Kaiser Wilhelm II: The Last German Emperor - Historian Reaction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มี.ค. 2023
- See the original video here - • Kaiser Wilhelm II: The...
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I’m surprised he didn’t go into all the horrific “medical procedures” that young Wilhelm had to endure as people tried to fix his arm.
One of those treatments was a “animal bath” which meant his arm would be shoved inside a freshly killed animal carcass
@@williamstocker584
What?! 😳 Why would “doctor” from any era after the fall of Constantinople even consider the thought that shoving a body into an ANIMAL CARCASS would fix anything?!
@@williamstocker584 WTF 😳
Yea it’s pretty messed up when I first heard about it I though it was bs but it’s not
@@theparadigm8149 don’t worry they also tried more “civilized” methods such as electroshocks.
That dynasty had some seriously strong facial hair game.
Agreed. 👍
The way Chris frowns at the mere mention of Woodrow Wilson is appreciated.
I do love how his final act was basically a middle finger to Hitler.
Yeah because Hitler didn’t support the return of the monarchy. Some of his kids or other relatives were quite closely tied to the nazis. And Wilhelm was anti-semitic himself (though of course I doubt he would ever have supported a genocide).
@@sebe2255He was not anti-Semitic, he just hated Jews who had manipulable influence in politics
The only thing that I found strange about this history of his is that Simon Whistler left out the fact that Wilhelm held Queen Victoria in his arms while she died in 1901 because that's how much he loved his grandmother.
What interesting about that was at the time of him heading over to see his Grandmother the English population hated Kaiser Wilhelm II so to the telegram to the Boers congratulating them that basically made him the devil in carnet over there, but when news that it was Wilhelm and not Albert by Victoria side til her last breath softened the public’s image of the Kaiser. Only to then be destroyed by his jealous and idiotic Uncle King Edward VII.
Small correction at 7:43 (kinda nitpicky I know) but their official title was German Emperor not Emperor of Germany. This was lobbied by the other kings in Germany for the purpose of making the Emperor seem equal to them rather than above them
Correct though I think the distinction was about the German monarchs outside of the Empire in places like Austria so as to not make it sound like he was claiming to be their Emperor.
I believe it was a mixture of both. In fact, there wasn't a final decision on the official title until the very day of the proclamation in Versaille. Bismarck had a hard time convincing Wilhelm I. on a title other than emperor of germany. "Emperor of the Germans" wasn't acceptable because it sounded too democratic. I'm not entirely sure who it was, might be the Kronprinz, but at the proclamation someone just yelled "long live the german emperor" and since then they just kept it that way.
Update: just looked it up. It was grand-duke Friedrich of Baden. And he just said "Long live Kaiser Wilhelm" because while Bismarck already used the title "German Emperor" in the new german constitution, Wilhelm I. still wasn't having it. As most of the time, Bismarck got what he wanted eventually, as we now know.
@@jasperpeters5942 Slight correction, the title "Emperor of Germans" or "German Emperor" wasn't acceptable because there were Germans living outside the empire (notably the Austrian emperor) and not because it was democratic (which is why Emperor of Germany was preferred by some since it connotates that Wilhelm was Emperor of a political institution rather than of all Germans). The final declaration by the grandduke of Baden was a bit of a last minute comprimise between the two parties really wanted the final proclamation to be that Wilhelm was either "German Emperor" or "Emperor of Germany", so he just said Emperor Wilhelm.
On Von Moltke and Avon Schlieffen I just did a paper on the schlieffen plan for a class and I did a ton of research (it was 20 pages long). No source said that moltke was Avon Schlieffens nephew just his protege.
Yeah I think they mixed up Schlieffen and Moltke the elder.
That’s likely. Moltke famously changed the original plan as well and that is what was used.
