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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Rights to the Throne.

30 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in From the Emperor's Desk

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2012. Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Duke of Anjou, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Legal succession, Louis Philippe, Louis-Alphonse, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, William the Conqueror

The topic of the Prince of Wales and his impatience for the throne reminded me of a topic that I had been thinking about for a while. It involves the succession to the throne, but to be more percise it surrounds the legality of the succession to the throne. In civilized societies there are laws governing the succession to thrones and presidential offices.

However, throughout history society was not as civil as most would want it to be and there were times when power did not transition smoothly or even according to law. For instance, many that support Louis-Alphonse, Duke of Anjou’s claim to the French throne often cite that the reign of Louis-Philippe (1830-1848) occurred illegally and that he was a usurper and that his line does not, or should not, have rights to the French throne. The reality of the situation is that when monarchs came to the throne via violent means (or left the throne in such manners) such as rthrough evolutions or war, the victors get to re-write the rules.

It still is a fascinating topic. I will be sticking with the Kings and Queens of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. I will start with the Norman Conquest and the succession of William I the Conqueror and then on through the ages.

I appologize that this is only a teaser but I want to do futher research into this topic as I present the information. On the long weeks where I post Mon-Wed-Fri, this topic will be posted on Fridays. On the short weeks where I post only Tues-Thurs this topic will be covered on Thursdays.

Impatient Charles?

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in In the News today...

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2012. Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Diamond Jubilee, Duchess of Cornwall, Elizabeth II, England, George IV, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom of Great Britain, William IV of the United Kingdom

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/WmHohenzollern/441px-Prince_Charles_2012.jpg

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9700402/Prince-Charles-Im-running-out-of-time.html

Yesterday it was reported in the news that the Prince of Wales is impatient waiting for the throne. In an interview about two years ago he spoke about not wanting to think about being King because it meant the loss of his mother. His latest comments seem to indicate that he is a bit impatient waiting for the throne and that the older he gets he many never be king.

I think that is understandable. He is the hier to the British throne that has waited the longest to be king. Although he is not the longest serving Prince of Wales. King Edward VII waited for 59 years to be King. Edward VII had been Prince of Wales since he was one month old and he served in that capacity until he begame king at the age of 59. Charles, on the other hand, is now 64 and didn’t become Prince of Wales until he was 10 which means he has been Prince of Wales for 54 years, 5 years shy of Edward VII, making him the second longest serving Prince of Wales. He has been hier to the throne since his mother succeeded in 1952 and as hier to the throne for 60 years he has been waiting one year longer than han his great-great grandfather, Edward VII.

King William IV became king at the age of 64, succeeding his brother, King George IV, in 1830. If Charles should outlive his mother he will be the oldest monarch to mount the British throne. Many British monarchs did not even live to see their 60s, Charles’s grandfather, King George VI, died at the age of 56 after a reign of 16 years.

I have great admiration for both Her Majesty the Queen and HRH the Prince of Wales. I would hate to see the Queen pass away. She had been the role model of a great Constitutional monarch. I do not support abdication within the British monarchy and although I think Chalres will make an excellent king and I do want to see him enjoy that role…he just needs to find a little more patience.

Favorite Time Periods

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in From the Emperor's Desk

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Buckingham Palace, Favorite Time Periods, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, William IV of the United Kingdom

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A Note To My Readers: I am having trouble with my computer and I have limted access to things on the internet and I have no access to my documents. So until I am able to have my computer up and running I will continue to post as normal but they won’t be as long.

In studying history I notived that my favorite time periods are those from about the 1500s until the present. I think the reason for this is due to the fact that I am a visual person. From 1500s to the present I have concepts of how the people looked, acted, dressed and where and how they lived. It is easy for me to concieve what these time periods were like. The further back in time the less clear those periods are for me.

I think my interest in Royalty is about relationships and how these people intermarried. Another interesting factor that is a cornerstone for my fascination with Royalty is in the usage of Power. In English history the struggle between the Crown and Parliament was a battle for power. It is interesting to see how power was fought over and how people in both camps lost their lives in the struggle over this power. I find the wisdom of Prince Albert, thePrince Consort, as a vital turning point in the history of the British monarchy. As we saw in my last entry on King William IV as long as the monarchy could be dragged into partisan politics there was much danger for the monarchy. The Prince Consort helped Queen Victoria to place the monarchy above partisan politics. Placing the monarchy above partisan politics may have been the move that ultimately save it.

