quote:
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.

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).

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Posted by TigersOfGeauxld

Just across the water...

Member since Aug 2009

25057 posts

Posted on 4/10/14 at 11:01 pm to pistolsfiring11

quote:
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.

I've posted this before, but Robert Conroy wrote about the kind of government that would have followed the monarchy in his book 1901...

quote:
The year is 1901. Germany’s navy is the second largest in the world; their army, the most powerful. But with the exception of a small piece of Africa and a few minor islands in the Pacific, Germany is without an empire. Kaiser Wilhelm II demands that the United States surrender its newly acquired territories: Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. President McKinley indignantly refuses, so with the honor and economic future of the Reich at stake, the Kaiser launches an invasion of the United States, striking first on Long Island.

Now the Americans, with their army largely disbanded, must defend the homeland. When McKinley suffers a fatal heart attack, the new commander in chief, Theodore Roosevelt, rallies to the cause, along with Confederate general James Longstreet. From the burning of Manhattan to the climactic Battle of Danbury, American forces face Europe’s most potent war machine in a blazing contest of will against strength.

...the scenario at the end of the book is almost exactly what really happened, namely that the Kaiser and his family sought exile in Denmark and a coalition civilian government took over.

I'm not saying it's Pulitzer Prize material, but it's an enjoyable read.