Casualties of war: Monarchs and the First World War
Episode description
Since many royal families were related to each other by marriage, wars turned relatives into enemies. Such was the case in the First World War, when the British King George V went to war with his German cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Most of the other European sovereigns as well were bound up in the belligerency of the Great War, facing the difficult task of trying to maintain some contact with their beloved dispersed families while supporting the wartime efforts of the nations over which they reigned.
And among the casualties of the war were the dynasties of some of Europe’s most important dynasties. We explore monarchy and the First World War with our guest, Moritz Sorg of the University of Freiburg.
Image - Wilhelm II and Edward VII (Creative Commons)
