The 4th Kaiser ...

I'd give him an illness that only gradually affects him. The Kaiser getting more and more strange and inable to rule may promote more power for the chancellor and the Reichstag - which would be a good thing - until finally the Kaiser is to be replaced. It would be helpful if at that point he already had a son and if many would believe that he's affected by the same illness, hence institutional changes should continue to prevent another "mad willie"...

So more like "Farmer George"?
 
I'm thinking of putting together a TL (aptly named above) that removes the Kaiser from the world stage. My question is finding a POD with a time or example when the Kaiser was in danger or had some kind of incident that would put his life at stake. I need it to be after 1882 as I want his son (Frederick William Victor Augustus) to succeed him as Frederick the IV or Williams III ... or whatever he would go by. And before 1895. I don't want the POD to change anything, just hope to alter the outcome to the outcome of removing Willy #2 from the throne. Thoughts on an example? Thoughts on the repercussions?

How about hemophilia for Wilhelm II? Then you can have him die when you need him to for your TL. Since several of Queen Victoria's daughters were carriers who passed the hemophilia gene on to some of their male descendants (Wilhelm's royal cousins), it's not inconceivable that her eldest daughter Vicky could be made, in your TL, to also pass hemophilia to her son Wilhelm II.

Then all Wilhelm II would need is to be too roughly jostled while riding a horse or an automobile fender bender.

Hemophilia would not affect Wilhelm II's son since hemophilia is only passed on by the mother.

Here's what Wikipedia says: "Hemophilia has featured prominently in European royalty and thus is sometimes known as "the royal disease". Queen Victoria passed the mutation to her son Leopold and, through some of her daughters, to various royals across the continent, including the royal families of Spain, Germany and Russia. In Russia, Tsarevitch Alexei Nikolaevich, son of Nicholas II, was a descendant of Queen Victoria through his mother Empress Alexandra and suffered from hemophilia."
 
It's not inconceivable but it would have affected more than Wilhelm II. None of the Empress Frederick's sons had the condition, nor did any of her grandsons through her daughters, a clear indication that she did not have the defective X chromosome that is its root. With the chromosome, there is literally a 50-50 chance for sons to be sufferers and daughters to be carriers. So it is highly likely that some other of her sons and some of the next generation through her daughters would be affected. Two of Prince Heinrich's sons were in fact haemophiliacs, but that was because his wife, a sister of the Empress Alexandra, was a carrier.
 

abc123

Banned
No. The German government after Bismarck's resignation realized that same things that Bismarck had already concluded: Germany could no longer run a double game regarding Austria and Russia, the secret treaty could not be kept secret much longer, and Germany needed to choose.



Because he was a fucking idiot and didn't understand the implications of maintaining an alliance with Russia and the expense of losing an alliance with Austria.



Because he wasn't a fucking idiot and understood the implications of maintaining an alliance with Russia and the expense of losing an alliance with Austria.



Because he was a fucking idiot and, when Caprivi explained the sound reasons behind not renewing the secret treaty, Wilhelm realized hed' completely fucked up when he gave the Russian ambassador a personal guarantee just a few days before.

Wilhelm very rarely faced up to the consequences of his actions, after the Daily Telegraph affair he hid in his bed for weeks, so in failing to tell Caprivi about the personal guarantee, Wilhelm was running true to form.



Not in the slightest. Victoria was rather shrewd and was smart enough to know the value of sound advice.



Wilhelm dismissed Bismarck because Bismarck was getting all the attention Wilhelm felt was rightfully his.

As for Caprivi, he'd been on the job for less than one day. How would it look to Germany and the world if the All Highest appointed a chancellor and fired the same chancellor on the same day? Even the Kaiser was smart enough to realize he'd look pretty fucking stupid.



What you want to "buy" or not is of no consequence. Only the facts matter and you cannot ignore the facts.

Wilhelm wasn't a complete puppet, as you seem to think we're suggesting, and Wilhelm wasn't a complete autocrat, as you'd like him to be. There was a constant give and take between Wilhelm and Germany's government. While Wilhelm imposed his will on some occasions,the government far more often, won on far more significant issues, and won from the very beginning of his reign.



No. The most important part is you finally understanding that Wilhelm's desires did not automatically translate into German policy. In the historical example I posted, Wilhelm desired a renewed Russo-German alliance enough to issue a personal guarantee on his honor as Kaiser yet Wilhelm was dissuaded from his desire after relatively brief conference with his chancellor.



Germany no longer wanted the alliance because Germany could not make the Russian alliance and the Austrian alliance work at the same time. Russia's needs and Austria's needs could not be reconciled.

No one is suggesting that a Russo-German alliance is ASB. No one is suggesting that a Russo-German alliance that accommodates Austria or an Austro-German alliance which accommodates Russia is ASB. What people are suggesting is that your suggestion about a Russo-German alliance whose sole POD is Wilhelm having a bright idea is ASB.

Significant changes need to be made and you've suggested none.


OK, let's assume that YOU/any other poster on this thread, is in Wilhelm's shoes in 1888.
You have just stepped on the Throne.
What would your policy for Germany be?
:confused:
 
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