I also like these time periods because of the way people dressed back then. Today I like in a time in history where comfortable clothing is the norm. On a hot summer day I can go to the store in shorts and a t-shirt and no one thinks twice about it…because they are similarly dressed. Back in say 1885 the choices of what one could wear were limted due mostly both social convention. I loved the way they lived and dressed back then but I don’t think I myself would have liked to have dressed like that.

Do you have a favorite historical time period? If so, let me know what it is and why in the section below.

King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. King of Hanover. Part III

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch

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Anthony FitzClarence, Buckingham Palace, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Clarence House, David Cameron, Dorothea Bland, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Munster, England, George IV, George Washington, Horatio Nelson, House of Commons, House of Lords, King Ernst-August of Hanover, King George III of Great Britain, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Mrs. Jordan, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Privy Council, Queen Victoria, Reform Bill of 1832. Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey, Royal Marriages Act of 1772, The Duchess of Kent, William IV of the United Kingdom

When William became king he wanted to be known as Henry IX (he was christened William Henry) until it was pointed out that the last Stuart pretender, Henry, Cardinal York, was known as Henry IX by his supporters. Cardinal York died in 1807 and that was recent enough for him to change his mind and call himself William IV. The new king was very popular with his subjects at first. He was very down to earth and even would walk the streets of London and Brighton without any security and was found to be very approachable. When he was in Brighton he would send for gusts from the local hotels and invite them to dinner and would not care too much for proper dress and protocol. He also did away with a lot of the pomp and circumstance and the overt display of monarchy that was the rule under his brothers kingship. His coronation was also less extravagant and has become known as the half-crown-ation.

William was 64 years old when he became king and is Britain’s oldest monarch to succeed to the throne. He did not reign for a long time, only seven years, but his reign is seen as significant as he presided over large changes within society and the government, forging Britain into a more modern nation. The Duke of Wellington was the kings first Prime Minister and Wellington said that William was such a hard worker that he had done more work with the king in 10 minutes than he had with his brother, George IV, after years of working with him. Lord Brougham described William IV as a superior man of business who would ask questions to ensure that he understood a matter and this was different from the practice of George IV who feared asking questions lest he appeared to be ignorant.

Although William and Adelaide did not have any children his illegitimate children took up a good deal of his time and attention. He created his eldest son, George, 1st Earl of Munster. He had a troubled relationship with his sons who were constantly looking to their father for money and titles and opportunities for power. This created many quarrels between father and sons. His daughters were said to be beautiful and caused no undue stress for their royal father. During his reign the heir to the British throne was his niece, Princess Victoria of Kent, and although he was fond of his niece there was great animosity between the king and Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. This conflict meant that Victoria was rarely seen at court.

The largest political battle of William’s reign came within his first year on the throne. Shortly after his accession a general election was called. After a bitter battle the Duke of Wellington was defeated and Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey had become Prime Minister. Because of the conflicts and problems during this election the need to reform the process, which had not been modified since the 15th century, was evident. The system was abused. The aristocracy often controlled the elections to the Commons because as landholders the members and potential members of the House of Commons were often their tenants.

The First Reform Bill was defeated in the House of Lords and Earl Grey wanted the king to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections. William hesitated because a general election had just been held the prior year. It also placed him in a bind because the House of Lords was debating a resolution that would prevent the king from dissolving Parliament and they were resistant to any reform that would reduce their power. At the request of the Prime Minister, William drove to Parliament, donned the crown, and in the face of great opposition by members such as Lord Londonderry who brandished a whip and threatened violence, he personally declared Parliament dissolved.

Matters grew worse as the Second Reform Bill was also blocked in the House of Lords and discontent grew throughout the country. Minor riots broke out and Earl Grey wanted again to push through reform and face the House of Lords. He asked William to create enough liberal peers to ensure that the Bill would pass in the House of Lords. William agreed to the proposal and created a number of new peers. There were now enough peers for the Reform Bill to pass but these new peers placed enough amendments onto the Reform Bill that they too thwarted the Prime Minister’s plans.

