re: WW1 history buffs: Good book for the library

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Except the Kaiser was a joke to most Germans, and the Crown Prince an even bigger joke. Even had Imperial Germany won the war, or been allowed to win, there's guarantee that the monarchy would have survived.

The Germans had a lot less patience with their monarchy than the British did. It's just not in the German psyche to tolerate the kind of profligate waste and dissolute living that's an essential part of any monarchy long term. The Germans have always been concerned about their pocketbooks.

I really don't think the German monarchy would have continued for very long after a German victory. The German High Command, and the average German subject as well, were all well aware that any success was in spite of Kaiser Wilhelm, not because of him.

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Fair points, but I would say that you don't have to have a monarchy to be autocratic. Germany could have gotten rid of the Hohenzollerns and still been a militaristic, autocratic state. After a successful war against France the General Staff could have easily consolidated most of the power in their hands with the Reichstag to given credence to the pretext that Germany was a democracy.

Basically, my problem with Ferguson is him equating what's happening in modern Europe economically under Germany is somehow comparable to what may have happened after a German victory in 1914. It ignores much of the larger context and fails to take into consideration the significant differences between the Germany of 1914 and the Germany of 2000 (which was about the time he wrote his book).