Empress
Heir Apparent
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Maybe that's inevitable early in the book because Willy was the eldest of the three.
It looks as though the author is saying that it's a combination of innate personality and mishandling by his family and other associates rather than something more clinical.
Not just that. It's pointed out by the author that there was considerable anti-Prussian sentiment in Great Britain at the time, and I don't think Alexandra's feelings were the only cause. One reason, yes. But not the only one.Due to Alexandra's hatred for Germany do you believe it had somewhat of an impact later in Georgie's life hence the build up toward WWI? If so, why?
Nicky is the one you feel for the most. The climate in Russia was horrible and he was sheltered in ways the other two were not. I think all three sets of parents went out of their way to give these children too spartan an upbringing, thinking to protect them from the flatterers and sycophants they would eventually encounter, but in no way preparing them to deal with it.
It doesn't sound as though Willy's parents made a really wise choice of tutor either, and from some of George V's biographies, I don't think Canon Dalton was an exactly inspired choice.
I have no idea why Victoria didn't allow her heir to learn from her during her reign but obviously mother and son were not as close as they could have been, and this may have led Bertie to deciding to go his own way when it came to his mother's advice about his own children, a sort of thumbing of the nose. if you will.
1. Due to Alexandra's hatred for Germany do you believe it had somewhat of an impact later in Georgie's life hence the build up toward WWI? If so, why?
2. "Doomed as a failure". This quote was applied to Georgie's older brother, Eddy, which I blame solely on his mother, Alexandra. Do you believe this to be true? Or was there something else going on? If so, what?
3. If Vicky was Georgie's mother do you believe he would have been a stronger person hence "tougher"? What is the problem here in regards to both Nicky and Georgie? The obvious pattern which seems to have carried on in their adult years. Willy, on the other hand, turned out quite "normal" so far... despite his rising ADD problem.
4. Georgie's education suffered because he was the second son. His education was somewhat sacrificed to whatever they thought Eddy needed. Would things have turned out differently if he'd had the education and upbringing of the heir like his cousins did?
5. Would Willy have been less stridently patriotic if his mother had managed to maintain better relations with her father-in-law? And would it have made a difference if Prince Albert hadn't died young?
6. How much of a factor were Vicky's attitudes in the relationship between her husband and his father? Or were Fritz's liberal leanings enough to drive a wedge between them anyway?
7. Did the assassination of Alexander II before he was able to implement some of his reforms affect Nicky's upbringing and attitudes?
8. If Bertie had married a German princess, would relations between Prussia and Britain have been better during Queen Victoria's reign?
9. Do you believe Russia could only be ruled with by an autocratic monarch? After years and years of instability, a small rising class of literate Russians, socialism, modernization, and extremely poor peasants suffering is an autocracy the answer? Is having a monarch at all in Russia worth keeping?
I think a good example of this, is that the author mentions that as Princess Alice was married into the Hesse-Darmstadts, and she was Edward's favourite sister, Edward's feelings towards Prussia became even cooler after this.Well German doesn't exactly mean Prussian. If Bertie had married a princess of Hannover or of Hesse-Darmstadt that got overrun by Bismarck's armies and were forced to pay crippling reparations, then I don't think they would have been so pro-German Empire.