Right after World War One was a hell of a time for democracy in Europe, y’know the Great War was a tragedy but on the other end of it look at all these new Republics! Germany’s a Republic now, Austria-Hungary’s split up into independent nations, Turkey’s a Republic, the USSR is a bunch of Republics… in theory. And y’know it’s tempting to say “Well of course, right, because with better communication people are going to become better informed and more willing to band together to demand reform, but why 1917-1922? I mean in 1848 there were huge revolutions across the continent, and at the risk of underselling them because they were a big deal, the only place they got rid of the monarchy was in France, and then they elect Napoleon 2 electric boogaloo over here to be president, he serves one term and makes himself an emperor! But after reading about Kaiser Wilhelm II, I have to wonder… how much of the reason all these monarchies died out after the Great War is because the monarchs in question were a bunch of chumps? Today I want to look at Kaiser Wilhelm II, because when he came to power he inherited one of the most pre-eminent powers in Europe with one of the world’s most accomplished statesmen at his beck-and-call, and then managed to do nearly everything in his power to upset his neighbors, jump headfirst into a war on two fronts, and leave office with Germany in a spiral of debt, inflation, and eventually N*zis.
Music (in order of appearance):
Kevin Macleod – Call to Adventure
Kevin Macleod – Conflicted
Kevin Macleod – Hidden Past
Engelbert Humperdinck – Moorish Rhapsody II. Tanger (a Night in a Moorish Coffee House)
Kevin Macleod – Shades of Spring
AShamaluevMusic – News
Kevin Macleod covering Grieg – In the Hall of the Mountain King
Secession Studios – Demise of a Nation
Kevin Macleod – Conflicted
Joshua Finnie covering Grieg – In the Hall of the Mountain King
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2:06 Bismark did not have a small ego. He'd frequently do horrendous tantrums when he didn't get his way with Wilhelm I.
Bit the j involvement in the wars is true
Fun how it all ended in a QAnon rant
When the publicist quit, very funny. Thanks Jack!
We sooooo need a "PR for historical figures" series
I tried to count but lost track does anyone know if there were actually 60 train cars
OMG! What a man!!! Bravooo!
Just listen to all this Entante propaganda. I can't believe that 100 years later people are still spitting out the same stupid bs the Entante did to convince the people to join the war. Simply shameful.
In many ways, I see Wilhelm II was the Donald Trump of his time.
Democracy is the god that failed for a reason
Why do some kaiserboos still worship him. If they like the German empire that much then wouldn't they worship Bismarck instead?. Also you used the bourbon flag for France in the ww1 scene lmao
6:39: Of course he was rich, he was the Emperor of Germany. FYI: Wilson’s a chump.
So this man was an international menace to society even before WW1.🤔
I can actually kinda relate to the guy (minus the racism) he had a very low temper but he was also very insecure about his deformed arm (Resulting from his arm being broken during birth) and his hypoxic state during birth may have caused him brain damage. You can tell he was very insecure about his arm just by looking at the Kaiser’s photos and portraits, trying to conceal the withered limb as much as possible. I (for as far as I know) do not have any brain damage resulting from hypoxia but I do have some anger issues and erratic behavior from time to time. It’s kinda sad how his botched birth resulted in an Emperor who caused a huge War which then caused an even huger war. Man, those Victorian doctors are trash.
But hey, at least he looked pretty hot, ngl.
Somebody needs reminding that from German unification in 1870 until the Great War in 1914 , Germany was begging England for some kind of understanding , and it was always Britain who said NOT INTERESTED !! The British Empire could take care of itself… Which was fair enough.!. Until Britain realised she needed a great power ally and opted for an understanding with France… the Entente Cordiale of 1906… rather than with Germany… That upset the balance of power in Europe and made a huge German war fairly inevitable… And it was 100% Britain's fault
Why won't anyone say it.!? The Entente Cordiale was the greatest blunder in history… Edward VII was the villain NOT Wilhelm II
Imagine being Nicholas II of Russia and to have been manipulated into war with Japan by this Doofus
the monarchs of ww1 were just the wrong people to lead nations. not great leaders like their predecessors were. no more tech doesnt lead to replublics especially as its a new thing. most replublics in history fell to monarchy so lets see our future in 200 years.
"I look upon the people and the nation as handed on to me as a responsibility conferred upon me, and I believe, as it is written in the Bible, that it is my duty to increase this heritage. Whoever tries to interfere with my task, I shall crush."
Kaiser Wilhelm, 1913
Why does every anti Wilhelm II video have to start with sucking off Bismarck? Like i'm not a fan of Wilhelm II either but Bismark was FAR from any better.
Yeah with everything but you did not accuse Otto von Bismarck of not having an ego.
It should also be pointed out he had birth complications which left him with a withered arm and was possibly histronic/bipolar, all of which compounded his character issues and led him and Germany down a path to ruin.
@3:56 Oh Look Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II have a lot in common. Except Kaiser was an Emporer and Trump was a one term douchebag tried to pull off a coup to become 'Emporer Of America' Smh. 🙄
Bismarck is way too overrated. As soon as he didnt have an Empire to unite, his legacy became one of an utter failure that only lasted as long as it did because he solve ever issue be threatening to resign.
Kulturkampf was an utter disgrace. The attempt to repress Catholics and ethnic minorities was not only unpopular, unethical, but also a failure in what it wanted to achieve. By the end of Bismarck's kulturkampf, tye Zentrum Party that represented Catholics, and to an extent ethnic minorities, was the most popular party in the Parliament.
