Might it have turned out the other way? By the start of 1917, the Central Powers and the Entente had fought each other to a bloody standstill at Verdun and the Somme. By the end of the year, the Russian revolutions had produced a Bolshevik regime seeking peace at any price, the Italians had been routed by Austro-Hungarian forces at Caporetto and half of all French army units had shown signs of mutiny. In November 1916, meanwhile, President Wilson had been re-elected on a pledge to keep the United States out of the war.

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