Alas, because they were allies, in that horrible, mistaken war that should never have happened. . .monarchism in Europe was doomed, as was western civilization. Christian kingdoms were destroyed, and politics became the plaything of madmen, cranks and strange ideologies.
The war did not happen because they were allies. King George V was following the advice of his government as is the law in the UK, the Czar was being pressed on a number of fronts, particularly by the French ambassador, and King Albert I was simply the victim of geography -he was in the war only because his country was invaded.
The first "Big Three": Czar Nicholas II of Russia, King George V of Great Britain and King Albert I of the Belgians.
One of my favorite royal images, and the Tsar and King George really do look *so* alike!
ReplyDeleteAlas, because they were allies, in that horrible, mistaken war that should never have happened. . .monarchism in Europe was doomed, as was western civilization. Christian kingdoms were destroyed, and politics became the plaything of madmen, cranks and strange ideologies.
ReplyDeleteThe war did not happen because they were allies. King George V was following the advice of his government as is the law in the UK, the Czar was being pressed on a number of fronts, particularly by the French ambassador, and King Albert I was simply the victim of geography -he was in the war only because his country was invaded.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right of course. The first sentence was an extremely poor choice of words.
ReplyDelete