Anti-socialist legislation was basically the exact same as kulturkampf, allowing the socialists to become the other largest parties. And shile Bismarck did established a welfare state to try counter the rise of the Social Democratic Party, but utterly failed to do so. By the end of Bismarck's Chancellorship, parliament was dominated by the two parties he wanted to repress, and he still wanted to repress them further; arguing to violently breaking up strikes.
There's also his protectionist policies, failed attempt at European alliances, isolation of France and to an extent Britain, and just everything relating to the war in sight crisis.
Bismarck was a great Prussian statesman, but he was an utterly incompetent German statesman that exacerbated the disunity of Gernany, exacerbated the hatred towards Prussian dominance in Germany, and left Germany failing in his disgusting attempts at repression.
5:33 "Who invited the Americans?"
"You did, sir, they came in by using Mexico's invitation"
i love how a history guy can make fun of histry and make under history buffs understand that his lessoin sisent 1 sided insented hes sides with what whent from stinky poo and what made everything go like it supose to like be like ooh just cuess you know this you dont know why you do this for thanks jack rackam your underting support about everthing love your vids and keep up with your cheap and understaing history lession
"austria hungary started it" thats a funny way of saying serbia.
Heard the reason he was so pissed about the Boxers, was because they kinda of killed the German ambassador there.
though recall this guy wanted to invade the U.S…..for reasons, and even wanted to capture the Panama canal, before WWI even started.
Republics are a degeneration.
Accidentally read about Kasier and off course there are quite funny, ridiculous and stupendous characters in history, but Kaiser was just someone that u thought u could only find in a monty python skit. His unlimited mited support was that of the" blank check" issue without even given a proper thought or forming a proper resolution if conflict was involved and total idiocracy thinking that Russia, France and England wouldn't go to war because of monarchist solidarity was just wishful thinking in his part
Lore of The Kaiser Played with Fire | The Life & Times of Wihlelm II momentum 100
He is just like a southpark character😂
1c0~
Man this video is like reading all the British war propaganda all over again.
Woden is English too, Wotan is the German version. Great video tho !
All that because he was a breach baby who suffered substantial nerve damage to his left arm when his mother gave birth to him…
She did the best she could with what she had at the time. Granted, one should know not to let supposed medical professionals tie severed rabbits' feet to his injured arm or give him electro shock therapy… but they lived in an Era of "yep, you've got ghosts in your blood. Do cocaine about it" medical treatments 😅
Bro really said on video “no one loves peace more than Keizer Wilhelm the second, and hitler.”
And here in Norway the most democratic nation in the World we have a king, does that say something?
There are still Hohenzollern in the House of Romania (although currently a republic), so… there you have it.
Lore of The Kaiser Played with Fire | The Life & Times of Wihlelm II momentum 100
He was good for his country, but he wasn’t good for the world.
Reading his bio all over again, i just feels like the whole world was against him from literally the moment of his birth
His crippled arm on his birth caused a severe psychological issue that even though he was very closely related to British monarch and even at times Queen Victoria does love him as grandson, the fact that British doctor failed his family twice (his disaster birth and on another instance giving poor treatment to his father that evantually led to his death) and his British family dont like him making it hard for him to evantually accept his British side
Leading great power at relatively young age inflate his ego even more to the point he keeps boasting his position to the then still heir to the throne uncle with and aunt that hates you for what your country done to her country evantually leads to everything he done from challenging British hegemony and naval arms race makes the situations sours even more significantly
Having a shrewd chancellor but has contrasting policy on domestic matters leads to a massive rift between them and no one can quite fill Bismarck shoes on creating a benefiting diplomatic relationship, that is another one
And finally the Great War comes and literally almost everyone goes against his country ultimately lost his throne and ending long history of monarchy in Germany in blink of an eye eventhough Germany still has strong power in the world unlike old empires like Rome, Ottoman, etc that goes very weak near the end of his life despite him not being 100% on charge on that matter (and is backstabbed by the navy which he nurtures and love very much)
He could have been a better monarch ofc but his downfall feels like a canon event at some point
Idk who Wihlelm II is, but I know who Wilhelm II was. He was a sexy beast of nature.
Kaiser Wilhelm II.: Asking Russia for an alliance
Jack: HE WANTED WAR WITH RUSSIA ALL THE TIME
(…)
Just discovering your great channel. One point for Wilhelm, sort of. It was the considered opinion of the German foreign policy establishment and pretty much everyone that it was only a matter of time before Russia made a move west. They were terrified of Russian manpower and of Russia's slow but inexorable industrialization and, in particular, the expansion of its rail network. There was a not inconsiderable faction in favor of war with Russia sooner rather than later figuring that the gap between Russia and the German powers was closing and that time was not a friend. The problem was that Bismark knew all of that and one reason he kept Germany out of the whole chase for colonies was so as to not antagonize the British who were at that point engaged in the "Great Game" with Russia and her natural enemies. Bismark wanted Germany to be a natural ally to Britain. He was against colonizing Africa and would never have invaded Belgium with Britain guaranteeing its neutrality.
Yeah he just needed better PR , cuz basically he was the hugest greatest perfectest nice guy in all historicals , according to himself. And the most richest. 👍👍👍 sounds familiar.
In the words of rockstar foxy “yarr, sometimes ya play with fire and ye get burned”