Earl Grey asked one again that William create enough peers for the Reform Bill to pass the House of Lords in its entirety without amendments. William refused to do the prime Minister’s bidding this time and Earl Grey and his entire Cabinet resigned, sinking the monarchy, and specifically William IV, to an all time low in popularity. William desired that the Duke of Wellington should return to his former position but he did not have enough support in the Commons so William had no choice but to ask for Grey’s reinstatement. Grey returned to office and the House of Lords was more complacent knowing that the king was now agreeing to flood their membership with liberal peers. The Reform Bill passed unamended in 1832. During the crisis William had mud thrown at his carriage and was booed at and hissed at. Eventually the blame for the king’s actions were placed on the influence of the queen and the Duke of Cumberland and the kings popularity rose once again.

William was a member of the House of Hanover and his great-great grandfather, King George I of Great Britain, loved Hanover more than Britain. Although William had visited Hanover in his youth he did not step foot in his other kingdom during his tenure as king. Instead, William was represented in Hanover by a viceroy, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, a role he had played through the reign of George IV. Although ruled by the same monarch they were not politically united. During William’s reign Hanover was part of the Confederation of the Rhine, the successor state of the Holy Roman Empire. Austrian minister Metternich had considerable influence over Hanover at this time. Twice he implemented reforms in Hanover which Lord Palmerston did not support. When asked by Palmerston, then Prime Minister of Britain, to block these reforms in Hanover, William refused which was his prerogative as King of Hanover.

In April of 1837 William’s daughter, Sophia, Lady de L’Isle, died in childbirth leaving the frail king shaken and depressed. His health began to decline further. At a dinner reception in May another conflict occurred and he publicly humiliated the Duchess of Kent where he said he hoped he lived long enough to live past princess Victoria’s 18th birthday to avoid the Duchess of Kent from becoming regent. The king was successful in this endeavor. Victoria turned 18 on May 24. William IV passed away on June 20, 1837 at the age of 71. This ended the personal union of the Untied Kingdom and Hanover. The British throne went to his niece, Victoria, and since women were barred against serving as the monarch in Hanover, that crown went to his brother the Duke of Cumberland who became King Ernst-August of Hanover.

His reign was short but significant. He oversaw needed Parliamentary reforms and it was one of the last times when a British monarch would be this active in party politics. He lead an interesting life and was an ordinary man place in extraordinary circumstances.

Happy 65th Wedding Anniversary!

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in In the News today...

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65th Wedding Anniversary, Duke of Edinburgh, Elizabeth II, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Philip

Happy 65th wedding Anniversary to HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and HRH The prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Congratulations on 65 years!!! 

King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of Hanover. Part II

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch

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Buckingham Palace, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Clarence House, David Cameron, Dorothea Bland, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Munster, England, George IV, George Washington, Horatio Nelson, House of Commons, House of Lords, King George III of Great Britain, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Mrs. Jordan, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Privy Council, Royal Marriages Act of 1772, TagsAnthony FitzClarence, William IV of the United Kingdom

During the first part of 19th century, after his naval career had ended, the Duke of Clarence spent considerable time in the House of Lords. He took a controversial stance on the slave trade, although illegal in Britain it was still legal in many of their colonies. The Duke did not think freedom would be beneficial to the slaves. He mentioned that in his travels he had seen many freemen in utter poverty. At one point, in a speech concerning the abolitionists, he directed an insult to the leading abolitionist “the proponents of the abolition are either fanatics or hypocrites, and in one of those classes I rank Mr. Wilberforce“.

In 1817 tragedy struck the British royal family. Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of the Prince of Wales (who had become the Prince regent in 1811) died in childbirth along with her stillborn son. This left no legitimate heir in the generation beyond the 12 surviving children of George III. With the succession in jeopardy many of the royal dukes bade farewell to their mistresses in an effort to secure the succession to the throne.

The Duke of Clarence’s relationship with Mrs Jordan ended in 1811. Mrs Jordan was paid a handsome financial settlement and kept custody of her daughters under the condition she did not resume her stage work. She did however, resume her work as an actress to help pay of some debts of one of her son-in-laws (husband to one of her daughters prior to her relationship with William). This resulted in losing her payments from the Duke of Clarence. She retired to Paris and died in poverty in 1816.

