kaiser's childhood

What effect would a better upbringing of the Kaser have?

  • A differently raised Emperor would have changed Germany and made WW1 less likely

    Votes: 26 76.5%
  • A differently raised Kaiser would still be bad

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • A Different Kaiser would not have changed Germany much

    Votes: 3 8.8%
  • Different German behaviour would not have changed the events leading to WW1

    Votes: 4 11.8%
  • Other please say

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    34
Depends on the upbringing. I'd say A and B - Wilhelm II was a product of his time, and you can't take away that entirely. He won't turn into the Dalai Llama, no matter who teaches him. At the same time, a different upbringing would have given him a better understanding of diplomacy and publicity, which could havve averted a fair number of the blunders that led to Germany's diplomatic isolation in the years prior to WWI. That, in turn, woulod have stood a decent chance of stopping the sense of panic in the General staff about germanyÄ's untenable strategic position and thus curb their willingness to go to war in 1914. Not to menntion give Wilhelm himself pause before he signed away his political initiative to austria-Hungary.
 
A lot goes back to nature vs. nurture.

IMO there would still be the nature but different tutors can help him steer that into more positive pursuits. He might still want to come out on top - and I think it's important that you noted *less* likely and not "unlikely" - but being better at diplmacy woudl allow him to be at least decent at it and able to understand how at least some of what he was doing would cause problems.

I think WW 1 could still happen, but the upbringing would help.
 
I would consider that Wilhelm II was the perfect result of anyone being raised in the Prussian Royal Court and later German Imperial Court.

Not really. He was tutored by a strict (albeit relatively modern and liberal minded) Calvinist, who belittled him constantly. The result was someone who loved the pomp, cirumstance and strength of Prussia, but lacked the mental discipline to drive him through.
 
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