(Free Ep) Royal Cousins at War | BBC Select



Watch the first episode of Royal Cousins at War for free on YouTube with BBC Select.

This fascinating royal history documentary explores the relationship between George V of Britain, Wilhelm II of Germany and Nicholas II of Russia. Families are always complex. There are plots, scandals and betrayals. But when the family concerned rule the most powerful nations on the planet, these petty squabbles can lead to political turmoil, economic upheaval and even war.

Watch Royal Cousins at War Part 1 and Part 2 with BBC Select:

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37 thoughts on “(Free Ep) Royal Cousins at War | BBC Select”

  1. King George the 5th wouldn’t save his cousin the Czar from being killed like a wild animal that killed a chicken and the village showed up and shoot them at the same time but the killers were Communist.

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  2. An interesting look at the results of democracy first spreading through autocracies just like it still does today. Because autocrats will always have bad apples like anyone else, but Russia still acting like dang fools.

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  3. GREAT Doc!! Loved the pictures and video!
    The video from 1899 has them all in black. Did they mention where they were and on what occasion?.
    Queen Victoria was a smart cookie, even if she was not say, the warmest of mothers. Everyone is always so taken aback and offended by her diary entries, but she was simply very honest about her feelings and didn't care what people thought about her!

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  4. It's a mystery only if you've never seen 'Yes, minister'
    Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now when it's worked so well?

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  5. Poor Vicky, as if she had ANYTHING to do with Wilhelm’s deformity! The Dr saved her and her son’s lives but probably cut through nerve endings with the forceps.
    Excellent bio which for me produced dozens of “What ifs”!

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  6. Appeasement got to be a bad word in the Hitler days, but maybe it would have been wise for the English to do more to appease Wilhelm. By hooking up with France & Russia over Germany, not only did they guarantee an eventual war with Germany, they also aligned themselves with two losers, two declining powers, instead of a growing power in Germany. And THIS guaranteed that when the war came, even if the England won, it would be at the eventual cost of their empire.

    England, with only France and Russia as allies, could only beat Germany with the help of the US, and when that happened, it meant the US would supersede England as the leading world power. If England had maintained their traditional alliance with Germany, it's possible there would have been no war, because a French-Russian alliance vs. a combination of England & Germany would have been hopeless, and even if there was a war, it would have been an easy win for England=Germany, the US would have been kept out and England would have maintained their leading position, because, as proved by the 1919 rejection of the League of Nations, the US didn't want that leading position and only took it up after another World War when there was no choice because the great British Empire had been reduced to penury, despite winning.

    How to appease WIlhelm? Just don't alienate him with their smarmy, superior attitude. He was an emotional & sensitive guy. Even if you didn't like him, you were stuck with him. What's better, treat the guy like an outcast because you don't like him personally, and have a war, lose a million men and an empire, or put up with his boorish behavior like many ordinary families do with an annoying relative it would be better not to offend? The ruling classes of England chose war & the loss of empire because Wilhelm was noisy at their picnics. From such petty causes come the ruin of empires.

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  7. I know the dynastic reasons that go back a couple of hundred years, but it is still beyond me how the Brits could invite Germans to rule them. Maybe it was because of their Fench genes?

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