König, Kaiser, Zar: Drei königliche Cousins, die die Welt in den Krieg trieben

by Catrine Clay

During the last days of July 1914 telegrams flew between the King, the Kaiser and the Tsar. George V, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II, known in the family as Georgie, Willy and Nicky, were cousins. Between them they ruled over half the world. They had been friends since childhood. But by July 1914 the Trade Union of Kings was falling apart. Each was blaming the other for the impending disaster of the First World War. 'Have I gone mad?' Nicky asked his wife Alix in St Petersburg, showing her another telegram from Willy. 'What on earth does William mean pretending that it still depends on me whether war is averted or not!' Behind the friendliness of family gatherings lurked family quarrels, which were often played out in public. Drawing widely on previously unpublished documents, this is the extraordinary story of their overlapping lives, conducted in palaces of unimaginable opulence, surrounded by flattery and political intrigue. And through it runs the question: to what extent were the King, the Kaiser and the Tsar responsible for the outbreak of the war, and, as it turned out, for the end of autocratic monarchy?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, Russia, World War I, European History

Hardcover

First published October 5, 2006

About the author

Catrine Clay has worked for the BBC for over twenty years, directing and producing award-winning television documentaries. She won the International Documentary Award and the Golden Spire for Best History Documentary, and was nominated for a BAFTA. She is the author of King, Kaiser, Tsar and Trautmann’s Journey, which won a British Sports Book Award for Biography of the Year and was runner-up for the William Hill Sports Book Award. She is married with three children and lives in London.

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book traces the lives of the three royal cousins who shared responsibility, to various degrees, for the horror that was WWI. Excellent research and the availability of personal correspondence among the three provides the reader with an in-depth profile of each King, Kaiser and Tsar.

George V of England (Georgie) was a simple and unassuming King who had no great intellect and was happier with his stamp collection and his family.

Tsar Nicholas (Nicky) was "weak as water", dominated by his bitter and controlling wife, and totally unprepared for the position he inherited as the Autocrat Of All The Russias.

Kaiser Wilhelm (Willie) was a blustering bully who lost his grip on reality and verged on madness.

Mix these three together and mayhem ensued. The only cousin to emerge with his position intact was George V partially due to the British constitutional monarchy under which he ruled. Even though there are some slow sections, it is still is a fascinating history and is well written. Truth is stranger than fiction!

[Ghost of the Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review under construction

Well i am left not really sure how to evaluate this one - guess it would help if i saw the documentary of the same tittle/theme probably!
All my way through reading this, and believe when i say i have red a lot on the topic, i kept feeling like something here doesn´t add, something is missing from in the rythm of the book..

Ms. Clay does a good job of placing side by side the lives of the 3 cousins, their differences and similarities, their upbringing, and their views on the rights of monarchs (Kaiser Willy is beyond any words...it really has to be read in order to be believed)! However, when it comes to actually showing the events that lead to WW1 and the trio´s role in them, everything is somewhat oversimplified, and doesn't really draw you in or leave you with a clear indication of what exactly they did (or didn't do) - the rythm of the book clearly suffers here and for me lacks engagement with the reader.
You are left with a really long list of names, dates, telegrams and letters exchanged, but the actual feel of what it must have been like..well, there are better books out there to effectively portray these same events.
Nevertheless i am going to try and watch the documentary that i mentioned above and then maybe everything else will make sense?
For now suffice to say, if you don´t know much about the topic - this wouldn't be the best way to start, Miranda Carter´s book "The 3 Emperors" is much more successful in dealing with the topic - and considerably more "fun" to read!
However once i watch the documentary by this books author i will no doubt be adding more info to this review.

[BookishStitcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting look at the three royal cousins that led their countries into WWI. While I've studied Russia's history so much I already knew most of that side of it, I learned a lot about the King of England and the Kaiser. Let's be honest though, I love reading history books. They aren't boring to me. 97% of people would have probably been bored by this book, but not me. lol

[Judy Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çok zevkli bir tarih anlatısı.

[Susanna Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

I loved the royal family drama and I actually learned a lot of history too! However it was very long and parts of the middle section were soooo boring and not very relevant to the story in my opinion.

[Zosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a slog at some times, which is why it took me so long to get through, but very interesting and well researched. Very enjoyable.

[Cadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on King George V of England, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany and how their personal relationships affected the events leading up to World War I. The author uses personal diaries and letters from all three leaders that were made public by Queen Elizabeth II.
The family history of these three leaders is fascinating and complicated and would be a compelling read even without the fact that their family drama played out on the world stage. Drawing on their diaries (and those of many others as well) gives an indication of each personality. Tsar Nicholas II was indecisive on every thing except his right to autocratic rule. Wilhelm II had a love/hate relationship with England that was rooted in his family history more so than any current political events. George V seemed to be the most decent of the three but he had nothing close to the type of power that his cousins enjoyed in their own countries. Tsarina Alexandra is also featured and in not too flattering terms.
For anyone interested in European history, royal history or World War I this book should be on their "to read" list. The author manages to condense thousands of letters and diary entries to a very readable and enjoyable book about a dysfunctional family who ruled Europe.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid joint biography, although near the end the author gets the chronology mixed up and even some of the characters. It is a tale full of irony and tragedy.

Clay's book is an intimate family history of power, war, intrigue, and tragedy. She tries to tell it chronologically, but I don't think this helped the story much. She can also get a little repetitive.

From reading the book, it seems all of these monarchs were way unfit to rule global empires, but, then again, many of their own bureaucrats were more capable than the monarchs themselves. And besides, all of these monarchs were constrained to some extent by legislative bodies: the Duma, the Reichstag, and parliament.

See also Miranda Carter's George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I.

[Agatha Donkar Lund · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected this to be more pop history and less History, but it was really enjoyable, just a little tough to get through when I wasn't in a thinking mood (I also had a very hard time keeping track of all the members of all the royal families). But it was an enjoyable read, well-researched and thorough and utterly fascinating in the way it looked at how the personal relationships in the European monarchies led in large parts to World War I. Worth a read if you're a European history of that era buff.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It brought together bits and pieces of history I knew about WWI and put everything together. It was fascinating to see the interrelatedness of the royals across Europe. I knew that existed but not to the extent that it did exist. I really learned.
The author repeats herself which I found annoying, but that was probably in an effort to remind the reader of particular points. In general, I found the book easy to read and follow.

[The Overflowing Inkwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoroughly disappointed. Really "The Kaiser and His Cousins" as this book focuses inordinately on the Kaiser, taking every opportunity to revert back to what is happening with him: chapter after chapter supposedly dedicated to a specific topic (Nicky the Third Cousin, the Education of Three Royal Cousins, etc.) go back to Wilhelm at a moment's notice. I get it: Wilhelm was born earlier than the others and basically singlehandedly does everything in the book, but there was absolutely no attempt to give an equal amount of time to the other two cousins. As it is, she spends most of the book with Wilhelm, a bit of time on George, and only gives the barest sketch of Nicholas. As someone who has spent a large amount of time reading about the last Romanovs, it was odd to see quite so much left out on the Russian side of things; Clay mentions that she can read German, but not Russian, so perhaps this (unfortunately) influenced her decisions to focus more on Germany and England.

Clay's insistence that family drama made Wilhelm into what he was and forced his hand into making all his bad decisions is flimsy and, in my opinion, not supported at all by this book. He was enamored with the military history of Prussia and much preferred his warring grandfather to his parents: no matter how England behaved toward Wilhelm, he would have gotten there in the end. There was nothing in this book that led me to believe her premise that these three cousins led the world to war, nothing to convince me that if they had not been family it would have turned out a different way. It's just a book about Wilhelm wanting an empire and failing to achieve it.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to Come

[Damon Glassmoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written reminder that history is the web of the stories of people, and that Europe's history could have turned out quite differently if royal relatives had different relationships with one another.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

That took some time but whew! It was worth it. Definitely interesting to look at the behind the scenes of WWI.
But lol fuck the royals and eat the rich.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I never realized just how much I didn’t know of history. Learned a lot in this one.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would you think that the cousins in charge would be able to prevent the Great War because they practically grew up together? Would you think that cousin Willie (Kaiser Wilhelm II)of Germany would become Anglophile and a liberal because his mother was Queen Victoria's daughter and his father was a liberal? He ended up hating England and he ended up being the most right-wing imaginable before the advance of Hitler.

Another new news for me: it looks like German behavior in the war was foreshadowing the Nazis.

The author, an English woman, assigns more blame to Germany than to the allies. I would like to see a German perspective on World War I.

[Sara G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent joint biography of King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Tsar Nicholas - three cousins who were all inextricably wrapped up in WWI. There's lots of good information here, but the author doesn't clearly delineate who she's talking about sometimes, and it's easy to get confused amidst the plethora of Alixes, Williams, Victorias, etc. Better editing would have helped this one, but the information presented is great. I just had to read it very slowly to make sure I was following along properly.

[Ana Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read about some of the European royalties who took part in World War I, and how that sparked the end of the monarchy in Russia and Germany.

I cant help thinking that it was Wilhelm, always felt left out and a handicap, who was the antagonist. Well, that's just my perspective.

