You forgot his most heartbreaking remark in his diary "I can't die, what will happen to Germany?"

3:50 To the contrary, Wilhelm was pro-British up until the years leading to WWI, when the relationship soured. He adored Queen Victoria: he was in the room when she passed. And he greatly admired the British navy, and was an honorary Admiral. Read Dreadnought by Robert K Massie for more info

Yes, Frederick was more “liberal” than his son, but he was also a seasoned veteran of the unification wars. There’s no doubt he would’ve made a FAR better emperor than Wilhelm II.

Kaiser Willhelm II was far from anti-British he adored his Grandmother Queen Victoria, He adored the Royal Navy when made an honorary admiral he was very proud. It is true he had issues with certain members of the family but the idea that he was anti-British is simply not true he strongly admired Britain. Yes, he did sell guns to the Boars but he also helped the British on multiple occasions.

Yeah Kaiser Frederick was a very weak father he let his wife torture their own son for 10 years and because of his mother's uncaring heart towards him really shaped him as a man especially towards his mother's home country I really feel bad for Kaiser Wilhelm unlike his cousin Nicholas which was a great father and loved his family Kaiser Wilhelm got nothing

Every time I see one of these scenario I think: "Why were we so close to a good world?"

Its tragic in a sense that the two biggest wars in human history were caused by a broken family.

Kaiser Wilhelm’s relationship with the UK is quite bit more complicated. He disliked his mother and British politics but her loved aspects of its military especially the navy. The naval race between the two nations was one of the causes of WW1

I saw Fall of Eagles, which told the rise and fall of the monarchies of Germany, Russia and Austria. I also wondered how Frederick III would rule if he hadn't smoked his whole life.

It is an example of medical malpractice and history. Wilhelm II was an example of a botched forceps delivery, and his father was misdiagnosed early on, when the cancer was still treatable. Both times by British doctors, oddly.

I really appreciate you tackling this subject, virtually no one on KZfaq has ever addressed what would have happened if Kaiser Friedrich III had lived and reigned longer. This is an event that would change the rest of the 19th century and the 20th century and people don't realize it. If he had lived for another 10, 12 or even 20 years, I think that even then he would not be able to transform the German Empire into a Liberal country like the United Kingdom, I think it is impossible, but with Germany becoming a country that follows National Liberalism or Conservative Liberalism would be good enough. The British and the Germans would maintain good relations without all those frictions caused by Kaiser Wilhelm II, the First World War would probably continue happening there would be no way to avoid it, but the alliances would be different. With the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia on one side and France, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire on the other, with this war lasting less than the Great War of our reality, with these nations becoming after the war. I leave here my congratulations for your great work.

I love your videos Josh. Your videos were some of the biggest to inspire me to start my channel! Cheers!

6:05 perfect song at the right time 👌

8:40 You can say what you want but the "Good Comerade" is the most beautiful German Song

Hey Josh, it's nice you're back doing videos. How are you doing, man? This a fantastic video on an alternate history of Kaiser Frederick Survived, for I wanted to see an alternate history video with Frederick III living longer. I feel bad for Frederick having a rough childhood. I thought Wihielm had the worst, but Frederick III's childhood is way traumatizing, with his parents bickering and being alienated by his father for his view of being liberal. But thank you for the video, my friend. This video is both educational and entertaining at the same time; with Frederick being the German Emperor, it most likely Germany would have been a monarchy today with the Hohenzollerns being celebrity figures similar to the British Royal family! If you're interested in hearing them out, I have some suggestions for future alternate history videos. Anyway, unique what-if history Josh; keep up the incredible work, always be proud of who you are, and stay true to yourself and your dreams!

Really appreciate you using the "Fridericus-Rex-Grenadiermarsch" as the background music :p

Wilhelm I didn't want to marry Augusta; he wanted to marry someone else.

First video I've watched from you and I must subscribe. Great quality and content. Keep up with the good work!

This is honestly more interesting then most alt history’s in my opinion.

Don't let the terminology confuse the subject. To 19th-century Prussia and the rest of Germany, "liberalism" meant a government that included universal male suffrage and a parliament that made laws, under a constitutional monarch. Frederick was in favor of an elected parliament, and was willing to accept the role of King in cooperation with the Landtag, rather than the role of an absolute monarch.

