Kaiser Wilhelm II: The Last German Emperor - Historian Reaction

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[kevinneutzling]

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.

[TheMasonK]

I do love how his final act was basically a middle finger to Hitler.

[fernandobretas]

The way Chris frowns at the mere mention of Woodrow Wilson is appreciated.

[matthewwarlin]

That dynasty had some seriously strong facial hair game.

[ethanpkaiser]

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

[Phil_A_O_Fish]

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.

[kieranfrancke]

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.

[svenrio]

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."

[apolloniapythia]

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.

[alexschusch]

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.

[burgerwithcheese]

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".

[frontgamet.v]

I love my fatherland. And I love your reactions... And i love history. So incredible. This channel is perfect.

[titanemp]

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.

[midnighttale]

I'm glad to see you diving into more German history, there is a lot of interesting people to read about.

[Alexs.]

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.

[tintim]

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.

[williamsellers]

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

[Kalex-hnog]

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.

[david]

I actually never knew that he was still alive when WW2 began.

[alexschusch]

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