There are a few things to say about July 1914:
a) Wilhelm had been one of the few people who handled Sophie von Hohemberg as an equal to him and Franz Ferdinand. (The counts of Chotek older then the counts of Habsburg!). And he and FF were both pathological hunters which led to mass killings of animals when they met. Both misfits they found each other.
b) Wilhelm thought - as many - Austria would act at once and the public opinion would be on its side. But the Hungarian leadership blocked all progress for a month (it must be a month full of happy parties that the hated and feared FF would never become their king) and only after Austria ensured that no squaremile of Servia would become part of the dual-monarchy they relanted. In the meantime - as usual and needed - many Austrian recruits had been sent home for summer harvest.
c) Austria had mobilized in 1912/13 part of his army because of the Balkan wars, thousands of men - especially Czechs - didn't follow their order to join the army. It had been a disaster. So the army leadership told their politicans that if called again to the colours there must be a war or the army might collapse. When finally the order came all had been surprised that there had been only very few cases of refusal; not only that, many Austrians in other countries (e.g. America) tried to break trough the western blockades (through Spain, Netherlands and Italy) to reach there fatherland to fight. Serbian solders of the Austrian army protested when put out of the front formations of their regiments into military labour formations.
d) The Norway cruise of Wilhelm should show the other European powers that Germany had no intentions to fight and to locate the conflict to the Balkans between Austria and Serbia.
e) In Russia the diplomatic and military elites set the czar in a situation without the possibility (after 1908 and 1912/13) to "betray" Serbia a third time. And the visit of French government in St. Petersburg helped with this.
f) It is often talked that for the German military and political elites 1914 had been the last chance they saw for a possible victory over the Franco-Russian alliance, but there is also the French side: this time France gave Russia a card blanche! Why?
Well for decades and especially since the Russian desaster of 1905 millions (today currancies billions) of France had been invested in the Russian railway system and the modernization of the Russian and Serbian army. And in 1913 the army succeded in their attempt to prolong the service time for French recruits from 2 to 3 years (in 1912 Austria and Germany had gone the other way!!!). So the military budget of France had been a continued point of confrontation between government and socialist opposition. And in spring of 1914 the British foreign office planed a "secrete" mission to Germany to find common political ground - the naval race had been ended by Germany in 1913 (!) - and only illness of one diplomat delayed the meeting to autumn.
g) In 1914 the army strenghts had been 4.4 m Russian, 3.8 m German, 3.5 m French and 3.0 m Austro-Hungarians but many men in the Austrian and German army had been Ersatzreservisten with only 4 weeks of instructions (because of limited recrutment contingents) and many men with full 3/2 year service lived outside of Europe in the USA and South America which had been a requirement for emigration.
I look forward to watch this! He is buried around 800 meters from my house, in Huis Doorn. I often walk my dog in his former "garden".
Kaiser Wilhelms II mother really got misrepresented in this original video. He claimed that she was a worried and loving mother who was really concerned about Wilhelms development. That's party true, she was concerned but not lovley at all. He constantly ordered horrific medical treatments for him to cure his arms, like electric shock Therapie, heat therapy etc. And blamed that those didn't work. At one point she told him that he will never be a real man. That's also why he didn't liked his father, because Frederick was to weak to stop Victoria's abuse. That's also why Fredrick started hating all things his father stand for. Fredrick III was a very liberal and progressiv guy and with him as emperor there would have never been a world War, because Frederick himself fought in the Franco-Prussian war and hated it. All of that was also a reason why Wilhelm identified much more with the militaristic and nationalistic ideas that were spread in all of Europe at that time.
A very interesting topic and to all psychology majors. This topic sadly got way to less attention in the acedmic field and analysing how the abuse of his mother because of his disability, his weak father and his affection for the military (a place were he finally found a home and got appreciated, like correctly quoted in the video) formed this character that will shape the world history so extreme.
I doubt his father being Kaiser makes WWI not happen since not only was it inevitable, the Kaiser didn't have all that much power
@@mrbison5964 Bismarck had build up an extremely complex alliance system that basically made a big war in Europe impossible, that's why there was a 40 years period of peace in Europe (besides the balkans) Wilhelm actively destroyed this system and made a big war possible. I doubt that Frederick would have done that too.
Wow I didn’t know of this! It’s amazing that this is the missing link in Wilhelm behavior that nobody knows about you can definitely see her influence in every action he took. Thank you so much!
@@alexschusch7906 war with France was inevitable, and Britain was fearful of Germany's rise in power
"Forgive your Mother and return to your Father." -JLP
😅
I love my fatherland. And I love your reactions... And i love history. So incredible. This channel is perfect.
Kaiser Wilhelm was also appalled at the Kristallnacht of 9-10 November 1938, saying "I have just made my views clear to Auwi(his 4th son) in the presence of his brothers. He had the nerve to say that he agreed with the Jewish pogroms and understood why they had come about. When I told him that any decent man would describe these actions as gangsterisms, he appeared totally indifferent. He is completely lost to our family". He also stated, "For the first time, I am ashamed to be a German."