I used to blamed Wilhelm II for ww1, but after growing up, I now only blame him for 50% of it Edit: a lot of people are commenting without knowing a lot of basic things that Wilhelm did such as his continuous alliance to Austria Hungary despite ending the alliance of the three empire, him sabotaging germany's possible alliances to England multiple times, despite that being one of his goals, his decision to follow the generals who wanted to pursue unrestricted submarine warfare, and I could go on and on, how he sabotaged Germany's diplomacy and fucked over Bismarck.

According to Bismarck's draft of the Constitution of Imperial Germany, the Chancellor is appointed by the Emperor and thus solely responds to him. This made Bismarck untouchable since everyone knew that Wilhelm I would never have ditched him during his reign. But it is likely that without that damn cancer Frederick III would have searched for a suitable replacement as soon as the situation allowed for it. His choice might have fallen on Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, a prominent southern german liberal and a relative to the Imperial family. In our timeline he actually became Chancellor in 1894 under Wilhelm II, adopting the Civil Code aka Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) into german law.

Nice vid, just imagine how many lives would be saved without two world wars and how wonderful Europe would look today with its fine architecture

Him not smoking is the perfect portrait of the meme "time traveler moves a chair: the time line..."

Thanks Josh. That was fascinating.

5:05 least based royalist

First person I have seen cover this topic on KZfaq. I am a member of a mod team that is trying to portray this exact scenario in Hearts of Iron IV, so it is nice to see this topic get more attention.

I’m just here for his beard. One of the best. (I do think the history is fascinating as well)

I'm not certain that Bismarck and Frederick would've had the relationship you're thinking of. And as far as Austria collapsing, I'm not sure if the Germans would've allowed that.

Great! This is a very realistic scenario, I liked it! Maybe another Alt. History - What if the 1848 Revolutions succeeded? Its a scenario I haven’t really seen, it would be cool to see your take on it!

First, the term liberal has a much different meaning in 2023 compared to 1850. Victorian England was hardly a liberal by our standards. If you don't believe me I would refer you to the Sepoy Mutiny in which the Brits blew Indian rebels out of cannons as punishment. Victorian England was a nation with a very wealthy, but miniscule, class of aristocracts, bankers and industrialists and the masses (99% of the people) living in hunger and squalor without much hope. The Victorian idea of democracy didn't include a vote for everyone. So it's wrong to paint England as some pillar of democracy. Britain's only concern was its wealthy class making lots of money. Liberalism in the 19th century really meant unrestricted capitalism, while conservativism often represented agrarian interests. Second, without Bismarck, there would have been no Germany. A union could not have happened without war. It's as simple as that. It had been the foreign policy of France since Richelieu to keep Germany divided. France had to be defeated. The Hapsburgs wouldn't have given up neither. Interestingly, Bismarck was responsible for much social welfare legislation in Germany. Yes, he was autocratic, but he knew how to keep the peace once Germany was built. I agree that Germany would have benefitted from BIsmarck's leadership for another decade or so. Third, while its true that Bismarck was opposed to colonial expansion, it's doubtful that would have changed the foreign policies of France, Britain and Russia that sought to maximize their control of Asia and Africa. With or without Germany, China would have been divided up into economic spheres. Wilhelm II merely went with the flow on that.

It's interesting that you would translate Friedrich to Frederick, but not Wilhelm to William

I’ve been waiting for this video

honestly i think he might have actually stood up to bismarck in things where he was shure that there was a better solution so there is achance that if he would have ruled for longer there is a maybe that he might have reduced the hostilitys between france and germany at least a bit.

I learnt a lot. Thanks!

He was a true chad! Standing for to his ideals but also serving his nation in war flawlessly even tho he disliked it. His treatment of french prisoners tells of respect, something he shared and earned himself. For me his son, Wilhelm II. will always be a wannabe. He tried to follow his grandfather politically and his father in terms of personal achievements but never really reached them.

I think it might caused America to remain very much on expansionist. Already having the Philippines. You mentioned on turning China into a bunch of Colonies. I wouldn't be shocked to find America attempting to take a part of or a good chunk of China. Which the US seeing the idea of if they could change the Chinese territories into English speaking and mostly protestant Christian faith. It would then utilize them and the Filipinos to leverage Britain over Canada. Britain could only be so many places at once. This giving Germany a chance to find means to take advantage of the situation.

