@@kyleplatter8954 Nope, it exist, give it a search Probably read the lore of said mod too btw, there's tons of people who did this topic, especially "AlternateHistoryHub" where he explained the storyline from post-WW1 until alternate versions of WW2
An interesting and well thought out scenario except for one detail: the fate of Britain's Dominions. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would definitely begin to distance themselves from the Home Islands once Wilhelm II begins dismantling British Liberalism and exercise greater autonomy or declare outright independence from the UK to protect themselves. Wilhelm II exert any power of them, particularly Canada as the United States would invoke the Monroe Doctrine to warn against any notions of establishing an absolutist monarchy on North American soil. Australia and New Zealand may be too distant for him to exert any direct over. All three will likely see a growing British Diaspora as rebels and dissidents will likely seek safe have from Wilhelmite Britain. An interesting wrinkle could be that Canada recognizes OTL George V and his heirs as the legitimate claimants to the throne once he arrives in Ottawa with a portion of the Royal Navy following suit similar to Kaiserreich. I could be South Africa falling under German influence as Wilhelm II, though, given its strategic location. The big question is was will happened to British possessions in Asia.
It could be interesting, as the dominions no longer have a large power to rely on, its possible we could see Canada seek to join/be annexed by the US and Australia and New Zealand form a union in order to be a power check against the Japanese in the Pacific
Well, Germany might have done what the Dutch did, but on the British territories? This is based on their "Bismarck Archipelago" occupation, I supposed, although it could change depending on the territories too
This is indeed an interesting scenario, with Wilhelm II assuming both the British and German thrones, many problems would have been avoided. But the narrative that Wilhelm II was an authoritarian tyrant bothers me a lot, this whole myth is the result of the anti-German feeling that began to grow in Europe after German Unification, and mainly of British propaganda in the First World War. Wilhelm was an exemplary monarch and very active in protecting and guaranteeing the rights of the Germans during his reign. The story that he wanted to rival the Royal Navy is completely untrue, the expansion of the Kaiserliche Marine was aimed at protecting Germany's commercial routes in the event of a naval blockade (which actually happened), and to guarantee new routes for the expanding trade. The British government found itself threatened economically by German growth, so it created the lie that they wanted to challenge them. Wilhelm himself greatly admired Britain, he would probably never try anything to limit the rights and freedoms of the British if he became king. It's much easier to say bad things about someone than to say good things about them. His legacy as a monarch who really took his duty as a leader very seriously and was extremely considerate of his people has been tarnished by British lies and narratives, and also by the men who simply turned Kaiser Wilhelm II himself into a ceremonial and pointless figure. powers during the war, imposing a military dictatorship that doomed the German Empire to failure and defeat, and everyone threw the blame on the one man who really tried to do the right thing and resolve everything peacefully.
A couple of things I would like to add. Under Kaiser Wilhelm II German works had more rights then any other nation. This was because the Kaiser was not your usual monarch that looked down on his people and called those who were of the commoner class filth. During his youth him and his brother Henry’s teacher took them to factories and showed them the people who help keep Germany running. Admiring their work and dedication the young Prince grew a fondness to the working class of Germany which was exemplified during the 1889 Coal Miner Strike. Where Chancellor Bismarck wanted to use the army to crush the strike (as it was seen as an illegal strike due to the works who organized it not notifying their higher ups.) but the Kaiser didn’t want to do that and instead he wished to speak to both parties and hear both sides. The Kaiser adored his people and was a caring man. During Christmas time one year he hand each servant in the palace a gold coin each, but realizing that they might have been seen as thieves. He told them that upon their departure for the day to hand him the gold coin and they would be payed in the coin’s value. (each coin was valued at at least $4,000 in today’s money.) Even the minorities of Germany saw the best treatment. Under Kaiser Wilhelm II Poles saw more rights then under any other Prussian king and even now Poles in the Prussian parts of Poland still see Kaiser Wilhelm II as a good figure. Kaiser Wilhelm was a bit brash and quick to speak, but it was not his fault he just was trying to do his best. Even he after the fact felt as if he shouldn’t have said or acted in that way.
Also he tried contacting relatives in the Russian Empire to prevent war. He tried to calm down the Austrians but they would not budge. Wilhelm II knew that the war gonna be disastrous and tried to do everything to stop that.
>Wilhelm was an exemplary monarch His terrible diplomacy was a catalyst for what Germany is today, this video doesn't even mention all the other things which made the UK actually ally with the Republic of France as opposed to a fellow monarchy. He voiced vocal support for the Boers and helped them slightly also which was such a silly move. The Anglo-Germany alliance was something which would have come about naturally if it weren't for the stupidity of Willy.
@@RaffieFaffie actually the telegraph to the Boer wasn’t Wilhelm decision it was his chancellor’s and the Reichstag that authorized it creation while Wilhelm was adamantly against it, but do to public pressure of the German people questioning if he was for Germany or for his Mothers homeland and the pressure coming from his chancellor Wilhelm reluctantly agreed to it. Even when France and Russia offered an alliance against England Wilhelm rejected believing it to be a ruse to make England despise Germany and he was proven correct as French politicians were telling the British that Germany came to them for an alliance. Then there’s the fact that an Anglo-German alliance was never going to happen. While Kaiser Wilhelm II and Queen Victoria both hoped for such friendship for both nations. Both the German Reichstag and the British House of Parliament were not open to such ideas. Bismarck during his time as chancellor was a very out spoken anti-Anglo. He spoke of the British with venom and when Victoria requested Wilhelm visited England first instead of Russia Bismarck respond was for the Kaiser to angrily demand how she thinks she can order a Kaiser around. Wilhelm instead choose to send a letter explaining why he was visiting Russia after his accession. With his Grandmother understanding and expressing her wish that he would come to England as soon as he is finished. Even in England the British government actively voted on anti-German policy especially when German products started to dominate the English market. They actively ignored German acts of friendship, and all of this came to a head when King Edward VII took the throne. Where parliament and the foreign office together as one agreed with the kings policy of encirclement of Germany forming the Triple Entente just after a meeting between German and British diplomats were England expressed that they had no need for alliances. However you look at it England was the antagonist to German and it was Edward VII not Wilhelm II that drove the final nail into the coffin of their ever being an Anglo-German Alliance.
It may create a situation similiar to Spain where the king is not very well liked but he still goes on, but to an international scene it wouldn't change almost anything, just there would have been three monarchs in the G7 rather than two
@@carmi7042Umberto was litterally loved by everyone but the politicians. His father was the hated one, Umberto II was great and nobody ever dared to challenge such statement and there’s a damn reason
@@martinputt6421Everyone got sick of Monarchy. Just because the King was popular didnt equate the People wanted an Kingdom again. Some of the German Kings in the German Empire left the position of King even though everyone loved them.
@@aydenee558 Right. 👍 You can also write it with an "Æ" (Ænglisc) .... My comment was more intended to be a little nod towards "Anglish" (trying to incorporate more Germanic words into modern English while replacing Romance and Greek vocabulary)
If the absolute primogeniture was there during the Queen Victoria time, then Wilhelm would be raised in the British court to prepare him as the future constitutional monarch for the UK. And to argue further, will his mother being the future queen still be married to the future German Kaiser? Maybe the princess royal got to marry someone else.
Josh! You're amazing! I have an idea: Whatbif rudolf, crown prince of austria and franz joseph I only son and heir, didnt end his own life and lived to reform the empire
#2 would drastically change our timeline because he didn't have to abdicate in favour of his cousin, but he could have done it in favour of a sibling or a child. You could have also listed #1.5, where he keeps being full German Emperor & reigns as King of the UK just like his English ancestors did: via the Prime Minister. Besides that, WHY would the British people be that against him? Him having been the heir apparent of the UK would have had a totally different upbringing & he would have never tried to build more ships than the UK, because - in his mind - both navies would have been his. Also, this changes everything about the Fashoda Incident & the 2 Marocco Crisis, as Britain & Germany would have been allies, thus the UK wouldn't have sided with France.
