I really recommend reading (and would very much appreciate it) so here are some fun anecdotes I had to omit as enticement:
* At one point, the head of the military cabinet died of a heart attack while dancing for the Kaiser’s amusement, wearing a tutu.
* The Kaiser allowed the Chancellor to provoke the Algiers crisis to try to demonstrate to France that England was not a useful ally in a land confrontation, but undermined the threat by making a grand speech declaring he was unwilling to go to war.
* The Chief of the General Staff got permission to invade Luxembourg and start WWI by bother Wilhelm while he was in bed, who merely said, “do what you will, I don’t care.”
* The Kaiser’s favorite, Philipp von Eulenburg, was credibly accused of homosexuality, which created a rumor of a “homosexual circle” around the Kaiser. Wilhelm’s own sexuality is somewhat ambiguous, especially in light of his preference for the company of tall men in uniform.
* 1905, WIlhelm cornered Tsar Nicholas on a boat and amidst the latter’s emotional breakdown badgered him into signing an alliance which was immediately repudiated by both governments.
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Just in time for this post, reddit has decided to unban me for [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1ftt13u/comment/lpuktsw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button), which I’m grateful for since this is without a doubt my best-researched article. Borderline academic, you might say.
As my second collaboration with [History Does You](https://secretaryrofdefenserock.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile), this post covers German civil-military relations from the end of the wars of unification through 1914.
I really recommend reading (and would very much appreciate it) so here are some fun anecdotes I had to omit as enticement:
* At one point, the head of the military cabinet died of a heart attack while dancing for the Kaiser’s amusement, wearing a tutu.
* The Kaiser allowed the Chancellor to provoke the Algiers crisis to try to demonstrate to France that England was not a useful ally in a land confrontation, but undermined the threat by making a grand speech declaring he was unwilling to go to war.
* The Chief of the General Staff got permission to invade Luxembourg and start WWI by bother Wilhelm while he was in bed, who merely said, “do what you will, I don’t care.”
* The Kaiser’s favorite, Philipp von Eulenburg, was credibly accused of homosexuality, which created a rumor of a “homosexual circle” around the Kaiser. Wilhelm’s own sexuality is somewhat ambiguous, especially in light of his preference for the company of tall men in uniform.
* 1905, WIlhelm cornered Tsar Nicholas on a boat and amidst the latter’s emotional breakdown badgered him into signing an alliance which was immediately repudiated by both governments.
!ping HISTORY&MILITARY&INTERNATIONAL-RELATIONS