Wilhelm was a good man, especially for his time
I actually never knew that he was still alive when WW2 began.
Not only was Wilhelm's left arm permanently damaged during his birth leading to Erb's palsy but he most likely suffered some brain damage because he came out of the womb hypoxic. This resulted in Wilhelm being hyperactive and displaying erratic behavior. This would explain his personality. Also it's a bit of a falsehood that he wanted Germany and Britain to go to war with each other. Despite his bravado he actually preferred peace even though he was obsessed with the military.
I'm glad to see you diving into more German history, there is a lot of interesting people to read about.
You mentioning Wilhelm II becoming King of the UK and territories in 1901 is fascinating - I can't begin to imagine how different history would be if the British and German Empire were combined. Would there still be WW1? WW2? Collapses of empires overseas? It's such an interesting concept
In reality it sadly isn’t His mother just wouldn’t have been married to an head of state (at least not to the Kaiser).
@@karl796 you're right, she probably wouldn't have been if she was destined to be Queen of the UK, although that's a big problem with alternative history, you can't just change one thing and expect everything else to be the same. Still interesting to think about though
@@williamsellers9480 Even if that happened, the English establishment would most likely not have agreed to a German Emperor taking their throne
@@sebe2255 I'm not so sure, the establishment installed George I even though he didn't even speak English and the Royal Family was called Saxe-Coburg until 1917 so there were already plenty of links. It's a big problem with alternate history though because you can't just change one big thing with everything else staying the same; for example, I'd expect if Wilhelm was heir to be King of the UK, he'd be far less belligerant to the UK, ie no naval arms race before ascending the throne, thus reducing the tensions that erupted in our timeline
@@williamsellers9480 Getting a king from a relatively minor German kingdom is a different thing (and also a completely different political situation) than having an Emperor of a unified Germany as your king
I'm a big fan of Kaiser Willy. As a person and as a leader!
Same. 👍 Fur Den Kaiser!!!
Yeah, I dig leaders that lead their countries into ruin. 🙄
Me too many Americans believe Germany started WW1 when Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas tried to prevent World War 1.
@@JohnJohn-pe5kr If anything it was the ministers and generals who pushed for war.
@@crusader2112 You like disabled sociopaths?
You know. I kind of hope to see you cover the peace Kaiser video. It paints a different picture of the man. It also kind of covers more of him than what this video showed.
The Influence of Sea Power upon History: 1660-1783 is a major reason world leaders started expanding naval power. The book was world leaders including Theodore Roosevelt, and Kaiser Wilhelm.
A good reaction video again. My two sents in short as possible version;
Kaiser Wilhelm II is seen more badly than he really was. He had his flaws, like getting hot headed during interviews. But would he have died in June 1914 he would be seen, at least in Germany, as the one of the most popular and beloved kings of Prussia and almost as beloved as his grandfather as emperor. Under his reign Germany had seen an unknown time of peace and prosperity. The analysis in the video is way to short and has some flaws, like the "hun speech", wich most popular reported version came from a newspaper close to communist views. In 2012 an Eddison wax cylinder was discovered of that speech, wich according to the official press release didn't include the passage "huns". Due to the age and voice analysts of the Bavarian police couldn't state that this was an original or an afterwards recorded version maybe including an voice actor instead of Wilhelm II himself, but in comparison with other records of Wilhelm II of the time they came to the conclusion that at least specifics of the voice and intonations seem to be an indicator that it was really Wilhelm II speaking. And I really can't understand that everyone blames him to get rid of Bismarck and that this was the beginning of the end for the German empire. For foreign politics a long time Bismarck was great, but after 1871 he made huge mistakes in wich he is seen very critical today here in Germany. His foreign politics went extremely complicated to a point no one could follow through all the agreements he made for every think able und unthinkable situations. His agreements to the colonial question, even he didn't want Germany to get colonies, he agreed to it. In domestic questions he had a Janus face. In short you didn't want to agree with Bismarck, fear his draconian revenge.
The whole topic about Wilhelm II is a real complicated one. As I said, he had his flaws, but I think from a german perspective of his reign he wasn't that bad until 1914. There's not enough space here and time for me to get in way more details. This is a topic at least of days.
I wanted to add something I read to the point about Bismarck being unpopular:
If memory serves, had Fredrick III lived, it sounds like he would have also had Bismarck removed to allow Germany to go in the direction of a constitutional monarchy, which he (Otto) would have been heavily opposed to.
