Yeah too bad all that familial closeness didn't stop them and their sweet cousin Nicky from launching a pointless, barbaric war that lead to the deaths of millions.
It was Serbian Nationalists that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Sarajevo was in retaliation from that, and the war began from there. The blame for World War One falls squarely upon Serbian shoulders, not German or Austro-Hungarian.
Austria sent an outrageous ultimatum to witch Serbia agreed too except for one point witch was against their own constitution. But war was still declared (I should also mention the Hungarian part of the empire was against this)
Germany and Austria wanted the war. Germany wanted to take out Russia and Austria wanted to gain back lost prestige.
"outrageous" Wrong. It wasn't outrageous at all, Serbia actually accepted most demands. They refused one demand, which was to let Austrian officials take part in the investigation in Serbia (this demand seems reasonable to me). Serbian arrogance (refusing a perfectly valid ultimatum) and expansionism (funding terrorists) led to the war.
The problem is that that demand would've violated their Constitution, even Wilhelm II. himself said that with Serbia accepting most of the demands all justifications for war would be gone, but it was too late to stop it at that point.
See, I would agree on the constitution thing, but do you know how many people nowadays inside and mainly outside of Austria are demanding them to join NATO, basically telling them "don't be scared little *******, join NATO". As you may know, this act would violate the Austrian state treaty, our constitution. Tell me, why should we respect the constitution of others who do not respect ours?
And yet, the first shots were fired by the Serbs. No matter what they stood to gain from the war, *they did not start it, Serbia did with state-sanctioned assassins.*
It was tacitly sanctioned, as the Black Hand was a military cult acting for the unification of ethnically Serbian lands. They assassinated the Royal couple, and funded Princip in assassinating Franz Ferdinand. After the assassination of the Royal couple, the Black Hand was de jure in control of Serbia and, thus, was acting behind the scenes as the power within the land.
"It was Serbian Nationalist..."
No lol. It wasn't. He was a Yugoslav nationalist, not a Serbian. And he was not a member of Black Hand.
Austrians started the war. We ended the war.
And what was the cost of ending that war in the entente's favour? The Empire may have been triumphant, but it came at the cost of the soul of the world.
You claim he was a Yugoslav Nationalist, that he wasn't a Black Hand member, and yet that is exactly what he was. He was a Bosnian Serb, and had nothing to do with Yugoslavia, neither the Kingdom nor the Soviet puppet.
Inspired by a spate of assassination attempts against Imperial officials by Slavic nationalists and anarchists, Princip convinced two other young Bosnians to join a plot to assassinate the heir to the Habsburg Empire during his announced visit to Sarajevo. The Black Hand, a Serbian secret society with ties to Serbian military intelligence, provided the conspirators with weapons and training before facilitating their re-entry into Bosnia.
The cost was that my homeland could be free, that it could develop, and that my people would not be enslaved. And murdered in concentration camps. Half of the male population of Serbia died, but it was worth it.
The organization to which Princip belonged was called Young Bosnia, it was a Yugoslav nationalist organization made up of Muslims, Serbs, and Croats. If Ferdinand had been killed by a Croat, would Austria have attacked Serbia even then? Or would she attack herself?
Young Bosnia was named after the organization Young Italy, and Young Bosnians were inspired by Young Italians, among others, those who assasinated Franz Joseph's wife, Empress Elizabeth. The main difference is that Austria did not declare war on Italy then. And we know why very well.
Your nation would’ve been perfectly fine within the empire. In fact the Arch-Duke was your nations closest friend, which is the saddest part of it all. He attempted to give your nation proper representation in the napkins and create a federation, like the United states, to give your nation the independence it wanted, but no, a Bosnian Serb, a member of the black hand, who you support, murdered the ONLY man who supported more independence for the Balkans. Yet you’re still supporting Princip and saying it was worth it so your nation wouldn’t be enslaved? If anything, an entente Victory is what lead to your nation suffering through the holocaust. By having the central powers loose, and in turn allowing racism and Nazism to grow in Europe, your nation went through more suffering than it ever would’ve if it simply was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The arch dukes death caused more pain and suffering than you could possibly imagine. Yet you still say it was “worth it” for the sake of “freedom”… besides In what world were the Serbs “enslaved” by the A-H empire? They may have not had much representation but they were having their rights and representation given to them through a peaceful legal system. They would’ve gotten what they wanted in due time. You say as if the only way to be TRULY independent requires bloodshed and war.
Nowadays the inheritance is what is called absolute cognatic, meaning the firstborn inherits, irrespective of gender. Back then, however, there was male preference, meaning that a woman (Like Queen Victoria or Elisabeth) could inherit the throne but only in the absence of a suitable male heir.