William was 52 in 1817 and his choices of suitable women of childbearing age were slim. William’s brother, Prince Augustus, Duke of Cambridge, found   Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, for William to marry but her father, Landgrave Friederich III of Hesse-Cassel, refused the match. In the end the Duke of Cambridge ended up marrying Princess Augusta himself. William eventually found a suitable princess to marry him, Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen the daughter of Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. They were married on July 11, 1818 at Kew Palace in double ceremony along with his brother, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

The union of William and Adelaide was a happy one despite the age difference, and despite the fact that she had to be step-mother to her husband’s illegitimate children. Motherhood, however, would be denied as only two children, Charlotte and Elizabeth, were born but lived only months.

On January 1820 King George III died after a long reign of 59 years. The Duke of Clarence became second in line to the throne . His eldest brother was now King George IV. George was estranged from his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, and she was past child bearing years. The next in line to the throne was William’s brother, Prince Frederick, Duke of York. The Duke of York was married to the eccentric Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia. This union was childless and the couple were estranged. This increased the likelihood that William would one day become king. Because of that awareness William began to take better care of himself and stopped drinking alcohol.

In 1827 William moved a step closer to the throne with the death of his brother, Frederick, Duke of York. William was now 62. He also returned to navy life that year when the Prime Minister, George Canning, appointed William to the office of Lord High Admiral. The office of had been in commission and while it had been in commission the office was exercised by a board. The last time an individual held the office was in 1709. His tenure in the post was short lived and tumultuous. His council consisted of Admiralty officers and they were often in conflict. The conflicts came to a head in 1828 when William put out to sea a squadron of ships that were gone for 10 days without word of where they were heading and for how long they would be gone. His brother, George IV communicated through the Prime Minister,  Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, that his brother should be relieved of command and he demanded his resignation; the Duke of Clarence complied.

William spent the next three years back in the House of Lords and supported the Catholic Emancipation Act which would remove the restrictions placed on Roman Catholics. William supported the bill while his brothers, the Duke of Cumberland and the King, did not. As rumors of Civil War in Ireland grew over these religious restrictions support for the Bill increased and it was passed in 1829. By that time it was clear that the king was in bad health and would not live long. On the morning of June 26, 1830 King George IV died leaving his brother, HRH the Duke of Clarence, king. 

I will post again on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day here in the US and complete my look at William IV and cover his reign as king.

King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of Hanover.

16 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch

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Anthony FitzClarence, Buckingham Palace, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Clarence House, David Cameron, Dorothea Bland, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Munster, England, George IV, George Washington, Horatio Nelson, House of Commons, House of Lords, King George III of Great Britain, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Mrs. Jordan, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Privy Council, Royal Marriages Act of 1772, William IV of the United Kingdom

Finally after a few weeks delay I can get back to the featured monarch section. Today I want to feature King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of Hanover.

He was a man never destined to be king. He was born on August 21, 1765 at Buckingham House (it wasn’t a palace at the time) and was the third child and third son of King George III and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. With older brothers, George, The Prince of Wales (future King George IV), and Frederick, Duke of York ahead of him in the succession nobody contemplated that the little prince would one day be king. I find him to be a fascinating person to study. He was royal yet very human and in many ways very down to earth. He entered the royal navy in 1778 at the age of thirteen to be a midshipman. He remained in the royal navy for 12 years and retired from active service in 1790 at the age of 25. Prior to his retirement he did command his own vessel, the frigate HMS Andromeda, which he took command of in 1788. The next year he was promoted to the position of Rear-Admiral and placed in command of HMS Valiant. While in the royal navy he became close friends with Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté.

Prince William was in New York city during the American Revolution and George Washington even approved a plan to kidnap him. Nothing came of the plot as Britain became aware of it and sent guards to escort the prince around the city. In 1789 Prince William wanted to be made a royal duke similarly to his older brothers. However, the king was unwilling to do so. To twist the kings arm and to get his way William threatened to run in the next election to become a member of the House of Commons. George III did not want this to happen and therefore created William Duke of Clarence and St Andrews and Earl of Munster on May 16, 1789.