Pretty big until there
He was a antisemite and his reign led to endless suffering in colonies and paved the way to Hitler germany.
Guess why the WWU of Münster even thinks about changing its name.
Your name and picture tell it all: You're not about scientific facts, but about glorifying the past. You are defending a true racist.
I hope others see through you and stick to proper sources when judging Wilhelm 2.
I've been waiting for this video! Awesome
I recommend you watch the video by Knowledgia called “What did Wilhelm II think of Hitler?”
It lets you know more about how Wilhelm saw the rise of Nazism and Adolf.
Frederick III didn't got cancer during his reign, he already had it in a very bad stadium when he got on the throne, so bad that he wasn't even abled to speak in his last months. Because of this 3 Kaiser's in one year the year 1889 is called "three Kaiser year" in Germany
It also really did not help Anglo-German relations that German doctors had caught it in time and were prepared to do surgery but his wife called in an English doctor he said surgery wasn't necessary.
14:45 Bismarck, especially in his later years, is often cited as an example of foreign policy realism or realpolitik. Metternich is similar in that sense, as being conservative in the traditional sense (restraint/avoiding upheaval) when it comes to dealing with foreign powers, maintaining balance and working to avoid conflict or in the case of Metternich end decades of conflict.
Hey man love your videos,. I'd really love to see a reaction to feature history's channel and some of his videos. He has such a unique art style and he tells the stories in such a good way. He also covers more wide-ranging topics like the Yugoslav wars, German reunification in the 80s, The Good Friday agreement etc
Man I didn't realize how many people place so much of the blame for the tension of world war 1 in Germany's hands there are so many other factors it's kind of shocking
History is written by the winners. It's hard to find anything on WWI that isn't slanted to the British side.
Hi, Chris, very interesting. It would make a fascinating alternate history video having the Kaiser also becoming king here. I'll have to try and find one. I agree that he wasn't solely responsible for starting WW1, others must share that blame and blame for missing the many opportunities to prevent the war, at least then. If I had to pick one person to take most blame it would be Franz Joseph and the Austro-Hungarian Government, their demands on Serbia were virtually a declaration of war and then still to fight when all but one were accepted in full demonstrated their true intent. It would be interesting to review a similar video if one is available for the Tsar also.
Please do Historia Civilis' Peace followed by Kraut's Critique on Realism. I would really love to hear your thoughts with two. IMO, watching them side by side would create a good discussion.
The official title of the king of Prussia in the German Empire was German Emperor not Emperor of Germany. This was to give the sense of the king of Prussia being first among equals in the empire and not ruler of the other kings and dukes in the empire.
I know we just watched an Extra History series, but can I suggest their Empire of Brazil episodes? It has been a while since we last visited South America on this channel, I believe, maybe since Bolivar.
As interesting of a character as Wilhelm the Second is, I was always more intrigued by his direct predecessor, Friedrich the Third. Being from Germany, we went a bit into detail about him, especially his relations with Bismarck and Moltke, and I view him similarly to Franz Ferdinand as a better prospect for his nation at the time. His direct connection to England may have prevented or restrained the First World War and generally he seemed less warlike or confrontational than Wilhelm.
Do people outside of Germany even talk or know about him? And what are your opinions on him? I am always interested in getting to know more about how people from other countries view Germany, especially before the terrible destruction that the World Wars brought to Europe.
His wife would've been a terrible empress considering how much she hated Germans and he would've cowed to her like he always did
@@mrbison5964 Frederick was incredibly popular among the people and would have been a much better emperor. He truly cared about all his people and was more than twice the man Willhelm could ever hope to be and would not have lead Germany in the destructive path that Willhelm did.
No one outside of Germany knows him, he only reigned for a short time and did nothing of significance so it isn’t that surprising
Hi how are you
Thanks for helping me find a new passion right now, do it for hours a day studying Roman Napoleonic history
15:42 Old Britannia has a TH-cam series on the American-British Relationship split into four parts spanning the time from the War of 1812 to WWII. In Part II it talks about the contrast between how TR's Navy buildup was viewed relative to Kaiser Wilhelm's. The former was not viewed with the same hostility and fear as the latter, in part because of a convergence between Anglo-American foreign policy interests over the couple decades prior regarding Latin America and other areas, which is detailed in the same video series.