It's debatable how different Wilhelm's upbringing would have been in this scenario. His English mother and his father were both liberal enthusiasts for constitutional democracy, but he had a very poor relationship with both of them due to his mother shunning him out of embarassment for his withered arm due to the stigmas around physical disability. This enabled Otto Von Bismarck and the reactionary militarists in the Prussian court to heavily mould and shape his attitudes in his formative years.
@@themysteriouscrumpet in Germany, his only way to proof that he wasn't a lost cause was Prussian militarism. If he were the heir to both thrones, Parliament would have asked for the future king to spend more time in Britain to become more British. Therefore, his contact with British culture wouldn't have been only his liberal parents & the English doctor who "killed his mother", as he would say.
@@jgr7487 @jgr7487 It's a strange situation, because even while he was prone to virulent anti-British sentiment, he was still extremely fond of his grandmother Queen Victoria and eagerly emulated the behaviour of a English country gentlemen when he visited the country. His personality was very mercurial in nature.
The last time an English king tried to centralise power we invited a Dutch man with no claim to take the throne by force. If a German king tried to centralise power in 1901 there is no way there wouldn't be a revolt.
@@mappingshaman5280 why would he centralize power? Pls read my 1st comment. On the other hand, it's easy to rule as a Personal Union: you rule one as Emperor & the other via the PM.
England would have been subjugated by the crazed papists of Spain and the Inquisition would torture and burn thousands. England becomes a vassal state, never colonizes the Americas and so the USA never comes to be. The New World is stripped of its resources and the natives are killed off (after being forcibly converted to Catholicism and worked to death. New Spain covers all of North America after kicking out New France, and we end up serfs to the Spanish crown. @@GlennSkywalker2305
I highly recommend you the Video from Lavader: Kaiser Wilhelms Innocence I think it really portrays the Kaiser in an just light and shows it wasn't his fault the relations deteriorated between the 2 countries
As an englishman i wouldve accepted this arrangement. The difference between us and the Germans are laughable and personally i dont even see them as a foreign folk.
@@guardsman-against-the-chaos You've got a Welsh banner as your pic so I'm not surprised. I used to work with a bloke who supported the creation of a pan-Celtic union between Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The royal family trees of Europe are pretty interesting. My great great great great grandpa was the son of Henri V of France and my great great grandma was a Bavarian princess, so I'm related to most of these people
@@shildericvi4918 he had at least two illegitimate sons in 1844 and 1846, but until recently, none of their descendants had DNA on file to compare with the House of Bourbon
I think, there's a few things that might've gone differently, judging from Wilhelm's character but also the possibilities he simply didn't have. First of all, it's rather unlikely that Wilhelm would succeed or even try to impose an authoritarian system in Britain. He knew that Britain was different than Germany historically and that this would've caused civil war. Good examples as to how authoritarian Kings didn't rule Britain in an authoritarian way would be Victoria's predecessors from the house of Hannover (George I./II./III./IV., William IV.). All of them also ruled the German state of Hannover, which was an absolute monarchy. However, they recognised that Britain was different and needed a different monarch, and it was in fact these five Kings which initiated Britain's shift towards full parliamentarism. The authoritarian King Ernest Augustus of Hannover (Son of King George III. of the UK) for example ruled Hannover quite differently than he thought Britain had to be ruled and took different political views in Hannover than thos he had taken before his coronation when he still lived in Britain. He explained this with the different histories of the two nations. Wilhelm, having received a very good education, would've probably acted similarly, ruling Germany one way and the UK the other way, respecting its traditions to avoid civil war (fun fact: he didn't rule Germany in an authoritarian way either because his position as German Emperor didn't entail as much power as Wilhelm himself made the people believe). Second of all, I'm fairly sure that Wilhelm would've moved to London and concentrate more on his role as British monarch instead of using the relations to turn Germany into a world power. The reason is simple: As British King and Emperor of India, he would've aready been the ruler of a world power. There would've been no reason for him to putnin all that effort to turn Germany into a world power, when he was already in possession of another world power. The naval race, for example, was most of all a vanity project of Wilhelm's who wanted to be equal to his British cousin. If he had already had the worlds greatest navy (the British one) under his command, he wouldn't have had a reason to support the massive build up of the German navy. Also, with a Germany British alliance in place, Wilhelm would've seen no benefit in supporting the start of a European war, so German would've probably not pledged it's support to Austria (Blankoscheck) after the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand which means, there would've been no word war I.
Interesting. British and Germans are very similar racially - practically siblings - but the cultural and societal differences are huge. Not sure that these could easily be bridged.
similar racially😂 One is autistic (the germans) while the other are sociopaths (english) Also the english are mostly mediterranean, celtic and german, celtics and german being concentrated in Ireland, Scotland and the upper classes while the english masses are dirty mystery meat because of an ancestry of countless r*pes by invaders. A genetic profile such as england creates a very degenerate and psychopathic population. The british who moved to the US created the big black C meme because their fetishists on a genetic level from the endless pillaging from Romans, Germans, Vikings and French. No they are not similar at all, they're a very evil people.
Can be if the Protestantness of this alliance is stressed especially against a conveniently catholic enemy alliance. Austria aligns with France once again to take down the Prussians as leader of the German states, probably offering the Italians their claims and British Egypt-Sudan.
i have watched a lot of alternate history videos and it’s fair to say that this one was one of the best and mis fun and acutely realistic videos i’ve watched nice job keep up the good work
This is not so farfetched. The first four Hanoverian Kings were both Kings of England and Hanover, theoretically unifying England and Hanover, but politically they remained separate. If Victoria's sons died off as they were actually prone to do, it may have led to the accession of Victoria and then Wilhelm, but I suspect a similar separation of Germany and England would have occurred, plus if Wilhelm tried to impose a German style government he would have quickly had his wings clipped like James II.
This scenario is very interesting. One question I have concerns the Royal Navy. I don't think the war would go well for Wilhelm if the Royal Navy decided he wasn't the legitimate king and backed King Bertie instead.
I think it would’ve been interesting to explore what some of the colonies do in this timeline. I think there’s a strong chance India and Canada both rebel and leave the empire during this alternate WWI and with them, there’s a decent chance Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa do too. I imagine this would’ve sparked rebellions and separatism all over the empire.
I find it quite interesting how at 1:43 you choose picture of empress Maria Theresa with her family as Habsburg were not part of "great royal family" of 19th century and last two emperors (Fanz Joseph I and Karl II) were, if I am not mistaken, not related to Tsar of Russia, King of England, not Kaiser fo Germany.
Actually, France has rightful claims to literally every country in Europe because all of the European Monarchs were related all coming from Edward III of England who was actually French, so by legal royal law if the French still had a monarchy they would have all of Europe under French dominance.
Wilhelm II would call himself Emperor of India like his Grandmother Queen Victoria and get hundreds of thousand loyal Indian troops into britian. After the war Indians veterans are stationed in England and in few decade a strange Hindi and muslim comunity with be loyal to Germany Kaiser.
If for whatever reason India still becomes free, I wonder how Germany would handle the partition, hopefully better than whatever the fuck the British did
The two countries would never unite for the two states had completely different political systems for a union. Britain wouldn't accept a King who was of another big power. The Parliament would vote with popular support so the King wouldn't even be crowned and some other crownless cousin be put in place
Wilhelm's goal, nor was it ever even possible even if it was, was not to surpass the British in naval power but to have a strong navy to protect German ports from blockade and their merchant fleets for... obvious historical reasons. Also Wilhelm never despised the English, He tried numerous times to mend Anglo-German relations, he wasn't ambitious in a militaristic sense and instead sought to make peace with all the other monarchies even as King Edward worked as hard as he did to sabotage all his efforts. He was among the greatest reformers of the monarchs of his day. Also the British weren't afraid of the German navy in so much that their sovereignty was at stake but more so their supremacy of international trade. He never wanted the war and tried hard to avoid war even as Britain sought to politically isolate Germany by making allies with their arch enemy, France and allied with Russia.