[Brooke]

Lame book. No cultural stuff or anything, just Queen Victoria bitching about how her children and grandchildren are being raised. Lame.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, talk about a royal family! This was such an interesting read for me. I am amazed by the web of politics woven by this one family.

[Epp Petrone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oeh. Teema on nii hea, aga...
Ma olen aastaid tagasi sama ideega ja tegelaskonnaga palju paremat raamatut lugenud, aga seda pole eesti keelde tõlgitud.
Selle praeguse raamatu teeb raskeks... raskepärasus. Mul on selline tunne, et kõik materjal on nüüd kokku kogutud... ja nüüd tuleks hakata ajaloolist romaani kirjutama selle põhjal, mis siin on. Aga võibolla see autor, BBC ajakirjanik, ei soovinudki kirjutada romaanilaadset teost.
Igatahes oli mul seda lugedes pidevalt häda oma mõistuse pärast, et mis mul küll viga on, et ma ei suuda kõiki neid nimesid ja nende motivatsioone jälgida. Aga pärast guugeldasin ja selgus, et enamikul arvustajatel oli täpselt sama probleem.
Nii et kui sul varem pole eelteadmisi Euroopa kuninglikust seenevõrgustikust alates 19. sajandi keskpaigast kuni traagiliste 2014-2017. aastateni, siis ei soovita selle raamatuga alustada.
Kes loeb inglise keelt, siis see hästi kirjutatud raamat sama fookusega on Miranda Carter "The Three Emperors: Three Cousins". Küsimus on mõlemas raamatus seesama, kuidas sai juhtuda nii, et kolm nõbu, kes käisid omavahel läbi, veetsid lapsest peale palju aega koos, kuidas küll sattusid nad olukorda, kus üks( Willy, Saksamaa) jäi ühele poolele ja kaks (Nicky, Venemaa ja Georgie, Inglismaa) teisele poolele. (Kasutan siin nende suguvõsa-hüüdnimesid.) Miks see kõik nii läks? Ega ühest vastust ei olegi, aga ühes raamatus on vastuseks lugu, mis tõmbab endaga kaasa, teises on uhkusega presenteeritud väga palju tööd.
Teema on muidugi eriline.
Willy oli keeruline tüüp, sünnitrauma tõttu vaimsete häiretega, üks käsi halvatud ja pisem kui teine, sisekõrvas mäda ja kasvajad...
Nicky needus oli see, et ta oli romantik ja pehmo ja et ta abiellus oma nõoga, Saksa printsessiga, kes kandis hemofiiliageeni. Miks nad küll nii lähedaste sugulastega abiellusid?
Georgie... miks ta ometi ei võtnud vastu Venemaa tsaariperekonda, miks toimus kuuma kartuli loopimine?
Ja KUI palju ikkagi naised otsustasid... Eriti kuninganna Victoria, aga on ka mitu teist tugevat naistegelast.
Ja KUI seotud olid need suguvõsad, mismoodi toimus üksteise mõjutamine (nt Viktoria ja Albert üritasid Saksamaad inglispäraseks muuta oma tütre sinna mehele panemise abil) ja kuidas nad olid samas justkui ilma rahvusidentiteedita... Kes näiteks oli oma rahvuselt Alix? Saksa printsess, inglisekeelse haridusega, kolinud Venemaale, abikaasaga (Venemaa monarhi Nickyga) suhtles elu lõpuni peamiselt inglise keeles?
...Nii et mõtteid on palju, aga kahjuks on see raamat suures osas kirjutatud nagu ajalooteaduskonna õppematerjal.
PS. Kuidas käänata sõna "nõbu"? Mina arvasin, et on nõbu-nõo-nõbu, aga siin raamatus on nõbu-nõbu-nõbu. Kohe tagakaanel on suurelt kirjas, et raamat on "kolmest nõbust, kes viisid maailma sõtta". Kas ei peaks olema: raamat kolmest nõost?

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little perplexing - I picked up to read about the relationships between the three royal cousins, yet it struck me as an apologetic explanation behind the Kaiser's behaviors from childhood leading through the start of World War I.

Clay's focus certainly seemed to return to Wilhelm time and again; her writing struck me as dismissive of the future George V as 'dull and sensitive,' as if he was scarcely worth her time in researching or writing about. Only slightly more attention was given to the future Tsar Nicholas II, and then it was to establish him as a weak, misguided, and malleable leader.