I could, and probably will, write a whole blog entry on the marriages of the children of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Suffice it to say that successful marriages from the 15 children of King George III and Queen Charlotte were a rarity. Prince William was no exception. William and his siblings were the first royals to come to maturity under the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 which prohibited descendants of George II from marrying unless they obtained the monarch’s consent, or, if consent was denied they could marry whomever they chose when they were over the age of 25 as long as twelve months notice was given to the Privy Council.

In 1791 Prince William began a long relationship with Dorothea Bland, an actress well known by the stage name “Mrs. Jordan.” William and Dorothea were husband and wife in every way, except legally, for many years. Since his older brother the Prince of Wales unhappily married in 1795 and had a child, Charlotte of Wales, in 1796, the succession seemed assure and William and Dorothea had no reason to test the waters of the Royal Marriages Act. The couple resided at Clarence House in London (the home of the current Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall) where they raised their 10 illegitimate children under the surname FitzClarence. Their eldest son, George FiztClarence, was created 1st Earl of Munster. This line continued up to 2000 and ended with the death Anthony FitzClarence, 7th Earl of Munster. Since he did not have any male heirs when he died in 2000 the title became extinct and merged with the crown. Current British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, is also a descendant of The Duke of Clarence (William IV) and Mrs. Jordan.

I will stop here and continue with my look at William IV on next Tuesday’s blog. See you then! 🙂

Happy Birthday! HRH The Prince of Wales

14 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in Happy Birthday

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Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Elizabeth II, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, the prince of Wales

Today I would like to feature the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles…again. I will not re-post the older feature on the Prince of Wales, I will repeat some of my words but I will also add to them.

Today HRH turns 64 years old!

In the United States when people reach their 60s they are usually planning their retirement…if they can afford it. The Prince of Wales, However, is still waiting to star his main job…King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is difficult to talk about the prince of Wales taking on the role of king when you know another person has to die in order for him to assume that role. I have great respect for both of them and would love to see Her Majesty continue her reign. Yet, I also have mixed feelings to be honest. I would also like to see Charles assume the role for which birth has placed on his shoulders while he is still healthy and young enough to enjoy the role and make his name in the great panoply of British rulers.

I have always had great respect and admiration for the Prince of Wales. When I began studying and following royalty the Prince of Wales had just turned 30. He was described as a man of action and always on the go. He was into sports and his service in the military had him doing some amazing things from being a helicopter pilot and captain of his own ship. He also came across as very intelligent and articulate. I have come to learn that not everyone shared this admiration. Following his life for 34 years has allowed me to see some great changes in him. He seems more comfortable with himself than he was when younger. I think that comfort translates into being more at ease with people. He has had a long public career and I think he has found his niche in life while waiting for the crown.

This next paragraph is from my earlier writings out the Prince of Wales.

My final thought about the Prince of Wales is what style of kingship will he have? Will he stay the course and walk in the model that his mother portrayed? I do not know. Tuesday I mentioned that the Prince of Wales will make changes when he is king but I wonder what those changes will be? He has been outspoken and generally the monarch does keep neutral quite about issues, so will he continue the path of neutrality or will it be difficult for him to adjust to staying above the fray on specific issues? He does have a very warm and compassionate persona and while his mother also can display that quality there is also a sense of distance even aloofness wit the queen. Is that a trait that the monarch needs in order to retain that regal sense of mystery the crown allegedly has? Or will his more personal style be a breath of fresh air in the modern age?

I actually believe his friendly and personal style will help the monarchy move into the 21st century. What I am about to say is not criticism toward Her Majesty, it is more of an observation. I see Elizabeth II as one of the last of the Victorians. The influence of Queen Victoria was still being felt while Her Majesty was in her formative years. She was born 25 years after the great queen and raised by family members that lived and knew Queen Victoria. Although the queen herself has become more personable within the last 20 years or so, I think Charles, and then William afterward, will demonstrate the quality to a more pronounced degree.

I don’t think the reverence for monarchy will be, or has been, diminished in the light of this new open and personal style of monarchy. For what keeps the mystery and reverence there for the monarchy is a sense of class. Not the social class type of distinction where one class is seen as “better” than the other, but the type of class that displays maturity, dignity and respect. In that way the prince of Wales is a very classy guy! I wish him a happy birthday and many more healthy and happy days ahead for him.