I mean English people are Germanic anyway,they woupdnt make as much of a problem in a long term,but Scotland is a whole another story...they want indenpendence even irl.
Very good idea and script but the video itself is a tiny bit slow idk tho cause i don't know the retention but i think you have to make it better pacing or make it more fun
If a revolt did happen in England, I could also see both communist and fascist elements trying to take over the anti Wilhelm rebels, hoping to seize power in the ensuing chaos, trying to convince the people that a return to the parliamentary system might not be enough on its own to keep them safe from further German aggression. I could also see a fundamentalist religious faction emerging amongst the English rebels, looking back to the English Civil Wars, the last time the people fought and defeated their own king. They'd tout the Restoration as a mistake, since it ultimately led to the Glorious Revolution that put them in the Wilhelm situation in the first place. Christian fundamentalism was already on the rise in the USA by the early 20th century, and I could see that coming over to Britain in a big way like the puritanism of old that spurred Cromwell and the Parlementarians in the original civil war.
One question that I was hoping would get answered but you only brought up the African colonies. How would the other colonies? I.e Canada, Newfoundland (they were a separate nation till joining Canada in the 90s), New Zealand, Australia react to Wilhelms rule? Canada had a lot of German immigrants and had an entire town with a German name, we also were very pro-royalty (not like a divide like it is now with Elizabeth and Charles). And how would this affect the US? Would it be another 1812 type situation? (Before anyone says the US would win we’re talking pre-WW1 era US they definitely weren’t the elite military with all the new toys and equipment they are today and they’d still be recovering from the civil war)
This only works if you ignore the English Revolution (1642, etc). That event set in place the supremacy of Parliament and in effect Parliament has final say on who is the monarch. They removed James the second and installed William and Mary, they choose George the first to avoid a catholic monarchy. By the late 1800s there was no mechanism for a Monarch to take any power back to themselves, any attempt would have resulted in their removal. The big lever that Parliament had was complete control over finance, this is what English Revolution gave them. When an oath of allegiance is sworn it is not to the Monarch as a person but to them as a figurehead of the Nation and the Nation is represented by Parliament who controls the finances that pays the armed forces, etc. William wants to be King Emperor of the British and Germany his best option would be to work on a closer union. In the way that James the sixth of Scotland became James the first of England, which resulted in the union of the two nations over a hundred years later. What William could work on was, at the time, the close cultural ties that the two nations enjoyed, which was can be seen in the 19th century romantic movement. William, ‘playing nice’ would give him the opportunity of a military alliance and British backed hegemony over Europe.
This is a great video. It is as what should have happened in the Great War. Kaiser Wilhelm was not the crazy militaristic idiot that some Western scholars have painted him out to be. If this video had actually happened this way millions of people would not have died in that war AND the a**hole of the century would not have come to power, who knows he may have been killed in England, and the second world war would not have happened, saving millions more lives. Then, we would just have to figure out the Japanese Empire. Would they have gone it alone with no Third Reich or Hitler?
One thing to consider is economics. By 1914, Germany was destined to surpass England as economic powerhouse of europe which made some brits very mad...
It's an interesting and entertaining concept, but as with the plot to (the brilliant) Johnny English, it simply wouldn't work. Parliament is supreme and has been since 1689. The monarch is nothing more than a symbolic figurehead and although they have certain powers, any attempt to exercise them would easily result in the Parliament either abolishing the monarchy or removing Wilhelm and putting someone else in his place.
One reason why Britain and Germany didn't ally was the bloody British prime minister, which refused all cooperation with Germany, since he hated Wilhelm and therefore the entire German Empire. Now if that isn't a good point for autocracy over elected ministers... looking at modern ministers and politicians. Also Germany itself had a parliament and a constitutional monarchy if not a partial constitutional monarchy, and that with a written constitution, *which makes this video nonsensical.* Furthermore, Germany was in many ways more progressive and liberal than the rest of Europe, Starting with the Prussian mentality of the king working for the folk and not the other way around.
@@vegetableman3911politically correct wokeism that doesn’t want to implicate other constituent home countries of the UK with the actions of the colonial time period because sooner they want to leave the UK
I think, to find out what would have happened if Wilhelm had [for any reason] been crowned king of the United Kingdom [Not England] he wouldn't have lasted long on the throne. For a good example of the total lack of any real power the British monarch has, you need look no further than Edward in 1936 who initially thought he could use his power as King to ensure he could marry Wallace Simpson. Within days he was put right and learned that he was no more than a mascot for the nation. He lasted less than a year before abdicating.
How about German? There are more German in American during World War I in World War II and bunch of Germans, went back to Germany to fight beside of German World War II in Canada there too
How about No . Britain's Monarch is a Constitutional Monarch , with a small amount of Executive Authority . Non of the Kaiser's cousins could stand being near him and he had actual authority . .
Kommunismus ist bereits in so vielen Ländern gescheitert, aber du scheinst es immer noch zu favorisieren. Hmph, gib es auf, es gibt bessere Ideologien als das…
More people could vote, but that vote was weighted by wealth. The Prussian three class franchise allowed for full male suffrage, but the vote was divided into three classes based on how much one paid in taxes. That said only something like 40-50% of British males had the vote in 1900. So I think it would be a lot more complicated than the story in the video. A King Wilhelm may earn the love of working class men by giving them the vote 10-15 years before in OTL, which likely pushes back the replacement of the liberals by labour as the party of opposition the same.
@@adamstant4101 I’d argue that still made Germany way more democratic than England at the time. This also ignores the UK House of Lords still had a lot of influence until 1911. I’m not sure Labour replacing liberal makes much of a difference since by the 1900s they were basically the same party. The Liberals collapsed because of internal strife which lead to most members simply moving over to Labour. Beyond that I have other problems with this video. For starters Russia simply wouldn’t get involved in what essentially becomes a war of secession in England. I guess I could buy France supporting a resistance group to prop up Edward but no way Russia gets involved here since they gain nothing. The reason Russia allied with the UK and France IRL was the notion of Austria continued to expand into the Balkans then they could back them up. But here, Austria and Archduke Franz-Ferdinand’s assassination aren’t even mentioned. If anything Russia would aid Germany over France since Tsar Nicholas had made two efforts to create a compact with Wilhelm whereas he has no real connection to France. Also England’s navy was always the most powerful navy by 1900 regardless of Edward VII, not that it would really matter because Wilhelm would functionally control all the major armed forced in England since it’s unlikely the military would join a rebellion. And as I said Wilhelm would most likely sign an act that merges the UK as a state within the German Empire even possibly abolishing Westminster as the seat of government consolidating it in Berlin. I get the premise is already a stretch and if anything Queen Victoria II would’ve changed the succession law to have Princess Charlotte or Prince Heinrich take the English throne but everything after that is based on false premises.
Most important if there were no two big wars in Europe and no American civil war the ANGLO SAXONS ANGLO AMERICAN Germanic population would be a lot more there fertility not being devastated by the wars between germanic white people and french Slavic populations there would a healthy white European population overwhelmingly christian thier empires intact the "" dark races "" would have found it much harder to break the grip of thier domination
Well it isn't how succession law work the law must be changed before the first born child is born to avoid a civil war between backers of the firstborn and firstborn son. Why not try to get Tsarina Alexandra to the English throne because her elder siblings bleed too much, Victoria kaiserin of Germany dying before her mother. And Alice doesn't get diphtheria and Edward dies of throat or lung cancer before his mother.
