The King, Kaiser, & Tsar
Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War
But family was family, and politics were politics.
Presentation Objectives
To explain how the conflict between each organization (Germany, Russia, and England) changed a corporation (Europe)
To describe the worldview of each organization (Germany, Russia, and England)
To explain how the social identity of each leader of each organization (Germany, Russia, and England) was influenced by their personal identity
- To describe the decision making model of within each of the organization's (Germany,Russia, and England)
Summary
At the outbreak of World War I, three cousins reigned over Europe’s greatest powers. Known among their families as Willy, Georgie, and Nicky, they were the royal cousins Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, George V of England, and Nicholas II of Russia. Willy and Georgie were the grandsons of Queen Victoria. Nicky became Queen Victoria’s grandson by marriage. The three royal cousins met frequently during their childhood on holidays, weddings, birthdays, and each other’s coronation. They saw themselves as colleagues of royalty, a trade union of monarchs, standing side by side against the rise of Socialism, Republicanism, and revolution. And yet like any organization tensions and conflict abounded between them. Largely untold is the family saga that played such a pivotal role in bringing the world to the abyss. In 1914, on the eve of world war, they controlled the destiny of Europe and the fates of millions of their subjects. By the end of War World I, Willy’s and Nicky’s mismanaging of their countries and mishandling foreign policy, brought tumbling down their own ideal of a Europe governed by the descendants of Queen Victoria. Only Georgie would be left standing with his monarchy at the end of the first great World War. Their rise to power in a world they cannot change forever changes them and their countries was more motivating than family.