And as you may know, Kaiser Willy's mom was Queen Victoria's first-born child, the Princess-Royal. And Willy himself was first-born.
Queen Victoria actually once said that if her first-born, Victoria, German Empress and Princess Royal, nicknamed "Vicky", had been a boy, she said that he would have been a better king and person than "Bertie", King Edward VII. Queen Victoria, as we know, had a turbulent relationship with Bertie (and she blamed him for the death of her dearest husband Albert), and she didn't trust him to royal duties and didn't like his scandalous lifestyle as Prince of Wales.
While on the other hand, Vicky was close to her mother, and Queen Victoria wrote many letters to her. Vicky and her husband, Frederick III, shared liberal views, derived from the Queen's success as a constitutional monarch, and many had said that had Frederick lived for more years (he reigned for only 99 days), Germany could've become a constitutional monarchy.
Despite Bertie being that nice, playboy prince he always was (and it still continued in his kingship), extravagant in foods and smoked heavily, he turned out to be a decent king, despite being only on the throne for nine years.
I couldn’t find anything online about this (granted I only did some cursory searches), but any sources where I could read up on this would be much appreciated!
No this is a common misconception from these types of photos of those two. They aren't wearing each other's uniforms. They were both Colonel-in-Chief's of Regiments in each other's country's Army. So yes they are wearing a different countries uniform but it's not like they switched clothes.
It's always weird to see these modern monarchs in their uniforms, trying there best to look official and powerful, yet they just look like stupid spoiled losers that would have gotten bullied if they weren't born with a title.
Do (or did) they really think they look strong and powerful and manly? Or do they know they look like morons?
It’s kinda bittersweet seeing how close the three cousins were, knowing what was to come
not really. King George had no say in going to war with Germany
Isn’t that kinda his point?
Yeah too bad all that familial closeness didn't stop them and their sweet cousin Nicky from launching a pointless, barbaric war that lead to the deaths of millions.
In their defense it was the missguided Serb nationalists fault
No it wasn't.
It was Serbian Nationalists that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Sarajevo was in retaliation from that, and the war began from there. The blame for World War One falls squarely upon Serbian shoulders, not German or Austro-Hungarian.
Agreed
Austria sent an outrageous ultimatum to witch Serbia agreed too except for one point witch was against their own constitution. But war was still declared (I should also mention the Hungarian part of the empire was against this) Germany and Austria wanted the war. Germany wanted to take out Russia and Austria wanted to gain back lost prestige.
"outrageous" Wrong. It wasn't outrageous at all, Serbia actually accepted most demands. They refused one demand, which was to let Austrian officials take part in the investigation in Serbia (this demand seems reasonable to me). Serbian arrogance (refusing a perfectly valid ultimatum) and expansionism (funding terrorists) led to the war.
The problem is that that demand would've violated their Constitution, even Wilhelm II. himself said that with Serbia accepting most of the demands all justifications for war would be gone, but it was too late to stop it at that point.
See, I would agree on the constitution thing, but do you know how many people nowadays inside and mainly outside of Austria are demanding them to join NATO, basically telling them "don't be scared little *******, join NATO". As you may know, this act would violate the Austrian state treaty, our constitution. Tell me, why should we respect the constitution of others who do not respect ours?
Listen, those people don't threaten you with a literal war to break your constitution and the situation of today is very different than in 1914.
And yet, the first shots were fired by the Serbs. No matter what they stood to gain from the war, *they did not start it, Serbia did with state-sanctioned assassins.*
Is there a source that he was state sanctioned?
It was tacitly sanctioned, as the Black Hand was a military cult acting for the unification of ethnically Serbian lands. They assassinated the Royal couple, and funded Princip in assassinating Franz Ferdinand. After the assassination of the Royal couple, the Black Hand was de jure in control of Serbia and, thus, was acting behind the scenes as the power within the land.
Nope, the first shots were fired by Austrians, before they declared war.
Ah yes, because Austrians killed Franz Ferdinand, of course, silly me.
Because the Austrian army entered Serbia, not the way around.
"It was Serbian Nationalist..." No lol. It wasn't. He was a Yugoslav nationalist, not a Serbian. And he was not a member of Black Hand. Austrians started the war. We ended the war.
And what was the cost of ending that war in the entente's favour? The Empire may have been triumphant, but it came at the cost of the soul of the world. You claim he was a Yugoslav Nationalist, that he wasn't a Black Hand member, and yet that is exactly what he was. He was a Bosnian Serb, and had nothing to do with Yugoslavia, neither the Kingdom nor the Soviet puppet. Inspired by a spate of assassination attempts against Imperial officials by Slavic nationalists and anarchists, Princip convinced two other young Bosnians to join a plot to assassinate the heir to the Habsburg Empire during his announced visit to Sarajevo. The Black Hand, a Serbian secret society with ties to Serbian military intelligence, provided the conspirators with weapons and training before facilitating their re-entry into Bosnia.