Okay you gotta do a video on the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary Franz Joseph I. Ironically when I think of Wilhelm I think of his signature W mustache. Don’t know why but yeah he’s got a cool mustache.
Hi VTH, there's this cool video from Wendover Productions called "A week in the life of the U.S. President" which I think is pretty cool
There is a very good video on the relationship between Wilhelm II and the Nazis called "What did Wilhelm II Think of Hitler?" by Knowledgia. Definitely worth a watch
Wilhelm did have strange and
complicated psychological issues. As a teenager he had an unhealthy obsession with his mother, who withheld her love in many ways and was disappointed to have a son with a disability. He wrote several amorous type of letters to his mother showing his weird obsession with the beauty of her hands which he wanted to hold and kiss.
Mr. Nixon, what are you doing?!?!?!? I was expecting a timeline on all the Indian dynasties! What’s this???
You disappoint me, sir.
The Biographics video doesn’t quite do justice just how many international crises he was at least partially responsible for prior to WWI, from the 1889 Samoan crisis, the Boer telegram, the 1899 Samoan crisis, the 1905 Morocco crisis, the 1911 Morocco crisis, and probably others I’m forgetting. The outbreak of the war wasn’t entirely his fault but he definitely had a penchant for stirring up totally unnecessary conflict over issues that other powers would simply negotiate.
Chris, the Naval "Arms Race" of the last decade of the 19th and first decade of the 20th century is complex and is of course the subject of one of our mutually favourite games "UA Dreadnaughts" . I have been discussing this with the Naval Historian,Dr Alexander Clarke on his live chats on TH-cam. He is clear that there is not just one type of arms race, there are two; a Qualitative race (who has the best ships) that reflects both the US/UK and the French/Italian races, however the Anglo-german race was a Quantitave race ( he who has most ships), which the Germans effectively lose by 1910.
Hi VTH, I'd like if you please react to Every 'Political Ideology Explained' by Wendigoon. It's a bit long but you don't have to react to the whole thing or maybe skim through it. I'd just really like to see you expand on some ideologies and see your take on each ideology and if it's accurate. It is a very interesting video!
I hope you do the Biographics video of Bass Reeves someday.
Von Molke the Younger was Alfred von Schlieffen's deputy as Quartermaster-General, but they were not related. He was the nephew of Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder.
German history is always the most interesting! and im not even german :D
I’m surprised the post didn’t mention the episode involving Theodore Roosevelt, the Kaiser and Cipriano Castro that led to the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
What a way to start the week! And you shaved off the stache, brother. Regardless, looking great.
Hate to be that guy but he wasn't "the Emperor of Germany(Kaiser von Deutschland)" he was the "the German Emperor(Deutscher Kaiser)"
Fair point, though the Kaiser Wilhelm I preferred Emperor of Germany.
22:30 Normally, I dig the videos from Simon W. But even I recognized that something was missing from that bit. I guess it comes at the costs of making a 20 minute video; but the July Crisis is so much more than what he let on.
the biggest thing i blame Wilhelm for is giving the Austrians the go ahead then immediately going on holiday where he couldn't be reached.
i think if he stuck around and kept an eye on the progress on the continent he would have been aware of the situation he was met with on his return sooner, and i feel with that extra time Wilhelm may well have been able to mediate and calm the situation before tensions got too hot and mobilization's started.
thats just going by how much progress Wilhelm seemed to make with Nicholas in the short amount of time he did have in the last few days before the war.
never mind you said the same thing later in the video lol.
I wonder how much that really would have changed. People nowadays seem to think of Wilhelm II as an absolute monarch in the style of Louis XIV., that he certainly was not, even if Germany wasn't a real constitutional monarchy like the British either.
The Military was all for war to defeat the Russians before they finish their reforms and become unbeatable. The push for war would still have been massive.
@@night6724 I already said he wasn't one.
It's definitely incredible that for all of Wilhelm's hot headedness in foreign policy, even he saw there was no need for war! Definitely have to agree that going on that holiday was a terrible idea...
awesome reaction
Please react to The biographics video on Augustus, I think that you would love it.
Nice reaction. For me the original video kind of misrepresents some things though (not just Wihelm II's life, but also the Schlieffen plan, and some other details).
Please do the alternate history video of what if Lincoln wasn’t assassinated
You have been in the Netherlands? Nice!
Yep I was there last May. Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Arnhem, and places in between.
