AHC: European monarch dies in battle after 1718

Mort the Reaper

The last European monarch to die in battle is generally agreed to have been Charles XII of Sweden, better known to metalheads as Carolus Rex, who was fatally shot in 1718 during the Siege of Fredriksten (though there are theories that he was actually assassinated).

Your challenge is to have a European monarch be killed in action after 1718.

EDIT: I meant to post this in Before 1900. Could a mod please move it?
 
JustinianTheGrand

JustinianTheGrand

Best bet is a king fighting to the end for their throne before being killed. For example have Tsar Nicholas take a rifle and fight the revolutionaries instead of abdicating. If that doesnt count have a yound impulsive king decide to fight on the front lines in a war while undercover then die.
 
SsgtC

SsgtC

Banned
Have King George VI die in a bombing raid during WWII. That would meet your technical requirement for being killed in combat
 

Codae

Emperor Napoleon I was involved in a lot of battles, and he was injured by enemy fire (for instance outside Regensburg). A lucky shot could take him out.
 

Decatur

In 1743 at Dettingen, George II was the last British monarch to command an army in battle. According to some accounts, he dismounted and led the infantry himself. Easy to see him also becoming the last British monarch to die in battle.
 
Jape

Jape

Napoleon I seems a safe bet. Maybe even Napoleon III, he personally went to Sedan before his army was encircled. Have the Prussian movements delayed, the French attempt a desperate breakout and he takes some shrapnel in the process.

EDIT: Speaking of shrapnel, didn't King Albert regularly visit Belgian troops on the Western Front? Bad timing and a German barrage could do him in.
 

Lalli

Latest ones could be Albert I of Belgium or Nicholas II of Russia, both on WW1. They led armies personally.

Or it could be somehow possible that some king would go fighting against Nazis personally but this might be bit implausible.
 
Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
Napoleon seems the best bet

Others, even Albert I of Belgium or George VI of Britain, would always be one step away from a battle. There MIGHT be a possibility of the king staying in his capital and fighting on til death, but the chaos from his death would usually rule it out as a possibility

I guess it's possible for Peter I of Serbia if the great retreat had run into enemy forces though he might not have known much about it
 

Decatur

Maximilian I is killed at the siege of Queredaro, thus avoiding a Mexican firing squad.

Right before the French surrender in 1870 at Sedan, Napoleon III wandered around the French positions trying to get killed by German artillery. Maybe that happens. Or he's in better health and dies leading the Imperial Guard in an attempt to break out.
 

Kaze

Banned
Instead of sitting there like a puppet ruler, Puyi could go down fighting.

or... The Emperor of Japan was in Tokyo. One wrong bombing of Tokyo and there might be a new Emperor.


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Prince Charles / Prince Andrew also fought at the Falklands War. In a different world where Queen Elizabeth say has a heart attack, you could have Charles or Andrew in the "danger zone".
 

goalieboy82

Kaze said:
Instead of sitting there like a puppet ruler, Puyi could go down fighting.

or... The Emperor of Japan was in Tokyo. One wrong bombing of Tokyo and there might be a new Emperor.


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Prince Charles / Prince Andrew also fought at the Falklands War. In a different world where Queen Elizabeth say has a heart attack, you could have Charles or Andrew in the "danger zone".
Click to expand...
how would that one have work out (with Akihito becoming Emperor before he came of age).
 

Decatur

Frederick the Great is another monarch who could have easily died in battle. At Hochkirk (1758) he personally led an attack against the Austrians. His horse was killed when he was about 40 feet away from the Austrian line; he was rescued by his own cavalry.

At Kunersdorf in 1759 he had two horses shot out under him. He was almost crushed by another when it was killed while he was trying to mount it. A bullet that should have killed him was stopped by his snuff box. And later in the battle, he and his bodyguards were surrounded by Cossacks; a squadron of hussars cut their way through to him and dragged him to safety.
 
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CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
Kaze said:
Instead of sitting there like a puppet ruler, Puyi could go down fighting.

or... The Emperor of Japan was in Tokyo. One wrong bombing of Tokyo and there might be a new Emperor.


===

Prince Charles / Prince Andrew also fought at the Falklands War. In a different world where Queen Elizabeth say has a heart attack, you could have Charles or Andrew in the "danger zone".
Click to expand...
Just Andrew, aka The Spare. Charles had ended his military career before the Falklands. Even if he hadn't there is zero chance that London sends the Heir Apparent and the second in line to the throne into battle as part of the same small RN task force.

I would agree with the chances of Albert or Nicholas in WW I , however, here is a slightly different (okay, fairly deep Left Field) suggestion, Emperor Maximilian I (Austrian by birth, so European) of Mexico. You can even construct scenarios where he dies fighting against U.S. troops.
 

CalBear

Moderator
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Monthly Donor
goalieboy82 said:
how would that one have work out (with Akihito becoming Emperor before he came of age).
Click to expand...
There would have been a Regent, probably Prince Yasuhito (which would have been... interesting; both he (the Prince attended Oxford)and his wife (a daughter of the the former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. and also to the UK) spoke fluent English and prior to returning home after the death of his father the pair had been on very friendly terms with the British Royal Family). He also had no children of his own, so there would be little chance of him trying to alter the succession.

Another option would be a dual regency with Prince Yasuhito joined by his brother Prince Nobuhito, this would have considerable appeal to the IJN since Prince Yasuhito was an Army officer while Prince Nobuhito was a Naval officer (although, mainly unbeknownst at the time, he was virulently opposed to Japan's war with China)
 

alexmilman

Mort the Reaper said:
The last European monarch to die in battle is generally agreed to have been Charles XII of Sweden, better known to metalheads as Carolus Rex, who was fatally shot in 1718 during the Siege of Fredriksten (though there are theories that he was actually assassinated).

Your challenge is to have a European monarch be killed in action after 1718.

EDIT: I meant to post this in Before 1900. Could a mod please move it?
Click to expand...

Alexander I was present on a battlefield more than once. Alexander II was visiting frontline during the siege of Plevna and, this is past 1900, Nicholas II visited a frontline at least once during WWI to get his St. George: this actually caused a scandal because he visited a so3cially chosen quiet sector and did not accomplish any deeds qualifying him for getting this order.
 
ByzantineCaesar

ByzantineCaesar

Pedro II of Brazil rode within firing range of the Paraguayan garrison during the Siege of Uruguaiana in 1865. Have a bold Paraguayan take a shot and he may have been killed.

His father Pedro I/IV also personally led troops in the Portuguese civil war and the war basically killed him, but I’m not sure if he counts since he had already abdicated both of his crowns by the time of the war.
 
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