The whole problem with this scenario is it overstates the influence and power of monarchs and understates the power and influence of other stakeholders in both UK and Germany. By late Victorian times UK was very much a constitutional monarchy, whereas Germany was not. The upbringing of a future King William (Wilhelm) would have been crucial to his future role and acceptance in both countries. UK would not have accepted in any way shape or form the autocratic Prussian style of government. Would the power brokers in Germany have accepted an accelerated liberal democracy? Doubtful. At this point the counterfactual scenarios fall over.
You do realise that Britain does have a constitution, right? It may not be codified, but it still exists, having instead more gradually evolved over the centuries into the system and laws that exist today.
What if Henry VIII won the 1519 election and not Charles Hapsburg? And what if Richard, Duke of Cornwall, son of King John, had successors elected as the Rex Romanorum, or King of the Romans, to be crowned emperor by the Pope and were still reasonably related to the English? Many people had no idea that an Englishman was ever actually elected to be be the King of the Romans, and would have been crowned if traveling to Rome to get crowned emperor by the Pope was easier.
King of England? That would be a neat trick since there hasn’t been a King of England since 1702 and the last monarch of England was Anne in 1707. I think you mean King of The United Kingdom though, right?
I mean if wilhelm wanted his main son and first heir he would have given it to his son wilhelm so potentially woth england now absolute primogenitre the new queen of england could be queen victoria the third with victoria luise
This video lacks a huge understanding of the geography of the UK, the Pennines separating the east from west wouldn’t support trenches like the lower lands of east anglia - likely leading to much more gorilla style warfare as seen in the Italian wars of independence. Additionally at the time the north west was aa large industrial base in the uk and given it’s historically liberal and nationalist views would likely be the nationalist strong hold. Additionally the Americans would be very protective over Ireland and I think would push for a much more concrete agreement on irelands independence. Finally the video doesn’t include discussion on other Great nations views on maintaining the balance of power. The hegemony a German victory would give over Europe would likely lead to more support for Britain. You’ve also left out all conversation regarding how various colony holdings would react. Overall this video is very underwhelming and oversimplified don’t usually comment but this video is such a poor take on an interesting scenario. Sorry to be so negative but I couldn’t help but pick holes in most of this video as a Brit myself.
Hate to nick pick but you keep using England and britain interchangeable, if your going to address my country it might easier just to refer to it as the Uk 🇬🇧 or Britain, England is just one country in the Union
Why not also grant the throne of Scotland back to the Stuarts seeing as they became Bavarian Germans and would in my mind likely pacify them like Irish indepence would to the Irish
This would make a funny alternative history story, with a liberal reformation movement forcing absolute primogeniture monarchy only to end up with a German dictator. 😂
There is a massive problem with this scenario you didn’t bring up, and it’s the fact that Wilhelm was a Lutheran and not an Anglican. The English monarch is the head of the Anglican faith and to become king/queen you need to be an Anglican. If Wilhelm never converted he would simply not inherit the throne and it would pass on as it did in our timeline to George. If Wilhelm did convert he would face massive Catholic and Lutheran opposition in Germany as the Anglicans weren’t exactly popular.
George 1was a Lutheran and did not convert. Under English law the sovereign does not have to be a member of the Church of England but at least in communion with the C of E. George 1 branch of the Lutheran Church was in communion with the Anglican Church at the time. So no problem. But Pray Tell why would Anglicans not be exactly popular in Germany at the time, especially with Lutherans?
the catholics where happy that ther suppresion was ended only a couple years before he got on the throne and the german lutherans showed again and again that they don.t care what ther rulers religion is aslong as they are left alone (and he ain.t jewish)
You forgot William of orange wasn't a Anglican he was a Dutch protestant, George 1st of hanover George 2nd George 3rd George 4th William of hanover and Queen Victoria and her husband Albert was all belonged to the German protestant faith they all became head of our Church of England technically Britain has had a continuous number of Kings and Queens that are german since George 1st of hanover to the present king charles the 3rd of the german House Gĺützberg 😅
4:37 The kaiser never wanted to surpass or even compete Britain in the navy because he knew that that would be stupid. The reason they build up the navy so much was because in case of a war with Britain the German people would starve from a blockade, because in the time 50% of the food in Germany was imported. It was also to grow the German market and protect it's colonies. The British made it seem as a competition when it was really not
The anglo-german arms race was not, in fact, the first strain on British-German relations. The first real strain was actually the Jameson Raid and Wilhelm II's telegraph written to the Boer president at the time. Von Holstein actually described this incident as the beginning of Anglo-German antagonism.
An actually original scenario involving the German Empire (barring Wilhelm being a serial killer lol), bravo, well executed and well done!
what if germany won ww1
He wasn’t a serial killer
@AzureWolf168I thought there was a HOi4 (I think) mod called "Kaiserreich" (or something like that), where what if Germany won WW1
@@SiPakRubahI think your imagining things, no mod has ever been made for HOI4 involving alternate “what if X won Y” situations
@@kyleplatter8954 Nope, it exist, give it a search
Probably read the lore of said mod too btw, there's tons of people who did this topic, especially "AlternateHistoryHub" where he explained the storyline from post-WW1 until alternate versions of WW2
An interesting and well thought out scenario except for one detail: the fate of Britain's Dominions. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would definitely begin to distance themselves from the Home Islands once Wilhelm II begins dismantling British Liberalism and exercise greater autonomy or declare outright independence from the UK to protect themselves. Wilhelm II exert any power of them, particularly Canada as the United States would invoke the Monroe Doctrine to warn against any notions of establishing an absolutist monarchy on North American soil. Australia and New Zealand may be too distant for him to exert any direct over. All three will likely see a growing British Diaspora as rebels and dissidents will likely seek safe have from Wilhelmite Britain. An interesting wrinkle could be that Canada recognizes OTL George V and his heirs as the legitimate claimants to the throne once he arrives in Ottawa with a portion of the Royal Navy following suit similar to Kaiserreich.
I could be South Africa falling under German influence as Wilhelm II, though, given its strategic location. The big question is was will happened to British possessions in Asia.
It could be interesting, as the dominions no longer have a large power to rely on, its possible we could see Canada seek to join/be annexed by the US and Australia and New Zealand form a union in order to be a power check against the Japanese in the Pacific
Well, Germany might have done what the Dutch did, but on the British territories?
This is based on their "Bismarck Archipelago" occupation, I supposed, although it could change depending on the territories too
I think you give the dominions to much credit , If it kept the wealthy wealthy. They'd except him ,
This is indeed an interesting scenario, with Wilhelm II assuming both the British and German thrones, many problems would have been avoided. But the narrative that Wilhelm II was an authoritarian tyrant bothers me a lot, this whole myth is the result of the anti-German feeling that began to grow in Europe after German Unification, and mainly of British propaganda in the First World War. Wilhelm was an exemplary monarch and very active in protecting and guaranteeing the rights of the Germans during his reign. The story that he wanted to rival the Royal Navy is completely untrue, the expansion of the Kaiserliche Marine was aimed at protecting Germany's commercial routes in the event of a naval blockade (which actually happened), and to guarantee new routes for the expanding trade. The British government found itself threatened economically by German growth, so it created the lie that they wanted to challenge them. Wilhelm himself greatly admired Britain, he would probably never try anything to limit the rights and freedoms of the British if he became king. It's much easier to say bad things about someone than to say good things about them. His legacy as a monarch who really took his duty as a leader very seriously and was extremely considerate of his people has been tarnished by British lies and narratives, and also by the men who simply turned Kaiser Wilhelm II himself into a ceremonial and pointless figure. powers during the war, imposing a military dictatorship that doomed the German Empire to failure and defeat, and everyone threw the blame on the one man who really tried to do the right thing and resolve everything peacefully.