That came through even as the book itself progressed with incredible slowness on the day-to-day lives of the royal cousins' parents, particularly Edward VII and Alexander III. In truth, I gained the impression that Clay's preferred purpose in writing the book was to paint a more compelling picture of Edward VII's efforts to tamp down Wilhelm II's tendencies towards aggression and his fervent belief in his power. The longer I read, the more emphasis Clay placed on the Herculean attempts by Wilhelm II's uncles, grandmother, aunts, and cousins to circumvent the Kaiser's frequently erratic and anxious behaviors.

This in turn brought out the very real evidence of Wilhelm II's narcissism, his paranoia, no small amount of megalomania, and irrefutable inferiority complex. Because he was born with a defect, he was first derided for his inability and failure to meet the Prussian ideal, then spent the rest of his life alternately convinced people were conspiring against him or throwing his weight around in the political arena armed with lacking information. Consequently, in exposing Wilhelm II's efforts to control the puppet strings, Clay ultimately seems to use these revelations to indicate that the Kaiser was irrevocably a victim of his own delusions, his own degrading mental health, and the product of conflicting values: his grandfather Wilhelm I's rigid Imperial, strongly conservative/traditional viewpoint versus his father Friedrich III's and his mother Victoria's more liberal perspective.

Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't - in some regards, Wilhelm II was resistant to altering his perspective despite the rapid progression into the modern age. Regardless, poor, ill-informed choices were made, leading to a long-term, devastating conflict that I continue to believe could have been avoided. That, however, is hindsight.

Overall, I gained some new knowledge of George V, and certainly a better understanding into how Wilhelm II's personality was shaped, which made it worth persistence.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched, well-written look at a period of history extensively covered in other works, King, Kaiser, Tsar is a story told through a tight frame of reference on the three, closely entwined, royal families of Great Britain, Germany and Russia. The book covers the period from the birth of Kaiser William II in 1859 to the period just after World War One, with another twenty years tacked on in a few paragraphs to William's death in 1941. Momentous times in European history, of course.

This is a good book, one that provides a fresh perspective on events in this period, especially in light of the relationships between the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas (Windsors by the end of the book), Hohenzollerns and Romanovs. Most of the material that builds the story comes from royal letters, telegrams and letters between members of these families and so provides a particularly personal look at world events.

One thing I'd hoped to glean from these pages at the outset is some insight into the old saw in International Relations - do people determine events or do events drive the people they happen to? When two of the three principal actors are autocrats you'd think the balance might tip toward the former, and there is a lot of evidence that this is so. However, it's also likely that with these nations and the whole European world as tightly wound as it was by the first decade of the 1900s that history had a certain momentum behind it. Finishing the book, I can't say that there are clear answers to these questions herein. Probably there were moments when the Tsar could have saved himself, at least his life if not his throne. Probably there were times when Germany could have transitioned into a constitutional monarchy more like Britain's, if William hadn't been so opposed. In these things at least the people and their (generally poor) decisions mattered. What is clear is that royalty are just like you and me, except with nicer things and greater capacity to really screw things up.

Anyone interested in the period should consider a read through of this one.

[Anıl Karzek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yazar tarihçi değil, ama gazeteci titizliğiyle derlediği belgeleri sonuna kadar kullanmış ve deyim yerindeyse okuyucuyu mektup bombardımanına tutmuş. Kitabın iki temel sorusu; kral, imparator ve çar Birinci Dünya Savaşına giden yolda ne derece etkili oldular ve bu savaş önlenebilir miydi? Kitaptan çıkarmamız gerektiği kadarıyla her şey Almanların suçu zira II. Wilhelm tek mutlak hükümdar olarak barışı sağlayabilir ve hem İngilizlerin hem Rusların hem de Fransızların suyuna giderek uslu uslu yerinde oturabilirdi. Ama o doğuştan sakat ve dışlanmış ucube kuzen olarak zaten neticede bekleneni yapacak ve dünyayı felakete sürükleyecekti. Yazarın tarihsel determinizm yapması bir yana İngiliz monarşisini biteviye övmesi rahatsız edici. Tarafsızlığını kanıtlamak istercesine İngiliz monarşisinin Wilhelm'e haksızlık ettiğini belirtmesi, Rus Çarı hakkında da "zayıf bir adamdı ve Rusya'nın çöküşünü durduramadı" minvalindeki düşünceleri de ne yazık ki tüy dikmek olmuş. Son olarak, savaşın taraflarından hiç bahsedilmeden yazılan bir Dünya Savaşı bölümüne ilk kez bu kitapta rastlıyorum, zira Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun (Osmanlı'nın adı bile geçmiyor, halbuki Alman İmparatoru için ne kadar önemli bir konu olduğu malûm) ya da İtalya'nın savaşa girdiğinden dolaylı olarak olarak bahsediliyor. Yunanistan Kralı I. Georgos'un 1913'te Selanik'te suikast sonucu ölmesinden hiç bahsedilmiyor. Reval görüşmelerinden bahsediliyor, ancak Reval'de konuşulan en önemli konunun, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu dağılınca nasıl paylaşılacağının üstünde hiç durulmuyor ve sanki iki ülke monarkları yalnızca Reval'de çay içmek üzere buluşmuşlar gibi anlatılıyor.