Still waiting for the Horatio Nelson biographic
True he was the Granduncle of Moltke the younger, but not of Schlieffen, however Moltke was the first who wrote about Döner in German!
Simon was blatantly wrong with his assumption that Kaiser Wilhelm orchestrated the Great War.
As Chris sharply pointed out, when Austria-Hungary gave its (purposefully ludacris) demands to Serbia and nine of the ten were met, he told Austria that they should accept Serbia's concessions. He didn't believe war would break out.
As we all know Germany didn't start the war but they were definitely left holding the bag.
I feel like the blame going to Germany is for 2 Reasons:
1) Giving backing to Austria-Hungarym Part of wonders if Wilhelm had not gone on that boat tour, could he have rescinded the carte blanche when he saw Serbian demands? Before things got out of hand.
2) The invasion of Belgium, which powered the propaganda machine against Germany and got the UK involved in the war.
Can you give your thoughts on the willow project?
Interesting video
You should watch the Biographics episode on Stalin
you should go further down the warmhole that is simon's youtube channels. decoding the uknown is another channel of his that dives into a different type of content, i remember you reacting to the jack the ripper documentary so it could be something to watch out for.
Watch King Haakon VII biografi next
He is the king played in the movie the kings choice
I disagree with Mr Whistler's take on several aspect of this matter. Wilhelm's feelin0 about the British were probably not. as overtly negative as he suggests. Wilhelm was as tactless as they come and certainly did a lot to antagonis0e the British in several incidents Not merely the naval Arms Race and the Morocco Crises. He had made a point of telling the Royal Navy and the King how powerful he wised the German fleet to be, and they knew and feared the professionalism of his sailors and modernity of his Dreadnoughts. There is however no suggestion that he actually originally never wished it to be as big as the Royal Navy, just big enough to handle the French and Russian fleets in a war and sustain a n enlarged German Empire. The British fixated that the whole German Fleet was designed solely to fight in the North Sea ( Cabin sixe made lengthy journeys uncomfortable to the point of Impractical.) which they took as a personal challenge. A challenge that the German Navy's growing conviction of "Der Tag!" (The Day)" a Trafalgar/Tsushima style decisive Naval battle against the British did little to disabuse them o.
What both Chris and Simon see as a two faced approach was actually an ill judged attempt at blustering himself into the top tier of world leaders. He thought the British would never join with Granny's true enemy- France and like his General's, he lived in mortal terror of a war on two fronts hence the Schlieffen Plan (no relation at all the" Younger von Moltke", or the elder for that matter) So he tried to keep the British friendly despite his multiple faux pas and repeated strengthening of the improbable entente cordiale Like with most things in History the whole Naval arms Race would have been avoided if the two nations had put honest discussion before playing up to the media and domestic political caucuses.
I do love the story that an American Intelligence Officer attempted to kidnap Wilhelm from his new Dutch home in 1919. So literally walked up to the front door and told Wilhelm what he indented. Wilhelm rejected the idea and shut the door in his face so the Americal walked away and abanodned his project Simpler times
One key prior set of events were the Wars' in the Balkans, between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire to put it in mild language.
It's always been a bit strange to me why the name of Friedrich/Frederik the Great is usually anglizised, but Wilhelm II is not translated into William. I wonder if that has always been the case, or only after the rivalry between Britain and German became apparent in the naval arms race.
His Imperial Majesty Kaiser Wilhelm II : January 27, 1859 - June 4, 1941 ; Emperor of Imperial Germany - June 15, 1888 - November 9, 1918
30:40 This happened big time after WWII, with a lot of German Generals pinning blame for everything from military atrocities to military blunders on "the madman Hitler" while absolving themselves of blame. This is not to say absolve Hitler, but more so to condemn the generals for actions that they found it advantageous to pass off onto the dead guy for causing. This also contributed to the "Innocent Wehrmacht" myth that the normal Generals and the Army just fought for their country while the Nazis and the SS did all the murder.
In Bavaria the trees are made of wood.
Wilhelm II had an interesting life and an interesting mustache.
I also want to mention that my absolute favourite quote in history stems from Kaiser Wilhelm during his time in the netherlands. He really seemed to mature a lot as he aged.
There is a man alone, without family, without children, without God....He builds legions but he doesn’t build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, tradition: it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children. [Of Germany under Hitler he says]....an all-swallowing State, disdainful of human dignities and the ancient structure of our race, sets itself up in place of everything else. And the man who, alone, incorporates in himself this whole State, has neither a God to honour nor a dynasty to conserve, nor a past to consult....