A couple of things I would like to add. Under Kaiser Wilhelm II German works had more rights then any other nation. This was because the Kaiser was not your usual monarch that looked down on his people and called those who were of the commoner class filth. During his youth him and his brother Henry’s teacher took them to factories and showed them the people who help keep Germany running. Admiring their work and dedication the young Prince grew a fondness to the working class of Germany which was exemplified during the 1889 Coal Miner Strike. Where Chancellor Bismarck wanted to use the army to crush the strike (as it was seen as an illegal strike due to the works who organized it not notifying their higher ups.) but the Kaiser didn’t want to do that and instead he wished to speak to both parties and hear both sides. The Kaiser adored his people and was a caring man. During Christmas time one year he hand each servant in the palace a gold coin each, but realizing that they might have been seen as thieves. He told them that upon their departure for the day to hand him the gold coin and they would be payed in the coin’s value. (each coin was valued at at least $4,000 in today’s money.) Even the minorities of Germany saw the best treatment. Under Kaiser Wilhelm II Poles saw more rights then under any other Prussian king and even now Poles in the Prussian parts of Poland still see Kaiser Wilhelm II as a good figure.
Kaiser Wilhelm was a bit brash and quick to speak, but it was not his fault he just was trying to do his best. Even he after the fact felt as if he shouldn’t have said or acted in that way.
Im surprised considering his foreign policy
Also he tried contacting relatives in the Russian Empire to prevent war. He tried to calm down the Austrians but they would not budge. Wilhelm II knew that the war gonna be disastrous and tried to do everything to stop that.
>Wilhelm was an exemplary monarch
His terrible diplomacy was a catalyst for what Germany is today, this video doesn't even mention all the other things which made the UK actually ally with the Republic of France as opposed to a fellow monarchy. He voiced vocal support for the Boers and helped them slightly also which was such a silly move. The Anglo-Germany alliance was something which would have come about naturally if it weren't for the stupidity of Willy.
@@RaffieFaffie actually the telegraph to the Boer wasn’t Wilhelm decision it was his chancellor’s and the Reichstag that authorized it creation while Wilhelm was adamantly against it, but do to public pressure of the German people questioning if he was for Germany or for his Mothers homeland and the pressure coming from his chancellor Wilhelm reluctantly agreed to it. Even when France and Russia offered an alliance against England Wilhelm rejected believing it to be a ruse to make England despise Germany and he was proven correct as French politicians were telling the British that Germany came to them for an alliance. Then there’s the fact that an Anglo-German alliance was never going to happen. While Kaiser Wilhelm II and Queen Victoria both hoped for such friendship for both nations. Both the German Reichstag and the British House of Parliament were not open to such ideas. Bismarck during his time as chancellor was a very out spoken anti-Anglo. He spoke of the British with venom and when Victoria requested Wilhelm visited England first instead of Russia Bismarck respond was for the Kaiser to angrily demand how she thinks she can order a Kaiser around. Wilhelm instead choose to send a letter explaining why he was visiting Russia after his accession. With his Grandmother understanding and expressing her wish that he would come to England as soon as he is finished. Even in England the British government actively voted on anti-German policy especially when German products started to dominate the English market. They actively ignored German acts of friendship, and all of this came to a head when King Edward VII took the throne. Where parliament and the foreign office together as one agreed with the kings policy of encirclement of Germany forming the Triple Entente just after a meeting between German and British diplomats were England expressed that they had no need for alliances. However you look at it England was the antagonist to German and it was Edward VII not Wilhelm II that drove the final nail into the coffin of their ever being an Anglo-German Alliance.
I say this one was a very interesting one. Suggestion: What if the Italian monarch party won the vote after the dissolve of facist Italy?
I mean wouldn't it then turn into just another constituional monarchy in the style of britain, netherlands or norway?
It may create a situation similiar to Spain where the king is not very well liked but he still goes on, but to an international scene it wouldn't change almost anything, just there would have been three monarchs in the G7 rather than two
@@carmi7042Umberto was litterally loved by everyone but the politicians. His father was the hated one, Umberto II was great and nobody ever dared to challenge such statement and there’s a damn reason
@@Boretheory If he was so popular why did Italy vote to become a republic when he was king?
@@martinputt6421Everyone got sick of Monarchy. Just because the King was popular didnt equate the People wanted an Kingdom again. Some of the German Kings in the German Empire left the position of King even though everyone loved them.
Josh: "... turning Britain itself into a German colony."
Me: "You mispronounced 'Angelsachsen' (Anglosaxony) ...." ⚫⚪🔴
As long as Old English becomes the language spoken, sign me up
@@radwald189 Ænglish .... 😁
@@HusZat*Englisc
@@aydenee558 Right. 👍 You can also write it with an "Æ" (Ænglisc) .... My comment was more intended to be a little nod towards "Anglish" (trying to incorporate more Germanic words into modern English while replacing Romance and Greek vocabulary)
sorry if I came off as rude just wanted to kindly correct you and yeah your right about Ænglisc
If the absolute primogeniture was there during the Queen Victoria time, then Wilhelm would be raised in the British court to prepare him as the future constitutional monarch for the UK. And to argue further, will his mother being the future queen still be married to the future German Kaiser? Maybe the princess royal got to marry someone else.
That was why the proposed change was done late so the marriage in 1858 would have happened
Josh! You're amazing!
I have an idea: Whatbif rudolf, crown prince of austria and franz joseph I only son and heir, didnt end his own life and lived to reform the empire
Good Idea
#2 would drastically change our timeline because he didn't have to abdicate in favour of his cousin, but he could have done it in favour of a sibling or a child.
You could have also listed #1.5, where he keeps being full German Emperor & reigns as King of the UK just like his English ancestors did: via the Prime Minister.
Besides that, WHY would the British people be that against him? Him having been the heir apparent of the UK would have had a totally different upbringing & he would have never tried to build more ships than the UK, because - in his mind - both navies would have been his. Also, this changes everything about the Fashoda Incident & the 2 Marocco Crisis, as Britain & Germany would have been allies, thus the UK wouldn't have sided with France.
It's debatable how different Wilhelm's upbringing would have been in this scenario. His English mother and his father were both liberal enthusiasts for constitutional democracy, but he had a very poor relationship with both of them due to his mother shunning him out of embarassment for his withered arm due to the stigmas around physical disability. This enabled Otto Von Bismarck and the reactionary militarists in the Prussian court to heavily mould and shape his attitudes in his formative years.
@@themysteriouscrumpet in Germany, his only way to proof that he wasn't a lost cause was Prussian militarism. If he were the heir to both thrones, Parliament would have asked for the future king to spend more time in Britain to become more British. Therefore, his contact with British culture wouldn't have been only his liberal parents & the English doctor who "killed his mother", as he would say.
@@jgr7487 @jgr7487 It's a strange situation, because even while he was prone to virulent anti-British sentiment, he was still extremely fond of his grandmother Queen Victoria and eagerly emulated the behaviour of a English country gentlemen when he visited the country. His personality was very mercurial in nature.
The last time an English king tried to centralise power we invited a Dutch man with no claim to take the throne by force. If a German king tried to centralise power in 1901 there is no way there wouldn't be a revolt.
@@mappingshaman5280 why would he centralize power? Pls read my 1st comment.
On the other hand, it's easy to rule as a Personal Union: you rule one as Emperor & the other via the PM.
