Changes

::::Unfortunately for Wilhelm II, as far as his personality is concerned, the stale, recycled, British propaganda was mostly right. --[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] ([[User talk:AugustO|talk]]) 14:18, 1 June 2016 (EDT)

::::Unfortunately for Wilhelm II, as far as his personality is concerned, the stale, recycled, British propaganda was mostly right. --[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] ([[User talk:AugustO|talk]]) 14:18, 1 June 2016 (EDT)

:::::That's right. The Kaiser just woke up one morning in August 1914 and decided to start a World War. No mention of the "[http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/willynicky.htm Dear Nicky]" letter or nothing. A.J.P. Taylor, a Brit incidentally, is an excellent source for this. I only bring this up cause recently I stumbled upon an original 1927 copy [http://www.amazon.com/Kaiser-Wilhelm-II-Emil-Ludwig/dp/B0008AH6JK of this in English]; never before have I found such detail about the Kaiser before and during WWI in English.  [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]^{[[User talk:RobSmith|''#NeverHillary'']]} 19:56, 2 June 2016 (EDT)

:::::That's right. The Kaiser just woke up one morning in August 1914 and decided to start a World War. No mention of the "[http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/willynicky.htm Dear Nicky]" letter or nothing. A.J.P. Taylor, a Brit incidentally, is an excellent source for this. I only bring this up cause recently I stumbled upon an original 1927 copy [http://www.amazon.com/Kaiser-Wilhelm-II-Emil-Ludwig/dp/B0008AH6JK of this in English]; never before have I found such detail about the Kaiser before and during WWI in English.  [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]^{[[User talk:RobSmith|''#NeverHillary'']]} 19:56, 2 June 2016 (EDT)

::::::Taylor is a wonderful writer, but I think quite manipulative. There's a market for the "no fault" theory of the war, and he supplies it. I have a whole section about how reluctant the Kaiser was to go to war. I just added an example of Bethmann manipulating him. Bethmann was endlessly sneaky, so there's more where that came from. But in the end, it's lonely at the top. If Bethmann was a snake, well, wasn't it Wilhelm's duty to dismiss him? According to the ''Willy-Nicky Correspondence'' (1920), Nicholas offered to accept mediation the day before he ordered Russian mobilization. Wilhelm didn't even bother to address the offer in his reply. This was considered the smoking gun for a long time. Wilhelm thought it was important to provoke Russia into mobilizing first so that the war could be portrayed as a "Balkan squabble."  The British felt very superior to the Balkans, so this argument was supposed to keep the British out the war. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] ([[User talk:PeterKa|talk]]) 23:15, 2 June 2016 (EDT)

::::::Taylor is a wonderful writer, but I think quite manipulative. There's a market for the "no fault" theory of the war, and he supplies it. I have a whole section about how reluctant the Kaiser was to go to war. I just added an example of Bethmann manipulating him. Bethmann was endlessly sneaky, so there's more where that came from. But in the end, it's lonely at the top. If Bethmann was a snake, well, wasn't it Wilhelm's duty to dismiss him? According to the ''Willy-Nicky Correspondence'' (1920), Nicholas offered to accept mediation the day before he ordered Russian mobilization. Wilhelm didn't even bother to address the offer in his reply. This was considered the smoking gun for a long time. Wilhelm thought it was important to provoke Russia into mobilizing first so that the war could be portrayed as a "Balkan squabble."  The British felt very superior to the Balkans, so this argument was supposed to keep the British out of the war. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] ([[User talk:PeterKa|talk]]) 23:15, 2 June 2016 (EDT)

::::::::Ok, but it was a whole series of blunders and screw ups. I do not think anybody can say the Kaiser, or the Tsar, or anybody (other than the Black Hand terrorists & the Okhranna that supplied them) wanted war. I'm suggesting the Kaiser is not a figure like Hitler, who did want war.  

::::::::Ok, but it was a whole series of blunders and screw ups. I do not think anybody can say the Kaiser, or the Tsar, or anybody (other than the Black Hand terrorists & the Okhranna that supplied them) wanted war. I'm suggesting the Kaiser is not a figure like Hitler, who did want war.  

::::::::Then, and not to be pedantic, there is somewhat of a difference in understanding between what a Commander-in-Chief is in US parlance, and who the Commander-in-Chief of the Prussian Army is. (btw, is the Queen the Commander-in-Chief in Britain?)  [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]^{[[User talk:RobSmith|''#NeverHillary'']]} 23:48, 2 June 2016 (EDT)

::::::::Then, and not to be pedantic, there is somewhat of a difference in understanding between what a Commander-in-Chief is in US parlance, and who the Commander-in-Chief of the Prussian Army is. (btw, is the Queen the Commander-in-Chief in Britain?)  [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]^{[[User talk:RobSmith|''#NeverHillary'']]} 23:48, 2 June 2016 (EDT)