My friend, historian and novelist Thomas Fleming, once pointed out that at his desk, the Kaiser sat in a saddle because it made him feel like a warrior. In this prewar photo that perfectly captures the Kaiser's militaristic enthusiasms, he is inspecting a Guards detachment, probably at Potsdam. As Wilhelm marches past, each of the soldier's heads snaps forward from the "eyes-right" position. Like their British equivalents, the "Old Contemptibles," most of these men were probably killed or wounded in the coming war.
In November 1908, British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey perfectly captured in words this same disposition of Germany's ruler and foresaw its consequences:
[The Kaiser] is like a battleship with steam up and screws going, but with no rudder, and he will run into something some day and cause a catastrophe. He has the strongest army in the world and the Germans don't like being laughed at and are looking for somebody on whom to vent their temper and use their strength...Now it is 38 years since Germany had her last war, and she is very strong and very restless, like a person whose boots are too small for him. I don't think there will be war at present, but it will be difficult to keep the peace of Europe for another five years.
This was a strong sentiment passed down by my grandparents and why they immigrated from Europe to the U.S. between the wars, and some were Germans. "As long as there is a Germany, there will be war." I thank my lucky stars they made that decision. But it did result in their children fighting against cousins that remained. And care packages sent back were never received by relatives, as noted in letters.
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