The German Question, Part Sixty-Six

"Kaiser Wilhelm & World War I" Part One/A "Europe Moves Toward War"
"The Tinderbox Of Aging Empires"

The (Second) German Empire ("Reich") was the neighbor of a number of aging empires that were so much in decline, they threatened to come apart at the seams, and this then could precipitate a general European war. The Ottoman (Turkish) Empire had been around since about 1300, with widespread territories in the Middle East, North Africa, and southeastern Europe; that is, the general region known as the Balkans. Throughout their empire, the Ottomans faced challenges from their multi-ethnic subjects who wanted independence. In the Balkans, an area with much mountainous and rough terrain, the population tended to be split into groups where each saw itself as a separate entity. To this day, the region is very divided, and it has been the center of unrest and fighting.* The Turks had mingled with the local population over the centuries, and some of these people had converted to Islam from Christianity, with the Christian population also being divided (often bitterly) largely between Orthodox and Roman Catholic.

In the northern part of the Balkans were territories of Germany's foremost ally, Austria-Hungary. Germany's connection to Austria-Hungary, and that troubled empire's connection to the powder keg of the Balkans, threatened to draw Germany into any conflict in this highly volatile region. Like the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary (aka, the "Austro-Hungarian Empire") had similar problems with its many ethnic groups. The former multi-ethnic Austrian Empire had been divided between Austria and Hungary in 1867, with each ruling numerous ethnic groups, but joined together by the Habsburg emperor, who was simultaneously "King of Hungary." The division of the empire had quieted the Hungarian population, but it did little to satisfy the other ethnic groups, which looked to the "Hungarian model" as a solution to their own desire for some sort of independence.** Austria-Hungary was ruled by Kaiser Franz Josef I, who seemingly ruled from the time of the Crucifixion, but who, in reality, ruled for 68 years!

Russia, or more precisely the Russian Empire, lay to the east of Germany, where Germany's majority Polish areas bordered Russia's even larger Polish area and Polish population. Here was another multi-ethnic entity, with all sorts of peoples and religions, and a land troubled by the threat of revolution, mainly from its very own Russian population.*** Tsar Alexander III had ruled the empire with an iron hand. He was a huge man, whom historians often cite as the symbol of "the Russian bear." This powerful man died at the early age of 49, from kidney disease ("nephritis"). The Russian throne passed to his eldest son, Nicholas, who ruled as "Nicholas II." Nicholas did not inherit his father's immense size, but rather took after his dainty mother; one of the unfavorable comparisons to his father that followed him throughout his life. Nicholas was married to German princess, Alix von Hessen (Alix of Hesse),**** who is better known by her given Russian name, Alexandra.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was a grandson of England's Queen Victoria, his mother having been the queen's daughter and namesake, Victoria. Alexandra too was a grandchild of Queen Victoria, her mother having been the queen's daughter, Alice, thus making Wilhelm and Alexandra first cousins. Kaiser Wilhelm and Nicholas were second cousins, once removed, each being descended from former King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III.***** (A Word History is below the notes)

* The terrain certainly made it easy for each of these groups, like Albanians, Serbians and Croatians, to develop a sense of "ethnic identity" and to remain somewhat separate. The terrain has also made it difficult for invaders to really control the area, and in fact, the rugged terrain and the hearty people of the Balkans are famous for bedeviling occupying military forces.

** What I mean here by "Hungarian model" is, some leaders of the other ethnic groups saw the possibility of further dividing the empire into other portions, where they would get regional independence, but would still be bound together at the top by the Habsburg emperor (who by the way carried the title "Kaiser").

*** Tsar Alexander II (grandfather of Nicholas II) was assassinated in 1881, when a revolutionary threw a bomb at his feet after he had left his metal-plated carriage. He was carried into his palace, where he died shortly thereafter.

**** Hessen (usually rendered as "Hesse" in English) was a grand duchy of Germany, ruled by a grand duke.

***** The "once removed" simply means they were "removed" (distanced) by a generation; that is, they were of different generations. The children of your parents' brothers and sisters are your first cousins, but the children of your grandparents' brothers and sisters are your first cousins, once removed. Most of my cousins wish I were just plain removed. haha ... Wait, what the hell am I laughing about?

WORD HISTORY: 
Knock-It seems that most linguists believe this word to be an original Germanic concoction, imitative of "a sound." Old English had slight dialectal variations in "cnocian" and "cnucian," which later became "knokken," before the modern spelling. Remember, the "cn/kn" was pronounced in times past. It certainly seems that German "Knack" (the "a" is pronounced like the "a" in father) as in "Knackwurst" (usually spelled Knockwurst, in English) is really the same word. In German it means the sound of a "snap or crack," and it was applied to the sausage because of the "snap" sound made when biting into the casing.