kaiser wilhelm

[cframpton91]

when did kaiser wilhelm get shot ?world war 1

[Hippy]

Wilhelm was Commander in Chief of the German armed forces throughout WWI. The German military operated under its own effective control with Wilhelm as a figurehead. Wilhelm opposed the replacement of Erich Falkenhayn with Paul von Hindenburg in August 1916, but the dismissal of Falkenhayn took place nonetheless.

Despite the great German push of Spring 1918, nearly winning the war, the U.S. involvement had a decisive effect, and shortages at home in Germany spun out of control. It became clear that Germany was set to lose the war.

With revolution spreading to Berlin, Wilhelm was forced to abdicate on 9 November 1918. Chancellor Max von Baden preempted Wilhelm's decision by announcing his abdication to the public. Wilhelm gained exile in The Netherlands, where he lived in some landed splendour until his death in 1941. The Dutch refused to extradite Wilhelm as a war criminal to the Allies following the Armistice. In truth his being part of the same family as the British Royals meant that this was unlikely anyway.

[Hippy]

On June 28th 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand, successor to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife, Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot and killed by a Bosnian student in Sarejevo. The fatal shooting was the second attempt upon their lives that day. In the earlier incident a bomb was thrown into their open motor car, but the Archduke brushed it aside and it failed to explode.

The student, Gavrilo Princip, propelled Europe into the most ghastly four year death rampage. In truth, his was the spark that set alight the tinder box that was the precarious political situation of the time.

Bosnia and Herzegovina were provinces just south of Austria which had, until 1878, been governed by Turkey. The Treaty of Berlin (1878) settled the issue of the land lost by Turkey after they lost their war with Russia. Austria gained power of administration indefinitely. The population of Bosnia was in three groups; Croats (Roman Catholic), ethnic Serbs (Serb-Orthodox) and Muslims (left over from the days of Turkish rule). There is no such ethnic group as Bosnians. Many Bosnian-Serbs felt a strong nationalistic desire to have their province joined with that of their Serb brothers across the river in Serbia. Many Serbians openly shared that desire. On October 6, 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina directly into the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Franz Ferdinand and Sophie's murder increased Austro-Serbian tensions and for many in Vienna, this provided the 'last straw' for a new "get-tough" showdown to suppress the upstart and "terrorist" Serbs. As Austria took a hard line against Serbia, the other powers in Europe took sides and the wheels of war became engaged. The stakes far outgrew the squabble between Austria and Serbia. The crisis of July turned into World War, thirty days after the shooting.