Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Our Beloved Kaiser

I found this video of the Kaiser the other day while searching on YouTube. What is remarkable about this video is that he is speaking in English, and the audio quality is so great (apparently this clip came from an interview during his exile sometime after the Great War). I once heard a very poor quality audio clip of the Kaiser speaking German, but it was very hard to understand. This clip makes his seem a little more real to me. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds like his English suffered a little after being blacklisted by his mother's family. A great video, also interesting that he points the finger at America for being the deciding factor in the defeat of Germany when so many in France or Britain then and still now like to think they could have done it all by themselves.

Nick said...

Yes, I too was surprised by the Kaiser's strong German accent. I've read that he spoke fluent English and even spoke English with an English (British) accent. I'm guessing that he didn't use much English in his years of exile. I can attest from personal experience that one's abilities in a foreign language diminish over time if one does not frequently use that language.

About the Kaiser pointing the finger at the American's for turning the tide of WWI: John Mosier in his book "The Myth of the Great War" argues that Germany was in fact winning WWI due to superior weapons technology, but lost due to the the sheer numbers of American troops that flooded Europe.

Anonymous said...

Considering the Kaisers militant opposition to the Catholic Church, I don't understand how any Catholic could in any way shape or form support the Imperial German Government.

Nick said...

Bismarck may have had a militant opposition to the Catholic Church, but the Kaiser (WII) did not. I suggest you do a little more research on this topic, specifically The Last Kaiser by Giles MacDonogh, and the Kaiser's own memoirs.

Anonymous said...
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