For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he has got rid of or even killed....He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters....
This man could bring home victories to our people each year without bringing them...glory....But of our Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians and artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed in a mob and led by a thousand liars or fanatics....”
16:15
Since the day i watched the video about the russian baltic fleet,i always have to laugh once i think about the russo-japanese war
33:44 Furious because he didn't want Wilhelm protected, or because he didn't want the appearance that they were making him a prisoner?
The channel People Profiles has a new video out on Margaret Beaufort. The mother, I believe of Henry the 7th.
"You have won using my Troops" 😂😂😂
Agree with you on the opening statement, I think I'd put more of the blame on Austria for the build up to the war than Germany if I were to single someone out
Do you know much about Jesse James and the quantrill raiders? I would love to learn more about the guerilla fighting in the civil war
Well, I know Quantrill's head is buried here in Northeast Ohio. I know a little beyond that but not a lot.
I think Bismarck getting fired was the beginning go the end for the German empire. Remember the one things he didn’t have a plan for is a world without the Bismarck. Remember the 20 year prediction.
Germany actually had four different armies in WW 1. There was an german navy.
There were a lot more than four German armies in WW1. Probably more like two dozen.
@@VloggingThroughHistory The four kingdoms had their own national armies, rest where under Preussia. If you look at their hatts, you can see difference in early war.
Since you've been talking about Prussia/Germany and don't know if you'll see this comment but there is a video called military with a state by Brandon f.
This was a correct analysis by Vsauce, but I recommend Lavaders series The Peace Kaiser for a more balanced view. This was, I fear, heavily biased against Germany while ignoring Britains role in the escalation towards war.
Moltke the Younger was Moltke the Elder's nephew. Not Schlieffen's.
Emperor Frederick living longer and being alive in 1914 is one of the biggest what ifs in history. If Wilhelm was half the man his father was millions of lives would have been saved.
That would require for Czar Nicolas to have some brains as well
@@10Tabris01 Emperor Frederick would never allow the situation to escalate to the point that peace and war were in the hands of Nicholas. And a lot of the things leading up to the war would not have happened.
@@masterplokoon8803 The July Crisis would have happened regardless, and with it the chain of eventsthat lead to the mobilisation of Austria-Hungary and Russia. By necessity, the Russian mobilisation had to be answered by Germany mobilising, or otherwise Germany would have been isolated on the continent wedged between hostile powers, which were hostile due to events either predating Frederick's rule, or out of his hands entirely. Germany was under zugzwang, and a different emperor wouldn't have changed that.
@@10Tabris01 Frederick would never have given a blank check to the warhawks in Austria to do what they pleased, he would never have so irresponsibly gone on vacation in such a dire situation, he would have never antagonized Britain with a naval build up. German diplomacy in the decades prior to 1914 would have been much diferent, it might hav3 jave even prevented the Russian French alliance. And the Russians only mobilized after the Austrians mobilized and were really going out of their way to start a war with Serbia. With Germany keeping the Austrians under control things would never depend on Nicholas.
@@masterplokoon8803the blank check was a mistake but wilhelm did try to solve it he also made the plan to halt in belgrade with whas also ignored by the austrians, heck almost all the major monarch of europe where being fed misinformation by their minister who very much wanted a war Frederick being kaiser will not change that ,
wilhelms ministers convince him that serbia whas nothing to worry about and he was purposely kept in the dark about what whas going on, once he did hear about it he immediately got home, read the terms that serbia had agreed to and said he could see no reason at all to go to war,
the french and russian alliance would have happened anyway becus while the monarchs were for the most part on good or ok terms with each other the ministers and other high ranking individuals of the major powers hate each other and very much wanted a war,
and then the biggest reason why the alliance of the three emperors collapse was because of the balkans something that both austria and russia consider there domain and wanted to expande more power over,
not even Bismarck could keept this alliance together so how would frederick or wilhelm do so?
at the end of the day germany hade two options go keep the alliance with the russians or the austrians and they choose the austrians,
now as for the navy build up Wilhelm did not purposely started the navy arms race with britan,
the primery reason why Wilhelm did expande the navy whas to improve the globa trade capacity of the nation it whas also to help germany to expande it's colonies and to ensure safty of the majore trade routs that the german navy used,
the german navy build up starts to make alot more sense when you look at germany's geographical location and it's trade routes, thanks to germany's geographical location its access to major oceans whas limited to get access the atlantic ocean it hade two options one was a route past the shetland islands or through the english channel witch could at any time be blocked by the english or french navies therefore it was vital for germany to have a navy powerful enough to protect its trade fleet in the event of an international dispute,
the british did see it as a challenge and a threart not to there empire but to there status as number one.
the only scenario i can see is that the war might be delayed by some years.