Kitabın en kuvvetli tarafı kullanılan zengin arşiv belgeleri, çünkü neredeyse hepsi ilk ağızdan ve kıymetli ifadelere dayanıyor. Yani kitap magazinsel anlamda güzel belgeler ve kısımlar barındırıyor. Ancak ne yazık ki bunun dışında sunduğu dişe dokunur bir şey olmadığını düşünüyorum. Kitabın üçüncü yıldızını, son zamanlarda gördüğüm en kaliteli çeviri hatrına veriyorum.

[Audrey Knutson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a proclivity for the Victorian Era up until WWI so I finally got around to reading this.

Usually I’m a little hesitant of “triographies”—they’re too shallow and scattered and never does any 1 person the justice of fully telling their story but Clay did an excellent job of both going in depth with the King, Kaiser, and Tsar as well as staying focused on the story at large and their individual and collective roles in beginning WWI.

I especially enjoyed Clay’s unbiased views and how she tactfully stayed out of going into battle detail of the War and how she focused on the Kaiser and naturally let the story flow from him to George V and Nicholas II. At times the story was a bit slow and disengaging and I didn’t like how she glossed over significant events (like Wilhelm’s dismissal of Bismarck), but I DID learn new things and especially appreciated her bravery in pointing out Wilhelm’s likely homosexuality and the self-consciousness and internal struggle it brought about that helps explain some of his erratic behavior.

I recommend this book to history and WWI buffs but also anyone else interested in the monarchies or Europe and especially the Windsors, Hohenzollerns, and Romanovs as well and anyone interested in the Victorian time period and royal family dynamics.

[Rahni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just finished reading Helen Rappaport’s The Romanov Sisters and finding my desire to learn about Russian WWI-era history wholly unsatisfied, I immediately turned to another book that had been resting, unread and ignored, upon my bookshelf for well over a year. There were times I felt like a pro-British bias glimmered through her otherwise astute, balanced, clear, discerning, and extensive* analysis of the leaders and events precipitating World War I, but those flashes were minimal (or, perhaps, being raised pro-Allied-perspective, I didn’t pick up on too many of them considering my own bias blinkers?). An excellent study and scrutiny of three powerful cousins, the times they lived in, the familial issues that consequently affected all of Europe, and their clashes that led the world to war. Well written, quite readable, and an asset to my library.

*Total extraneous aside here, but I just noticed that all my leading adjectives to “analysis” ran in alphabetical order, which gave me a tiny plink of delight. Oh, the little things in life.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Each of the 3 sovereigns is treated fairly with their flaws and qualities.

How their relationships developed can partly explain some causes for the Great War, some of them being:

- the Kaiser's dual German-English identity crisis
- King George's internal political struggles
- the Tsar's indecisiveness

The ambivalence between private, royal matters, and geopolitical developments of the late 19th and early 20th century is clearly defined, most particularly through Queen Victoria's family ties with the rest of European monarchies.

The conflicting tendencies between autocratic and revolutionary ideals also explain how, among all 3 monarchies, only the British one remains standing until today.

The book gives great insight as to the sovereigns' personal thoughts by citing previously unpublished private letters and commentaries and putting them into perspective within the period's geopolitical climate.

Highly recommended.

[David Szatkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to the three cousins mentioned (George V of Great Britain, Nicholas II of Russia, and Wilhelm of Germany). The sources are largely their own diaries and letters to each other, which makes for interesting reading. The focus is not WWI or any of the rulers in particular, which as correctly noted is covered in other works, but rather the influence and personality conflicts that helped drive the political situation the destroyed lives without number.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passable, and does a good job of explaining the family dynamics which I didn't fully get prior to reading this. Somewhat infantilizing to keep calling them Nicky / Georgie / Willy even after they're grown, adult sovereigns, but I guess they called each other that in their private correspondence so what are you going to do?

[Bita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very detailed. Almost too much. A lot of quoting from letters and so on. A little boring at times which is weird, being the subject matter is so interesting. Also the author mostly knocked Wilhelm. He might have been a douche but for Germany he did a llot. Which she didn't mention or if she did it was in a negative light. Not that I care....