To the Victor, Go the Spoils (Redux): A Plausible Central Powers Victory
- Thread starter TheReformer
- Start date
Yeah he isn’t completely unreasonable, it’s just that he is naturally conservative in both his political stance and habits. And really doesn’t like to think deeply on change.
He was always a reasonable person in OTL, if consumed by sentiment and with a terminal case of foot-in-mouth-syndrome
To an Extent?
Willy wasn’t necessarily that bad or even dumb, he just was never taught the crucial skill of learning when to shut the fuck up
Anyways - great update! Was having withdrawals from this TL so I’m glad to see it back!
Also, he had the most powerful propaganda apparatus in human history pointed at him
Yeah, to an extent. He wasn't exactly the most reasonable of men all of the time, and while he wasn't the only one behind Germany's obsessive naval push that led to the arms race with Britain, he was a huge pusher for it. There's also things like the "Mad March Hares" comment - by all available evidence, Wilhelm did have something of a foot in mouth problem, to say the least, and he could be quite impulsive at the worst moments, but combine that with a lack of confidence and he could thus freeze up at also the worstmoments.
So yes, to an extent, his reputation is unfair, but it didn't come entirely out of nowhere. His modern reputation is a combination of yes, character assassination during and after WWI, and also an exaggeration of his real flaws (because he did have quite a few, as most people do).
I mean, compared to Cousin Nicky, Wilhelm II was a paragon of Imperial competence in wartime, but he was not exactly the best man for the job.
This is certainly true, though exacerbated by Willy’s penchant for being his own worst enemy
So it seems the worse has been avoided in Germany, unless you were a Bolshevik partisan seeking to use people's anger and misery at your own profit of course... In which case I guess too bad sanity prevailed for once.
I'm also glad to see Maximilian of Baden is in the Chancellor' s office. This is a great idea. He truly was an interesting figure and hopefully his tenure in TTL will allow him to show history what he was capable of. If he does well, he's bound to restore some of the popular support the German monarchy lost in those closing months of the war.
This is a very good story
I'm also glad to see Maximilian of Baden is in the Chancellor' s office. This is a great idea. He truly was an interesting figure and hopefully his tenure in TTL will allow him to show history what he was capable of. If he does well, he's bound to restore some of the popular support the German monarchy lost in those closing months of the war.
This is a very good story
Won't lie was slightly worried people would think it's 'too close to OTL' or something, so kinda glad it's gone down well aha
He wouldn't have been the option if he wasn't just frankly a pretty plausible, convenient figure really.
Map of Europe as of the signing of the Treaty of Zurich
Map of Europe as of the signing of the Treaty of Zurich
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We need a united German-Austro-Hungarian Empire to dominate Europe.
Map of Europe as of the signing of the Treaty of Zurich
The Kaiserreich: Oh dear god, No thank you, were quite done with being shackled to a corpse.
Nice map! Now for a question, shouldn't Prussia have annexed that area further north of Luxembourg? Or is it just an Imperial Territory, like Alsace–Lorraine is/was? Also, I'm very concerned for Armenia, I'm expecting the worst for it....... as I always do in these CP victory TL's, and it looks like to me that the Russian intervention is ending even quicker.
Map of Europe as of the signing of the Treaty of Zurich