Could you make a "What If Britain had a Habsburg King"
So basically what if Mary I and Philip II had a son
@@GlennSkywalker2305 Well The English Royal Family has Habsburg DNA, I mean like Charles I or Otto claims The English Throne
England would have been subjugated by the crazed papists of Spain and the Inquisition would torture and burn thousands. England becomes a vassal state, never colonizes the Americas and so the USA never comes to be. The New World is stripped of its resources and the natives are killed off (after being forcibly converted to Catholicism and worked to death. New Spain covers all of North America after kicking out New France, and we end up serfs to the Spanish crown. @@GlennSkywalker2305
@@MajinTurles-ng2gy If you mean, Otto von Habsburg, he would have to marry queen Elizabeth II.
@@DarthDread-oh2ne well I mean like George V dies, Edward Abdicates, & George moves to Canada, Otto or Karl I could claim the throne
I highly recommend you the Video from Lavader: Kaiser Wilhelms Innocence
I think it really portrays the Kaiser in an just light and shows it wasn't his fault the relations deteriorated between the 2 countries
Except it was partially his fault as he wanted a place in the sun and refused a naval treaty with the UK.
As an englishman i wouldve accepted this arrangement. The difference between us and the Germans are laughable and personally i dont even see them as a foreign folk.
Also as someone from the UK I couldn't disagree more.
As a German, I can only agree with my germanic anglo-saxon friends! Long live the UK.
@@guardsman-against-the-chaos You've got a Welsh banner as your pic so I'm not surprised. I used to work with a bloke who supported the creation of a pan-Celtic union between Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
@@Inferno.176 Get the rest of the gang in too and we can sack Rome together.
@@radwald189Dutch person here, I agree with this statement. Let's sack Rome
The royal family trees of Europe are pretty interesting. My great great great great grandpa was the son of Henri V of France and my great great grandma was a Bavarian princess, so I'm related to most of these people
It's impossible, Henri V didn't have any childrens unfortunately
@@shildericvi4918 he had at least two illegitimate sons in 1844 and 1846, but until recently, none of their descendants had DNA on file to compare with the House of Bourbon
The royal families of Europe are boring. Arrogant, self-important weirdos. Just have to look at the UK Royal family.
As a Brit, I think this is an interesting idea
Always a pleasure to see an upload from you.
Love your videos man! Suggestion: what if miguel da paz survived?
I think, there's a few things that might've gone differently, judging from Wilhelm's character but also the possibilities he simply didn't have. First of all, it's rather unlikely that Wilhelm would succeed or even try to impose an authoritarian system in Britain. He knew that Britain was different than Germany historically and that this would've caused civil war.
Good examples as to how authoritarian Kings didn't rule Britain in an authoritarian way would be Victoria's predecessors from the house of Hannover (George I./II./III./IV., William IV.). All of them also ruled the German state of Hannover, which was an absolute monarchy. However, they recognised that Britain was different and needed a different monarch, and it was in fact these five Kings which initiated Britain's shift towards full parliamentarism. The authoritarian King Ernest Augustus of Hannover (Son of King George III. of the UK) for example ruled Hannover quite differently than he thought Britain had to be ruled and took different political views in Hannover than thos he had taken before his coronation when he still lived in Britain. He explained this with the different histories of the two nations. Wilhelm, having received a very good education, would've probably acted similarly, ruling Germany one way and the UK the other way, respecting its traditions to avoid civil war (fun fact: he didn't rule Germany in an authoritarian way either because his position as German Emperor didn't entail as much power as Wilhelm himself made the people believe).
Second of all, I'm fairly sure that Wilhelm would've moved to London and concentrate more on his role as British monarch instead of using the relations to turn Germany into a world power. The reason is simple: As British King and Emperor of India, he would've aready been the ruler of a world power. There would've been no reason for him to putnin all that effort to turn Germany into a world power, when he was already in possession of another world power. The naval race, for example, was most of all a vanity project of Wilhelm's who wanted to be equal to his British cousin. If he had already had the worlds greatest navy (the British one) under his command, he wouldn't have had a reason to support the massive build up of the German navy. Also, with a Germany British alliance in place, Wilhelm would've seen no benefit in supporting the start of a European war, so German would've probably not pledged it's support to Austria (Blankoscheck) after the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand which means, there would've been no word war I.
Love your videos! I hope mr Z helps your grow even more
Interesting. British and Germans are very similar racially - practically siblings - but the cultural and societal differences are huge. Not sure that these could easily be bridged.
similar racially😂
One is autistic (the germans) while the other are sociopaths (english)
Also the english are mostly mediterranean, celtic and german, celtics and german being concentrated in Ireland, Scotland and the upper classes while the english masses are dirty mystery meat because of an ancestry of countless r*pes by invaders.
A genetic profile such as england creates a very degenerate and psychopathic population. The british who moved to the US created the big black C meme because their fetishists on a genetic level from the endless pillaging from Romans, Germans, Vikings and French.
No they are not similar at all, they're a very evil people.
Guess you failed where king George the 1st , 2nd was born even queen Victoria's parents was german 😅
No. English and German culture is very similar.
Can be if the Protestantness of this alliance is stressed especially against a conveniently catholic enemy alliance. Austria aligns with France once again to take down the Prussians as leader of the German states, probably offering the Italians their claims and British Egypt-Sudan.
English and German people are brothers. Our language, DNA, culture, we are Germanic. We have some differences, but not huge differences
i have watched a lot of alternate history videos and it’s fair to say that this one was one of the best and mis fun and acutely realistic videos i’ve watched nice job keep up the good work
Great Video Josh! Keep up the good work, King! 👑
Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas sent telegrams to each other before World War I. Therein, they addressed each other as "Willy" and "Nicky."
A world in which the German empire and Great Britain are in a personal union is a scary thought😊
This is the most creative idea i have seen
This is not so farfetched. The first four Hanoverian Kings were both Kings of England and Hanover, theoretically unifying England and Hanover, but politically they remained separate. If Victoria's sons died off as they were actually prone to do, it may have led to the accession of Victoria and then Wilhelm, but I suspect a similar separation of Germany and England would have occurred, plus if Wilhelm tried to impose a German style government he would have quickly had his wings clipped like James II.
No they weren’t. England And Britain aren’t the same thing
What if the Russians never helped the austrians with the Hungarian revolt
Queen Victoria isn't relate to Franz Josef.
Well, he is a brother of her son-in-law.
Both have distant ancestors. Last tzar of Russia was more related to Franz Josef and ver wife Sissi
What if Queen Elizabeth the First of England married Ivan the Terrible of Russia
Possible history already made A scenario like that.
This scenario is very interesting. One question I have concerns the Royal Navy. I don't think the war would go well for Wilhelm if the Royal Navy decided he wasn't the legitimate king and backed King Bertie instead.
To make a long story short many in Britain admired Wilhelm II. Then he started talking and they got to know him.
No. They admired him and then the propagandists started spreading misinformation about him.
Would go unimaginably hard
I think it would’ve been interesting to explore what some of the colonies do in this timeline. I think there’s a strong chance India and Canada both rebel and leave the empire during this alternate WWI and with them, there’s a decent chance Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa do too. I imagine this would’ve sparked rebellions and separatism all over the empire.
I find it quite interesting how at 1:43 you choose picture of empress Maria Theresa with her family as Habsburg were not part of "great royal family" of 19th century and last two emperors (Fanz Joseph I and Karl II) were, if I am not mistaken, not related to Tsar of Russia, King of England, not Kaiser fo Germany.
Actually, France has rightful claims to literally every country in Europe because all of the European Monarchs were related all coming from Edward III of England who was actually French, so by legal royal law if the French still had a monarchy they would have all of Europe under French dominance.
Wilhelm II would call himself Emperor of India like his Grandmother Queen Victoria and get hundreds of thousand loyal Indian troops into britian. After the war Indians veterans are stationed in England and in few decade a strange Hindi and muslim comunity with be loyal to Germany Kaiser.