VTH you should react to
“Why didn’t the British take back Gibraltar” by Knowledgia
As a german he is my favourite Kaiser, and he really was better than people think he was.
Lang lebe der Kaiser.
Weiß ich jetzt nicht
I recommend you watch Lavader series on Wilhelm II.
Kritisch
To be fair, you only have two (maybe three) Kaisers to choose from in the German Kaiserreich. But even then I would never choose him due to his disregard of reasonable council from the likes of Bismarck, who had previously proven that he knew what he was talking about. While Kaiser Wilhelm the First was very passive, it did not lead to disaster due to the excellence of his surrounding council.
Ja.. Er wird heute verteufelt. Aber.. Wilhelm I finde ich einen größeren Baba.
FACT BOI!
You should look at a TH-camr called Lavadar and his video about Kaiser Wilhelm II
So wait, the July Crisis was in large part due to Wilhelm II being on vacation....freakin crazy unlucky, that.
The biggest issue the Germans had during this era was specifically the naval investment. As a mostly landlocked nation, it was kinda foolhardy to rush for naval supremacy over the established hegemon of seas at the time in Britain. It may have been more prudent to slowly build up the navy while ingratiating themselves with the British as a potentially strong ally that the British needed in continental Europe. Or buddy up to the US, who wasn't exactly a naval superpower, but certainly a bourgeoning one, much like the Germany itself. Which would've worked well considering the amount of german immigrants there were in the US at the time.
I agree with your statements on how Wilhelm doesn't deserve ALL the blame.
Great guy? No, but nowhere near the warmonger some seem to view him as.
I wonder if Germany would still have a Kaiser today if a certain Archduke was never assinated?
I know where "not amused" comes from! :D
Wilhelm II was called "German Emperor" and not Emperor of Germany since the German Empire did not include all the states of the HRE, namely Austria, Luxembourg.
Was that in reference to the HRE or other culturally German states. The HRE would have to include the Low Countries, parts of France, most of Italy, Czechia and Switzerland as well
@@sebe2255 other German states, that would technically even include Switzerland. But it’s simply easier to say HRE than to get into what Germany is in the modern terms, vs referring to Germany in historical terms which include all German states, including Austria.
@@downinla4076 But the HRE is far larger than just Germans
@@sebe2255 Netherlands and Switzerland leaved the HRE at the end of the 16th century already.
Oh, no. Not that guy. (And I don't mean Kaiser Wilhelm)
So you're being rude for no reason?
@@samrevlej9331 Who said there are no reasons?
@@karlkarlos3545 Elaborate, o enlightened one.
@@samrevlej9331 I don't answer to you. If you don't see a problem with Simon Whistler spamming YT, that's on you.
@@karlkarlos3545 First off: watch your tone, I'm not your buddy. Second: your "not this guy" could have applied to VTH, who has done nothing to earn this rudeness, so maybe be clearer. Third: what has Simon done that's got you so twisted up about him? Sure, his writing team makes mistakes in their scripts and you can dislike the biography format, but if you don't like his content, just take your ball and go home. You launching a confusing complaint in the comment to a reaction is as pointless as throwing a rock on a cliff to protest rock falls.
Paul von Hindenburg's nephew is the future ww2 general,Erich von Manstein.😮
Incandescent with rage hmmmm…..William of Windsor 🤣😂🤣‼️
And can you react to Benjamin Franklin video by Biographics? It's really spicy.
Chris I am sorry that I could only support you from TH-cam membership but I can only do TH-cam membership. And not patron.
I'm grateful for your support, no need to be sorry!
Vlogging Through history, I recommend you watch the TH-camr: Lavader-He made A series Wilhelm; defending him.
6:46-6:54 Interesting. I think those two should be switched, but maybe that's just me.
Fun fact: Wilhelm II’s German name is “Wilhelm Der Zweitte”
Prussians would usually refer to him just as "Wilhelm Zwo".