UNHEEDED WARNINGS -- GERMANY
Emperor Kaiser William (Wilhelm) I
Emperor Kaiser William (Wilhelm) II

    It was with a great deal of satisfaction that William I, 7th King of Prussia, accepted the crown of Emperor of all Germany in Versailles on January 18, 1871. His memories returned him to the day he was declared the President of the North German Confederation in 1867. He had known then that it was only the beginning because he believed he had the Divine Right to rule. He was even more assured because it had been only four years ago and now he was being crowned the Emperor Kaiser of all Germany. Not only were the lands of Alemani, the Franks, the Saxon, the Slave, the Avari and the other tribes that Charlemagne had conquered still part of Germany, but he, personally, had added Lotharingia, Bohemia, Italy and Franconia and Alsace-Lorraine to his domain. He wasn't yet the ruler of all Europe as he planned, but he ruled the most important land and he was well on the way to fulfill his God-given destiny, that being to rule the entire continent of Europe. After that who knows—perhaps the entire world, if not he then his descendants.
    From now on there would be no arrogant Napoleon to challenge Germany's superiority. He could rot in England wondering why he had ever declared war on Germany. England, the land of his in-laws spent their time forcing all children, no matter of their station in life, to attend school. They should have followed Spain and offered on their knees the office of total kingship to Albert. He could bring that country into the 19th Century.
    A man on such a high pinnacle of success relying on the divine right to rule would not be expected to think of a letter he'd received several years before which was sent him from a prison in Akka, Ottoman Empire. A prisoner with the audacity to give him, the Kaiser Emperor of the most important land in the world, instructions as to how a country should be ruled. He should have spent his time telling the Americans how to deal with their Indian problem, their fires in large cities like Chicago and catching their bank robbers such as the flamboyant Jesse James.
    Imagine, That Prisoner was a Persian, in an Ottoman prison, a prison reported to be the most vile place in the world. Some say the birds flying over the area dropped dead from the foul air. Yet this Person said: "O banks of the Rhine! We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch as the swords of retribution were drawn against you; and you shall have another turn. And we hear the lamentations of Berlin, though she be today in conspicuous glory."
    How dare He make such a statement. The Prisoner who wasn't even able to save His youngest son after he fell through the roof of that filthiest of all prisons.
    It was well known that Kaiser Emperor Wilhelm I had boldly stated many times that he acknowledged only the God of Battle. Each time Empresses Vickie, oldest daughter of Queen Victoria, heard it she shivered. She trembled even more after each attempt on his life. The end of his life was spent in constant fear of further attempts. The entire family no longer possessed the coveted state called "peace of mind."
    Historians say Wilhelm I's reign was crucial in European history, for it saw Germany's rise to power through the forces of the military machine. Others say it was that same rise to power and the development of the military machine that engulfed his nation and it's allies in disaster.
    The Prisoner's warnings were not for Kaiser Wilhelm the first's directions only. They were meant to guide the world and the future Kaisers.
   One of the guidances was:
   "O kings of the earth!…Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that you minds and hearts may be tranquilized."
    Kaiser Wilhelm the Second had no interest in peace. He built upon the military machine his father developed and established war as the religion of Germany. He scorned all overtures towards peace and proclaimed that he didn't need the counsel of others to tell him that Germany was meant to be supreme—in all things. He proudly stated that he went his way without regard to the events or opinions of the day.
    For a period of time it did appear that the Kaiser's self assurance was right. Then things changed. The war which had begun so impressively for Germany, suddenly soured an every front. Just as suddenly the war was lost. The treaty crushed the life out of the German people.
    Because of an aggressive military policy, Germany lost both World Wars. Two times the banks of the Rhine were 'covered with gore."
    On November 11, 1918 headlines told the entire world that Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated!
If they had only listened!