If for whatever reason India still becomes free, I wonder how Germany would handle the partition, hopefully better than whatever the fuck the British did
Um you forgot about the commonwealth nations.
India, South Africa and Australia alone would of turned the tied depending on which way they went
India most likely would take the opportunity to break free
Nice video 😊 I liked it!
The two countries would never unite for the two states had completely different political systems for a union. Britain wouldn't accept a King who was of another big power. The Parliament would vote with popular support so the King wouldn't even be crowned and some other crownless cousin be put in place
Wilhelm's goal, nor was it ever even possible even if it was, was not to surpass the British in naval power but to have a strong navy to protect German ports from blockade and their merchant fleets for... obvious historical reasons. Also Wilhelm never despised the English, He tried numerous times to mend Anglo-German relations, he wasn't ambitious in a militaristic sense and instead sought to make peace with all the other monarchies even as King Edward worked as hard as he did to sabotage all his efforts. He was among the greatest reformers of the monarchs of his day. Also the British weren't afraid of the German navy in so much that their sovereignty was at stake but more so their supremacy of international trade. He never wanted the war and tried hard to avoid war even as Britain sought to politically isolate Germany by making allies with their arch enemy, France and allied with Russia.
I mean English people are Germanic anyway,they woupdnt make as much of a problem in a long term,but Scotland is a whole another story...they want indenpendence even irl.
The start basically means that europa was a family drama back then
Very good idea and script but the video itself is a tiny bit slow idk tho cause i don't know the retention but i think you have to make it better pacing or make it more fun
Primogeniture is now the rule
If a revolt did happen in England, I could also see both communist and fascist elements trying to take over the anti Wilhelm rebels, hoping to seize power in the ensuing chaos, trying to convince the people that a return to the parliamentary system might not be enough on its own to keep them safe from further German aggression.
I could also see a fundamentalist religious faction emerging amongst the English rebels, looking back to the English Civil Wars, the last time the people fought and defeated their own king. They'd tout the Restoration as a mistake, since it ultimately led to the Glorious Revolution that put them in the Wilhelm situation in the first place. Christian fundamentalism was already on the rise in the USA by the early 20th century, and I could see that coming over to Britain in a big way like the puritanism of old that spurred Cromwell and the Parlementarians in the original civil war.
One question that I was hoping would get answered but you only brought up the African colonies. How would the other colonies? I.e Canada, Newfoundland (they were a separate nation till joining Canada in the 90s), New Zealand, Australia react to Wilhelms rule?
Canada had a lot of German immigrants and had an entire town with a German name, we also were very pro-royalty (not like a divide like it is now with Elizabeth and Charles). And how would this affect the US? Would it be another 1812 type situation? (Before anyone says the US would win we’re talking pre-WW1 era US they definitely weren’t the elite military with all the new toys and equipment they are today and they’d still be recovering from the civil war)
IT'S JOSH!!!!!!!
This only works if you ignore the English Revolution (1642, etc). That event set in place the supremacy of Parliament and in effect Parliament has final say on who is the monarch. They removed James the second and installed William and Mary, they choose George the first to avoid a catholic monarchy. By the late 1800s there was no mechanism for a Monarch to take any power back to themselves, any attempt would have resulted in their removal. The big lever that Parliament had was complete control over finance, this is what English Revolution gave them. When an oath of allegiance is sworn it is not to the Monarch as a person but to them as a figurehead of the Nation and the Nation is represented by Parliament who controls the finances that pays the armed forces, etc. William wants to be King Emperor of the British and Germany his best option would be to work on a closer union. In the way that James the sixth of Scotland became James the first of England, which resulted in the union of the two nations over a hundred years later. What William could work on was, at the time, the close cultural ties that the two nations enjoyed, which was can be seen in the 19th century romantic movement. William, ‘playing nice’ would give him the opportunity of a military alliance and British backed hegemony over Europe.
"Good its not supposed to make sence"
*said the guy who just a few minutes ago explained the main idea behind all of it.
You're wrong about "liberalism" of Frederick. He wasn't liberal.
This will be a weird time line that and William will have had the biggest empire in history
This is a great video. It is as what should have happened in the Great War. Kaiser Wilhelm was not the crazy militaristic idiot that some Western scholars have painted him out to be. If this video had actually happened this way millions of people would not have died in that war AND the a**hole of the century would not have come to power, who knows he may have been killed in England, and the second world war would not have happened, saving millions more lives. Then, we would just have to figure out the Japanese Empire. Would they have gone it alone with no Third Reich or Hitler?
Basically, every major European conflict before WW2 was basically a family spat.
This timeline say Cousin you time it's up. Now i run this country
One thing to consider is economics. By 1914, Germany was destined to surpass England as economic powerhouse of europe which made some brits very mad...
It's an interesting and entertaining concept, but as with the plot to (the brilliant) Johnny English, it simply wouldn't work. Parliament is supreme and has been since 1689. The monarch is nothing more than a symbolic figurehead and although they have certain powers, any attempt to exercise them would easily result in the Parliament either abolishing the monarchy or removing Wilhelm and putting someone else in his place.
One reason why Britain and Germany didn't ally was the bloody British prime minister, which refused all cooperation with Germany, since he hated Wilhelm and therefore the entire German Empire. Now if that isn't a good point for autocracy over elected ministers... looking at modern ministers and politicians.
Also Germany itself had a parliament and a constitutional monarchy if not a partial constitutional monarchy, and that with a written constitution, *which makes this video nonsensical.* Furthermore, Germany was in many ways more progressive and liberal than the rest of Europe, Starting with the Prussian mentality of the king working for the folk and not the other way around.
Based Deutsches Reich and Deutsches Kaiser
Update: it was English king Edward 7th harming British-German relationship and endangered European peace
Interesting concept.
What if Paul Von Hindenburg declare the martial law against Hitler
What would Scotland Nth Ireland and Wales have as monarch if kaiser just king of England?
He said england but meant UK
@@vegetableman3911politically correct wokeism that doesn’t want to implicate other constituent home countries of the UK with the actions of the colonial time period because sooner they want to leave the UK
Realistically, Parliament would just bypass Wilhelm for his brother, or depose him for Edward. They've done so before.
I think, to find out what would have happened if Wilhelm had [for any reason] been crowned king of the United Kingdom [Not England] he wouldn't have lasted long on the throne. For a good example of the total lack of any real power the British monarch has, you need look no further than Edward in 1936 who initially thought he could use his power as King to ensure he could marry Wallace Simpson. Within days he was put right and learned that he was no more than a mascot for the nation. He lasted less than a year before abdicating.
How about German? There are more German in American during World War I in World War II and bunch of Germans, went back to Germany to fight beside of German World War II in Canada there too
When you realized the Great War aka World War I was just a royal family feud....
How about No . Britain's Monarch is a Constitutional Monarch , with a small amount of Executive Authority .
Non of the Kaiser's cousins could stand being near him and he had actual authority .
.
Love your Videos Video idea: what if east Germany Survived are what if Germany went communist in the 20's
Kommunismus ist bereits in so vielen Ländern gescheitert, aber du scheinst es immer noch zu favorisieren. Hmph, gib es auf, es gibt bessere Ideologien als das…
War of the English Succession
But Germany had a more constitutional democratic system. Have you read the German Reich constitution?
More people could vote, but that vote was weighted by wealth. The Prussian three class franchise allowed for full male suffrage, but the vote was divided into three classes based on how much one paid in taxes.
That said only something like 40-50% of British males had the vote in 1900.
So I think it would be a lot more complicated than the story in the video.
A King Wilhelm may earn the love of working class men by giving them the vote 10-15 years before in OTL, which likely pushes back the replacement of the liberals by labour as the party of opposition the same.
@@adamstant4101 I’d argue that still made Germany way more democratic than England at the time. This also ignores the UK House of Lords still had a lot of influence until 1911.