 

 

Remembrance Day

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in From the Emperor's Desk

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Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth II, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II, Remembrance Day, United Kingdom

 

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II stands by a cross bearing a poppy during the service of remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. Remembrance Day and the annual service is to remember those who have lost their lives serving in the Armed Forces. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The End of the Great War

12 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by liamfoley63 in Kingdom of Europe

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14 points, Austria-Hungary, Crown Prince Wilhelm, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Empire, Imperiial Chancellor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kingdom of Prussia, Max of Baden, The Great War, United States, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, World War ii

Today as I type this it is Veterans Day in the United States. We honor all those that serve in the military. The chosen date for this remembrance and gratitude to our brave men and women who sacrificed their lives was the ending of World War I. The end of the War brought not only a temporary peace to Europe, war would once again engulf Europe and the globe 21 years later, it also brought down ancient monarchies and a way of life that had existed for over one thousand years. In my interest in European royalty and history I often contemplate when was the point of no return for the down fall of monarchs? Could the down fall of Louis XVI of France and Navarre been avoided? I ask the same question today in regards to the collapse of the German Empire and the Empire of Austria-Hungary.

The war dragged on for 4 years. During the War the bombastic German Emperor, Wilhelm II, was a mere figurehead with his role being delegated to traveling throughout the empire by train giving speeches to encourage and boost the moral of the troops. Any military or political decisions had been taken out of his hands at this point and were under the control of the General Staff. Even though Wilhelm’s rule was nominal he was the symbolic head of the empire and the focal point of the propaganda against Germany. Death to the Kaiser or calls to hang the Kaiser were familiar rallying cries within the Allied forces.

By November of 1918 the war was winding down and all hope for a German victory was lost. President Wilson, not a monarchist by any stretch of the imagination, would not deal with these monarchical governments as a means of restoring peace. One of his famous 14 points for peace was that he would reduce German territory and practically dismantle the Austro-Hungarian empire. This placed great pressure on those in control in both Germany and Austria to rid themselves of the crown heads which stood at the pinnacle of symbolic power. It seems that the countries themselves were also tired of their hereditary leaders.

A year prior to the end of the War Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl tried to sue for peace using his brother-in-law, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma as a intermediary, but to no avail. In November of 1918 as the German General staff, along with Wilhelm II, gathered at headquarters at Spa in the Netherlands revolt was growing in the military and Germany itself. I think Wilhelm’s actions and attitudes at this time show the depth of his denial that things were truly over. He thought he would be able to lead the army back into Germany to crush any of the rising revolts. It came as a shock to him to learn that the army, so tied to Prussian authority for centuries, refused the emperors leadership.

Even the German Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, tried to persuade the emperor to abdicate the throne to one of his grandsons (the German Crown Prince was even more unpopular than his father) in an effort to try and save the monarchy, but the emperor refused. It was the night of November 9-10 that the emperor finally saw the writing on the wall and fled into the Netherlands seeking asylum. This came on the day when Chancellor Max of Baden announced the abdication of the emperor to the German people even though at this point the emperor still had not agreed to abdicate. It wouldn’t be until December when the emperor officially signed documents agreeing to his abdication, releasing all military and government official of their oath of allegiance to him. The monarchy may have been salvageable in 1917 but at that point the war was not lost so there was no reason for the emperor to abdicate. Sadly the reason for the emperor to abdicate came only when it was realized that any hope to win the war had been lost and by then it was too late to save the monarchy.

In 1918 the aim of the allied forces was to punish Germany and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles is an example of that. The harshness of the treaty is said to be a factor in the rise of Germany and the cause of World War II. States have learned a lesson from World War I. That lesson is to not punish a warring nation but to try and stabilize that country as soon as possible. If the monarchy could have been a stabilizing force for Germany at the end of the war, and if the allied powers would have been willing to work with these monarchies would it have been possible to avert the coming evil that proved to be much worse? One of histories unanswerable questions.

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Recent Posts

  • January 27, 1859: Birth of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia
  • History of the Kingdom of East Francia: The Treaty of Verdun and the Formation of the Kingdom.
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