#on that same visit wilhelm gifted him a bunch of books about the hohenzollerns and the cavalry lmao | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fitzrove · 4 days ago

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i can never escape.... apparently the finnish supreme military commander mannerheim (1918 civil war + ww2) met wilhelm multiple times loll. in 1899 mannerheim got invited for an apology dinner with him because while mannerheim was at the german imperial stables buying horses for the russian military (he worked for the czar at the time), one of wilhelm's kicked him in the knee and destroyed it, prompting a 2-month hospital stay in berlin lol

I was very much impressed by the great affection of Emperor Wilhelm II, even for a young officer like myself, and by his lively temperament. His consort also graced the meal with her presence, - just before the doors of the dining-room were opened, the Empress entered, preceded by the Lord Chamberlain, who, according to court rules, wore a long black veil. The Emperor chatted animatedly, which did not prevent him from eating quickly, and as soon as he had finished a dish, the plates of the others were taken away."

#writing yaoi about this to piss people off jhasjsjs /jjj #on that same visit wilhelm gifted him a bunch of books about the hohenzollerns and the cavalry lmao #also!! he was aware that wilhelm only had 'one usable hand' and muses that it's good that the unruly horse got sent away because he wouldnt #have been able to deal with it hshs. always interesting to see how disability was talked about in military circles #also this all comes up later when uh. the finns attempt to put wilhelm's sister's husband on the hypothetical new finnish throne hsjhsjs #(wilhelm refused to offer any of his own kids. he was like lmao no that seems like a horrible idea)#history

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