I’m not sure Labour replacing liberal makes much of a difference since by the 1900s they were basically the same party. The Liberals collapsed because of internal strife which lead to most members simply moving over to Labour.
Beyond that I have other problems with this video. For starters Russia simply wouldn’t get involved in what essentially becomes a war of secession in England. I guess I could buy France supporting a resistance group to prop up Edward but no way Russia gets involved here since they gain nothing. The reason Russia allied with the UK and France IRL was the notion of Austria continued to expand into the Balkans then they could back them up. But here, Austria and Archduke Franz-Ferdinand’s assassination aren’t even mentioned. If anything Russia would aid Germany over France since Tsar Nicholas had made two efforts to create a compact with Wilhelm whereas he has no real connection to France. Also England’s navy was always the most powerful navy by 1900 regardless of Edward VII, not that it would really matter because Wilhelm would functionally control all the major armed forced in England since it’s unlikely the military would join a rebellion. And as I said Wilhelm would most likely sign an act that merges the UK as a state within the German Empire even possibly abolishing Westminster as the seat of government consolidating it in Berlin.
I get the premise is already a stretch and if anything Queen Victoria II would’ve changed the succession law to have Princess Charlotte or Prince Heinrich take the English throne but everything after that is based on false premises.
Can you make what a video about what if bacons rebellion succeeded
Imagine a united europe...
He must bend to British law.
Most important if there were no two big wars in Europe and no American civil war the ANGLO SAXONS ANGLO AMERICAN Germanic population would be a lot more there fertility not being devastated by the wars between germanic white people and french Slavic populations there would a healthy white European population overwhelmingly christian thier empires intact the "" dark races "" would have found it much harder to break the grip of thier domination
My best bet is that the British parliament would retain power domestically like the Reichstag
Well it isn't how succession law work the law must be changed before the first born child is born to avoid a civil war between backers of the firstborn and firstborn son.
Why not try to get Tsarina Alexandra to the English throne because her elder siblings bleed too much, Victoria kaiserin of Germany dying before her mother. And Alice doesn't get diphtheria and Edward dies of throat or lung cancer before his mother.
It would be cool to see this alt history in a video game.
The whole problem with this scenario is it overstates the influence and power of monarchs and understates the power and influence of other stakeholders in both UK and Germany. By late Victorian times UK was very much a constitutional monarchy, whereas Germany was not. The upbringing of a future King William (Wilhelm) would have been crucial to his future role and acceptance in both countries. UK would not have accepted in any way shape or form the autocratic Prussian style of government. Would the power brokers in Germany have accepted an accelerated liberal democracy? Doubtful. At this point the counterfactual scenarios fall over.
Is there a reason you keep saying England instead of Britain?
You do realise that Britain does have a constitution, right? It may not be codified, but it still exists, having instead more gradually evolved over the centuries into the system and laws that exist today.
I had this idea for months love that some had the same idea and actually made a video about it.
Wait! Hold on! What about Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire? Do they still existed to keep the Balkans and the Middle East stable?
What if Henry VIII won the 1519 election and not Charles Hapsburg?
And what if Richard, Duke of Cornwall, son of King John, had successors elected as the Rex Romanorum, or King of the Romans, to be crowned emperor by the Pope and were still reasonably related to the English? Many people had no idea that an Englishman was ever actually elected to be be the King of the Romans, and would have been crowned if traveling to Rome to get crowned emperor by the Pope was easier.
Lore of What if Kaiser Wilhelm II Became King of England momentum 100
Make a sequel
What happens with the rest of the British Empire? Would Canada or Australia really stand by and allow Germany to invade the UK?
King of England? That would be a neat trick since there hasn’t been a King of England since 1702 and the last monarch of England was Anne in 1707. I think you mean King of The United Kingdom though, right?
I mean if wilhelm wanted his main son and first heir he would have given it to his son wilhelm so potentially woth england now absolute primogenitre the new queen of england could be queen victoria the third with victoria luise
Germany at that time was not an absolute monarchy. So the whole thing is a non starter
This video lacks a huge understanding of the geography of the UK, the Pennines separating the east from west wouldn’t support trenches like the lower lands of east anglia - likely leading to much more gorilla style warfare as seen in the Italian wars of independence. Additionally at the time the north west was aa large industrial base in the uk and given it’s historically liberal and nationalist views would likely be the nationalist strong hold. Additionally the Americans would be very protective over Ireland and I think would push for a much more concrete agreement on irelands independence. Finally the video doesn’t include discussion on other Great nations views on maintaining the balance of power. The hegemony a German victory would give over Europe would likely lead to more support for Britain. You’ve also left out all conversation regarding how various colony holdings would react. Overall this video is very underwhelming and oversimplified don’t usually comment but this video is such a poor take on an interesting scenario. Sorry to be so negative but I couldn’t help but pick holes in most of this video as a Brit myself.
Anglo German union yes
Wilhelm the 2nd in charge….. no way
uk is not england bro
Hate to nick pick but you keep using England and britain interchangeable, if your going to address my country it might easier just to refer to it as the Uk 🇬🇧 or Britain, England is just one country in the Union
Why did you refer to the entire United Kingdom as "England"?
Why not also grant the throne of Scotland back to the Stuarts seeing as they became Bavarian Germans and would in my mind likely pacify them like Irish indepence would to the Irish
Interesting
What if Frederick III didn't have throat cancer?
This would make a funny alternative history story, with a liberal reformation movement forcing absolute primogeniture monarchy only to end up with a German dictator. 😂
Dear American it's not England it is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I am not English
There is a massive problem with this scenario you didn’t bring up, and it’s the fact that Wilhelm was a Lutheran and not an Anglican. The English monarch is the head of the Anglican faith and to become king/queen you need to be an Anglican. If Wilhelm never converted he would simply not inherit the throne and it would pass on as it did in our timeline to George. If Wilhelm did convert he would face massive Catholic and Lutheran opposition in Germany as the Anglicans weren’t exactly popular.
Great point - there’s quite a lot wrong with this video in my opinion a real lack of understanding of Britain at the time amongst much more
George 1was a Lutheran and did not convert. Under English law the sovereign does not have to be a member of the Church of England but at least in communion with the C of E. George 1 branch of the Lutheran Church was in communion with the Anglican Church at the time. So no problem. But Pray Tell why would Anglicans not be exactly popular in Germany at the time, especially with Lutherans?
the catholics where happy that ther suppresion was ended only a couple years before he got on the throne
and the german lutherans showed again and again that they don.t care what ther rulers religion is aslong as they are left alone (and he ain.t jewish)
That actually wouldn’t be a problem. King George I was also Lutheran
You forgot William of orange wasn't a Anglican he was a Dutch protestant, George 1st of hanover
George 2nd
George 3rd
George 4th
William of hanover and
Queen Victoria and her husband Albert was all belonged to the German protestant faith they all became head of our Church of England technically Britain has had a continuous number of Kings and Queens that are german since George 1st of hanover to the present king charles the 3rd of the german House Gĺützberg 😅
4:37 The kaiser never wanted to surpass or even compete Britain in the navy because he knew that that would be stupid. The reason they build up the navy so much was because in case of a war with Britain the German people would starve from a blockade, because in the time 50% of the food in Germany was imported. It was also to grow the German market and protect it's colonies. The British made it seem as a competition when it was really not
King of England? You mean King of Britain!
of the United Kingdom
and Ireland. Wilhelm would come to power before irish secession.
english republican flag was the totally the Hungarian flag but the green is lighter bruh
The anglo-german arms race was not, in fact, the first strain on British-German relations. The first real strain was actually the Jameson Raid and Wilhelm II's telegraph written to the Boer president at the time. Von Holstein actually described this incident as the beginning of Anglo-German antagonism.