You should do video on if the Guangxu Emperor was never killed in my personal opinion

Great job withe the musik ther mate all the right marches at the right time. And all in all a great Video would have loved to see how the wold would look like today if this cenario were true. Sorry for my bad english grammar its my second language. :)

Great counterfactual stuff. One of several scenarios from the book "What If". Avoidance of WWI & WWII are the two big questions of the 20th century.

Great video!

This is one of my favorite what if's of history that could have fundamentally changed the course 20th century . Hoch der Kaiser!

What if the Greek monarchie survived

The video is based on the rather ridiculous idea that the hostile British attitude towards Germany was based on the behaviour of Wilhelm II. In reality, Germany had become a strong economic competitor for Britain - what Britain would never have tolerated, under any circumstances.

This was a very interesting video with a pretty unique premise! However I disagree with some of it. Frederick keeping Bismarck would not result in cordial relations with Russia and an isolated France. The things that set in motion the formation of the Russo-French alliance already happened, with Bismarck personally negotiating the Berlin Congress, which the Russians saw as a disgrace. From that point on German-Russian relations were essentially in free fall, where the liability of the Austro-Hungarian alliance would cut off any attempt to save them. The German Empire may have still been victorious in the resulting war if they could manage to keep tensions low enough to keep Britain in splendid isolation or go into an alliance with them when they offered, but yeah, Russia was gone and the great war was going to happen.

This is an alt history idea that constantly floats around in my head.

Great video! Just subscribed 👍🏻

Also had the same thought alot, glad to see a vid about it. One thing however, I see it as unlikely that something like the boxer rebellion *wouldn't* have happened. The Chinese at that time were sick of colonial powers slowly taking over their country and I don't think that the Americans just wouldnt insist on the open door policy. So I see your point of just 'boxer rebellion not happening' as unlikely. Edit: take a shot everytime he says liberalism or liberal

Bismarck had a plan; Bismarck *always* had a plan. 😎

What a legend!

Very interesting!

Lore of what if Kaiser Frederick survived? Momentum 100

“We are no longer looked upon as the innocent sufferers of wrong, but rather as arrogant victors, no longer content with the conquest of the foe but determined to bring about his utter ruin…at the moment it must seem as though we are neither loved nor respected, only feared.” -Crown Prince Frederick, 1870, during the climax of the Franco-Prussian War

I think this is a great video, but, I’m also hesitant about some of the assumptions. I’m really not sure if Bismarck would be able to keep ahold of power. Bismarck’s realpolitik had been effective, except that by 1888 most of the reichstag didn’t like him anymore. He’d teamed up with the liberals….only to make them hate him after he betrayed them once the kulturkampf was won. By 1878 he had to abandon the liberal party to join the center party as his chief allies, as a guard against more liberal parties, like his former Allies. Then he opposed free trade, and these two factors ended any liberal support for Bismarck. He could’ve teamed up with the conservatives…but refused them an international empire or other land gains, which also pissed them off. Additionally, after the fiasco of the anti-socialist bill he attempted to pass in 1889. He could’ve theoretically kept allying with the centre party. However, with Bismarck becoming increasingly unpopular I have to wonder how this would reflect on the Centre in elections, as conservatives and liberals increasingly become frustrated with Bismarck. Another TEN years, by which he would be rather old, might be impossible without a friendly Kaiser or Reichstag.

Top 10 Idea Recommendations: 1. What if Manchuria developed to become its own independent country instead of being a part of China? 2. What if the Mensheviks formed the USSR instead of the Bolsheviks? 3. What if the 1979 Iranian Revolution failed? 4. What if the Industrial Revolution began in the Middle East instead of Europe? 5. What if the United States just colonized Edo Japan in 1854? 6. What if World War 1 ended in a draw? 7. What if the state religion of the Roman Empire was Buddhism instead of Christianity? 8. What if the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s ended similarly to the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989? 9. What if the 9/11 terrorist attack never happened? 10. What if Napoleon Bonaparte won the Battle of Waterloo?

From what I've read about Kaiser Wihelm II, he was the only European head who was truly trying to advocate for peace and prevent a large scale conflict. Blaming him for WW1 is foolish. WW1 started for a multitude of reasons. Neither Wihelm II nor Germany is responsible for the war.

