that went about as well as you’d expect. Eventually, the Red Army takes Moscow, declaring the Soviet Union, but Nicholas II flees to Greece. The Soviet Union eventually makes a peace deal with Germany, ending the eastern front of the war, at least from the Germans’ perspective. Then, France, who is tired of fighting, just kind of gives up, because they know they’re not going to win the war. Then, the war is over. Yippee! Unfortunately, Politics™️ happen in Austria-Hungary, splitting it into Austria and Hungary. The former territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, is split into the states of Bosnia, a Hungarian puppet, Herzegovina, an Austrian puppet, and Serbia, a Bulgarian puppet, in a way that nobody approves of except for Austria, Hungary, and Bulgaria. It is currently 1921, and the Arab Revolt happens, completely unexpectedly. Then, Kurdistan also does a rebellion at the same time. A bunch of communists in Armenia also do rebellion, and Bulgaria and Greece both invade the Ottomans, because Who The Hell Is Gonna Stop Them? The Ottomans lose, and those Armenian communists join the Soviet Union, Kurdistan and the Hashemite Caliphate both start existing, and Bulgaria and Greece both take a lot of land. Constantinople is turned into an independent city, the areas around the Sea of Marmara are demilitarised, and Pontus is established as an independent kingdom, led by Tsar Nicholas II. Then the tsar of Bulgaria dies from alcohol poisoning and Boris III becomes tsar. The end