WI: Annie Oakley kills Kaiser Wilhelm II

In 1890, famed American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter Annie Oakley was performing at a showing of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Berlin. She asked for a volunteer for a stunt: holding a cigarette in their mouth from which Oakley could shoot the ashes.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, a long time admirer of Oakley and devoted fan, volunteered for the stunt. Oakley did not expect the Kaiser to volunteer, but she went with it since she had no choice in the matter. Armed with her Colt .45, Oakley was able to make the shot without shooting the Kaiser.

But what if Oakley had missed and had shot the Kaiser instead and killed him?
 
International incident... also Annie Oakley missing a stationary target? Blasphemy, you're more likely to see the Jacobite Rebellion of 15 succeeding without French help than her missing.
 
In late 1914 she sent a letter to ask the Kaiser if she could repeat the performance. The Kaiser did not respond.
 
Wilhelm's younger and saner brother Henry becomes Kaiser, which would be a relief for neighboring Britain (or at least until he begins paying attention to mechanizing the army and navy. The guy loved motor cars and was even a naval officer.)
 
This guy would beg to differ about that succession.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm,_German_Crown_Prince

*facepalm*

I forgot about him. Okay, so his eldest son ascends the throne under a regency headed by his mother (maybe). I guess Wilhelm the Younger would grow up to be a conservative ruler, but that really depends on how he was educated and what kinds of people were around him during childhood. Given that he would be 8 years old if his dad died, there could be some room for a change in personality... for better or worse.

EDIT: 'eldest'. What am I thinking?
 
What happens to Oakley? Does she face legal consequences for negligence or something?

I suspect that while some would decry her as an assassin and demand execution, cooler heads would prevail and it would be made very clear to her that she should leave Germany, and probably Europe, and keep her head down for the forseeable future while the senior officials of the German state clean up her mess. The last thing anybody would want is a war, after all. The American government might also be pressed for concessions viaback channels in exchange for the Kaiserreich not making a big issue of this.

I'm not really basing this on anything but gut instinct, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
A bad round in the pistol,with the powder not igniting properly could throw her aim off.
The sound of the round misfiring and multiple high-ranking Witnesses as well as the cartridge would prove it was an accident.
Henery becomes Kaiser more level headed Kaiser wouldn't avoid the Great War but just delay it possibly keeping the British out or delaying their entry.
If Henery's love of motorized vehicles leads him to mechanize the German Army's logistics France and Russia are doomed.
 
A bad round in the pistol,with the powder not igniting properly could throw her aim off.
The sound of the round misfiring and multiple high-ranking Witnesses as well as the cartridge would prove it was an accident.
Henery becomes Kaiser more level headed Kaiser wouldn't avoid the Great War but just delay it possibly keeping the British out or delaying their entry.
If Henery's love of motorized vehicles leads him to mechanize the German Army's logistics France and Russia are doomed.

Wilhelm II had already son so Heinrich wouldn't be kaiser. He wouldn't be more than regent until Wilhelm III is at age.
 
Annie is not leaving Germany. You kill the leader, you go to jail - even in this situation. German pride would demand something for this inexcusable "accident", because with her reputation, that's how it will always be put - "accident" - although her audacity in assassinating him in front of the whole nation will be secretly admired, officially she's toast. She's lost her reputation, her freedom and quite possibly her life. The second post was right - who is going to believe she missed a stationary target?
 
I suspect that while some would decry her as an assassin and demand execution, cooler heads would prevail and it would be made very clear to her that she should leave Germany, and probably Europe, and keep her head down for the forseeable future while the senior officials of the German state clean up her mess. The last thing anybody would want is a war, after all. The American government might also be pressed for concessions viaback channels in exchange for the Kaiserreich not making a big issue of this.

I'm not really basing this on anything but gut instinct, so take it with a grain of salt.

There's a really good sleaze paperback in that: Annie Oakley has prevented the World War, but in this alternate 1917, she is a pariah on the run from the Kaiser's henchmen. Out for revenge, the Kaiser's assassins chase Oakley on a whirlwind adventure across the globe. Unknown to the world, Kaiser Wilhelm III is building a war machine to invade Western Europe and the United States and avenge his father. Oakley will have to thwart the tyrant's plan and kill the Kaiser one more time.

Write it, print it, and shove it in a off-ramp Walmart for someone to buy at 3 in the morning. We have a winner.
 
There's a really good sleaze paperback in that: Annie Oakley has prevented the World War, but in this alternate 1917, she is a pariah on the run from the Kaiser's henchmen. Out for revenge, the Kaiser's assassins chase Oakley on a whirlwind adventure across the globe. Unknown to the world, Kaiser Wilhelm III is building a war machine to invade Western Europe and the United States and avenge his father. Oakley will have to thwart the tyrant's plan and kill the Kaiser one more time.

Write it, print it, and shove it in a off-ramp Walmart for someone to buy at 3 in the morning. We have a winner.
She teams up with Nicola Tesla and Einstein and founds the Avengers.
 
There's a really good sleaze paperback in that: Annie Oakley has prevented the World War, but in this alternate 1917, she is a pariah on the run from the Kaiser's henchmen. Out for revenge, the Kaiser's assassins chase Oakley on a whirlwind adventure across the globe.

♬ "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Annie Oakley ?"

"Achtung, investigators! The murderess of our beloved Kaiser is in this city famous for its nearby pyramids..."
 
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