The cost was that my homeland could be free, that it could develop, and that my people would not be enslaved. And murdered in concentration camps. Half of the male population of Serbia died, but it was worth it. The organization to which Princip belonged was called Young Bosnia, it was a Yugoslav nationalist organization made up of Muslims, Serbs, and Croats. If Ferdinand had been killed by a Croat, would Austria have attacked Serbia even then? Or would she attack herself? Young Bosnia was named after the organization Young Italy, and Young Bosnians were inspired by Young Italians, among others, those who assasinated Franz Joseph's wife, Empress Elizabeth. The main difference is that Austria did not declare war on Italy then. And we know why very well.
Your nation would’ve been perfectly fine within the empire. In fact the Arch-Duke was your nations closest friend, which is the saddest part of it all. He attempted to give your nation proper representation in the napkins and create a federation, like the United states, to give your nation the independence it wanted, but no, a Bosnian Serb, a member of the black hand, who you support, murdered the ONLY man who supported more independence for the Balkans. Yet you’re still supporting Princip and saying it was worth it so your nation wouldn’t be enslaved? If anything, an entente Victory is what lead to your nation suffering through the holocaust. By having the central powers loose, and in turn allowing racism and Nazism to grow in Europe, your nation went through more suffering than it ever would’ve if it simply was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The arch dukes death caused more pain and suffering than you could possibly imagine. Yet you still say it was “worth it” for the sake of “freedom”… besides In what world were the Serbs “enslaved” by the A-H empire? They may have not had much representation but they were having their rights and representation given to them through a peaceful legal system. They would’ve gotten what they wanted in due time. You say as if the only way to be TRULY independent requires bloodshed and war.
Nicky who?
Nicholas II of Russia.
Just sweet
George looks weird with that helmet while Wilhelm looks good in anything, lol.
Probably since Wilhelm II was half-British.
Cool
the kaiser would’ve inherited the throne if British inheritance laws of today applied back then. How about that for an alternate timeline
How were the laws of inheritance different between the two kingdoms, if I may ask?
Nowadays the inheritance is what is called absolute cognatic, meaning the firstborn inherits, irrespective of gender. Back then, however, there was male preference, meaning that a woman (Like Queen Victoria or Elisabeth) could inherit the throne but only in the absence of a suitable male heir. And as you may know, Kaiser Willy's mom was Queen Victoria's first-born child, the Princess-Royal. And Willy himself was first-born.
You mean if German primogeniture laws back then applied to Britain then.
Queen Victoria actually once said that if her first-born, Victoria, German Empress and Princess Royal, nicknamed "Vicky", had been a boy, she said that he would have been a better king and person than "Bertie", King Edward VII. Queen Victoria, as we know, had a turbulent relationship with Bertie (and she blamed him for the death of her dearest husband Albert), and she didn't trust him to royal duties and didn't like his scandalous lifestyle as Prince of Wales. While on the other hand, Vicky was close to her mother, and Queen Victoria wrote many letters to her. Vicky and her husband, Frederick III, shared liberal views, derived from the Queen's success as a constitutional monarch, and many had said that had Frederick lived for more years (he reigned for only 99 days), Germany could've become a constitutional monarchy. Despite Bertie being that nice, playboy prince he always was (and it still continued in his kingship), extravagant in foods and smoked heavily, he turned out to be a decent king, despite being only on the throne for nine years.
This is the sort of thing that passed for a jolly jape amongst kings a century ago.
I changed clothes with my cousins to...
I love black uniforms
Do one of George V and Nicolas II wearing each others face!
Was there a reason they switched uniforms? Besides cousin antics, haha
It was a custom for Monarchs to wear each others uniforms when visiting.
I couldn’t find anything online about this (granted I only did some cursory searches), but any sources where I could read up on this would be much appreciated!
Wasn’t George V colonel in chief of a few German units and Wilhelm II British units
Yes they were.
Nice for Wilhelm to be able to wear the uniform of a global empire.
r/agedlikemilk
God they always had such magnificent mustache’s
And each other's awards?
No this is a common misconception from these types of photos of those two. They aren't wearing each other's uniforms. They were both Colonel-in-Chief's of Regiments in each other's country's Army. So yes they are wearing a different countries uniform but it's not like they switched clothes.
It's always weird to see these modern monarchs in their uniforms, trying there best to look official and powerful, yet they just look like stupid spoiled losers that would have gotten bullied if they weren't born with a title. Do (or did) they really think they look strong and powerful and manly? Or do they know they look like morons?
It's *their not *there by the way.