Bro, there has to be an evil timetraveler that just wanted to ruin humanity by handing this guy a cigar

Overall I appreciate that you tried to get the names right. Here is some help with it: If there is an 'o' in German it is always pronounced 'o'. We never swap vocals around like the English do. You had also some other minor errors in your pronounciation, but I cannot explain those to you by text.

What if George 1 of Greece survived his Assassination

What if the Kingdom of castile Leon qonquerd Portugal in the reconquista

We must examine these "what ifs" because we have to try to prevent any new conflicts from taking root.

the best scenario nobody talks about is fredric II & maria theresia marriage

i think assuming that the UK would side with germany over france just because the current kaiser was a reformist is a bit naive I think. The UK has always tried to maintain the balance of powers in europe, so if germany gets too cosy with russia, the UK would absolutely support france to prevent the continent from falling between the hands of germany. Also germany is too easily blocked from the world's oceans to really take advantage of colonies, so they would effectively have to break France on land long before fights happen in the colonies, but france can pull support and manpower from its colonies while germany cannot. that is unless the brits side with germany, but that leads us back to the original issue that it immediately throws the balance of powers in europe through the window.

Imagine if the portuguese had colonized Australia ?

Alexander III also could have lived until the 1920 with good health....

its likly we Still See a WW2 Alternate version but most Goverments still would have Monarch in power I think, we could proably guess small wars would go on when Wilhelm II is Kaiser but probly not like the Great War Was, While proably alternate ww2 would happen during his Son Wihelm III s reign that I think.

Here’s an interesting scenario that can relate to World War I just like this one what if Rudolf crown prince of Austria never committed suicide

they should put pictures of Friedrich III on cigarett packs

What if the crusaders won the battle of Varna

The year of three emperors was a travesty for europe. Otherwise good Deutsch pronounciations with the exception of Z which transliterates into TS, so Hohenzollern would sound like Hohentsollern using english orthography.

The much more interesting question is: What would have happende, if Friedrich (not Frederick!) had died 100 days earlier? Who would have become Kaiser then? And what would have happened without Wilhelm II at all?

Will you ever do anything concerning Greece ?

Interestingly this video essay is a good argument why Frederick had to die. Preventing big industrial warfare until after full industrialization or even the invention of nuclear weapons. Denying humanity the bitter lessons from both world wars without devastating the planet or even outright destroying humanity.

Long live the Kaiser!

Moral of the story: don't smoke!

Queen Victoria: "Hey Frederick, i want you to marry Victoria!" Just imagine she said that.

What if Kaiser Wilhelm I died when Nobling shot him? That was almost 10 years before he actually died. How would Friedrich have shaped Germany during those years, and would Wilhelm II have been able to undo it?

Afternoon

This would of been ideal

For all the only english speakers in the world who want to make videos about german aristocrats: the preposition „von“ (meaning from) is pronounced like fond without the d.

I miss the Kaiser.

Great

Hohenzollern with a long "O" ZO

Bro why is that video like couple day from my birthday

Monsieur Z sent me. Glad he did!

2:40 what you are saying is that if Fredrick followed his dad , the Kaiser would hate Russia instead of Britain OTL

What if the Revolutions of 1848 succeeded

What if the first crusade was focust on Spain

Yes

Could you do what if Alexander II lived longer? I think that would be cool.

Suggestion: what if Berlin congress was more favorable for slavs? Making kinda First Balkan War borders.

08:05 f: Friedrich Wilhelm was the exact opposite of weak and cowardly. A coward wouldn't even have opposed anti-Jewish protests.

nice video

What if kapodistrias survived

2:11 Again? What exactly was the other time?

As a person of Jewish descent as well as a student of history, I really appreciate Fredericks support of Jews!!!

Remember, smoking is not just bad for you; it is terrible for the people around you!

As an English person, I personally think we sided with the wrong people/the bad guys. We literally sided with Serbia, a country that murdered someone (Franz Ferdinand) for no reason. Then again, we only sided with them, cause we were scared of Russia.

Wilhelm's biggest bullshit was breaking Bismarck's policy with Russia. He favored Austria Hungary a weak failed state not viable because of its ethnic configuration which no longer conformed to the idea of ​​the nation state. Frederik should not make this mistake if he wishes the survival of the empire, fighting on two fronts was the kiss of death for Germany.

Somebody please, please make this an alt history mod for HOI4