Book review

King, Kaiser, Tsar by Catrine Clay is a book examining the lives and interactions of the three royal cousins King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Well let me first say that the format of this book in basically intertwining biographies of the three cousins through the years and basically ending at the end of what is called World War I (I personally have never liked the term World War I as a title for this war for various reasons that I will explain in a separate post). This intertwining of the biographies is a valuable tool in showing how the cousins and their families interacted and how these interactions were to effect the Geo-political landscape of Europe. My only criticism of the book is that at times there is a slight English bias to the book, an example of which is the assertion (often cited by those who want to falsely blame Germany for the War) that Germany should not have built up a naval fleet and provoking Britain by doing so. Well the British had a policy that their fleet had to be superior to the combined TOTALS OF THE NEXT TWO COUNTRIES. This policy is not mentioned in the book, however, the British demand for naval supremacy is treated as if it is a natural God given right that should not be challenged. This policy is the height of arrogance and would justly be ignored by any other nation looking after their own self interests. Another English bias is the assertion that the British had to enter the war due to the German violation of the neutrality of Belgium by its invasion of Belgium. This is often cited as a just and noble requirement for their entry, however, the book (as does most material on this war) fails to mention that a sort time before this invasion of Belgium, the British Government had declared that the treaty in no way required that Britain go to war to protect Belgium and that the pro-war/anti-German members of the government had actually proposed a British invasion of neutral Belgium should they enter the war (apparently they would have invented other reasons for Britain to enter the war). All this being said the book is a fine examination of the history of the later third or so of the 19th century and the twentieth century through WWI. One particular element that was covered in much more detail than I had previously encountered was the influence of "the Danish Princesses", who were the mothers of George and Nicholas, and were virulently anti-German. This influence not only affected their son’s attitudes to Germany but also their husband’s attitudes and fundamentally changed the "balance of power" in Europe. It led from the alliance of Russia with Germany in the DreiKaiserBund (Three Emperor’s League) to an alliance of Russia with France, and increasingly close ties of Britain with both France and Russia. This hatred of Germany stems from the Danish-Prussian War, which was one of the wars of German Unification. This was a war that was caused by what was referred to as "The Schleswig-Holstein Questions". Schleswig and Holstein were two feudal duchies that were held by the Danish crown. Schleswig was viewed as a fief of Denmark, whereas Holstein was viewed as a fief of Germany. It should also be pointed out that under the Treaty of Ribe of 1460, they were not to be integrated within the Kingdom of Denmark, and would "always be together and never partitioned (or separated". This was later confirmed in the London Protocol of 1852. It should also be pointed that the majority of the population in these areas were ethnic Germans and spoke German. In 1864, Austria and Prussia agreed that recent actions of Denmark violated these principles and invaded Schleswig-Holstein. Denmark lost these two areas that were very rich. The Danish Princesses could not forgive this loss despite the wishes of the people who lived there (as evidenced by the support of many Nobles for the Prussians and Austrians and a plebiscite after WWI that resulted in all but a small areas of Northern Schleswig voting to remain a part of Germany) This hatred had longstanding effects on the European balance of power as well as the interaction between the family. The book also shows how family relationships effected national policy and vice versa. It shows the closeness that developed between George and Nicholas as first cousins spending many holidays together at the Danish Court, though this closeness didn’t prevent George from withdrawing an invite for the Romanovs to live in exile in Britain which ultimately caused their deaths at the hands of the Bolsheviks. The book shows the "love-Hate" relationship that Wilhelm had for England, and that England had for him. Cursing England and his English relatives after being snubbed by them (some imagined and many very real and intended to be snubs) and then showing great love for England and his English relatives especially his behavior when his Grandmother Queen Victoria was dying. In short the book does a fine job at showing the family relationships between these nation’s ruling families and how much impact said relationships had an impact on history. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in late 19th century/early 20th century history or in the royal families of Europe.