In fact, they were all first cousins to each other. All three men … Identify the Historical Figure from a Photograph Quiz, Identify the US President from a Photograph Quiz, The Most Interesting Tudor Fashion Trends, King George V, Tsar Nicholas II & Kaiser Wilhelm II: Cousins at War, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901), 7 Fascinating Facts About the Second World War That You Might Not Know, Former slave, William Colbert, at the age of 93, c. 1936, President Abraham Lincoln’s Deathbed, 15th April 1865, 17 Photographs of Historical Figures When They Were Children. Germany declared war on Russia on the 1st August 1914 after Russia began mobilizing its troops on the 31st July 1914 as a reaction to Austria-Hungary, an ally of Germany, attacking Serbia, an ally of Russia. How Kaiser Wilhelm II, King George and Tsar Nicholas are related - YouTube. George V, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II, known in the family as Georgie, Willy and Nicky, were cousins. Nicholas and George V were fairly close and when George found out that Nicholas had been executed, he was devastated. George V (right) and his physically similar cousin Nicholas II of Russia in German uniforms before the war It was a period of tremendous social change, but the royal houses felt themselves to still be in strong positions, particularly because they were such close kin. Shortly before the end of the war, Nicholas, his wife and children were executed by the Bolsheviks . Take this 10 question trivia quiz to see how much you know! Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II both held the power to declare war on each other (and they did) as both were rulers in an absolute monarchy. It seemed an easy choice. Nicholas II was radioactive, and George needed to protect himself. If you want to support HistoryColored further, consider becoming a patron on Patreon! Of course, this royal couple has been married for more than 70 … Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II who was shot dead by the Bolsheviks together with his family, could have escaped this grim fate and left Russia after the abdication in March 1917. The King of England and the Tsar of Russia were first cousins. When supporting us on Patreon, you will get access to early and exclusive content! He changed the name because of the German connection to Hesse and the war, WWI. The British Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, declared war on Germany after warning them to leave Belgium by the 3rd August 1914. George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.. Born during the reign of his grandmother Queen Victoria, George was third in the line of succession behind his father, Prince Albert Edward, and his own elder brother, Prince Albert Victor. George was extremely upset with what happened and despite making the decision, he blamed the politicians for what happened. Nicholas was a devoted husband, and Alexandra a loving wife. “The imperial family presented a massive problem for the provisional government,” Dana says; they didn’t want them in the country where they could inspire loyalty, but the Bolshevik extremists wanted the tsar imprisoned and tried. It is believed that George had a strong say in this decision. Unlike some other monarchies in Europe at the time, the UK was a constitutional monarchy giving George limited to no power to make decisions. Wilhelm also believed that England was the land of Satan and held anti-England views for the remainder of his life. Nicholas II was the first cousin of King George V of England as both of their mothers Marie and Alexandra were the daughters of King Christian IX of Denmark. George V and Nicholas II, with their families. Firstly, the British public were mainly on the side of the revolutionaries, instead of the aristocrats: “News of the Russian's tsar being overthrown was met in England with cheers, with celebrations in the street for the common people who rose up to take down an autocrat,” Dana says. Copy link. Wilhelm II and George V were first cousins because Wilhelm’s mother, Victoria was the sister of Edward VII, the father of George V. The Tsar’s ties with the British royals were further cemented when he married Queen Victoria’s favourite granddaughter, Princess Alix of Hesse (who would perish alongside him and their children when the Tsar’s family was massacred by Communist … Photos from before the Russian tragedy show Nicholas II and George V, who were … Their marriage was based on love, which was rare for their time and station, making them a bit of a novelty. However, moving into the 20th Century, this was changing rapidly. They had been friends since childhood. There was a time where royals ruled over almost every country in Europe, and through colonization, everywhere on earth. When Britain joined the First World War on the 4th August 1914, George had been King for just over 4 years. There's even a chart just for radio podcasts here, featuring all your favorite iHeartRadio personalities like Bobby Bones, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey and dozens of others. They were the same age, they had grown up together. As well as being closely related, George V and Nicholas II looked uncannily alike and had developed a firm friendship in their younger years. The murders of the tsar and his entire family have inspired movies, TV series, and books, mainly about one daughter, Anastasia, who was rumored to have escaped the Bolsheviks. He was the son of King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. Tsar and King . The tsar abdicated his throne, but it wasn’t enough for the Bolshevik extremists who had overthrown him; they wanted blood. They were first cousins. And now as the revolution raged in Russia, the Bolsheviks circled Nicholas and his family like buzzards, waiting. The war led to the end of the short-lived monarchy that existed in Germany since the foundation of the nation in 1871. “They were cousins who looked more like twins.” But when a peasant revolt was brutally put down in 1905, public sentiment turned against the tsar, and the Russian people started to rise up against the royal family. In 1917, Great Britain had the opportunity to offer sanctuary to the Tsar and his family but when the offer was accepted, the government of the United Kingdom withdrew the offer out of fear that it could cause unrest in their country. Edward VII’s oldest sister was Empress Victoria of Germany and her oldest child was the Kaiser Wilhelm II. How Kaiser Wilhelm II, King George and Tsar Nicholas are related. Russia entered the war on the 1st of August 1914 after Germany declared war on the nation. A cease-fire was signed between Russia and the central powers on the 15th December 1917 and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on the 3rd March 1918 formally removing Russia from the war. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was born on the 18 th May 1868 to Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) making him first cousins with George through his mother, who was the sister of George’s mother Alexandra; Nicholas also married a first cousin of George, Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, so technically he is a cousin of blood and marriage. George V was the first Windsor. Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, were the last ruling imperial couple of Russia. King George V and his physically similar cousin Tsar Nicholas II in German military uniforms in Berlin, 1913 George and Nicky’s mothers, Alexandra and Dagmar, were sisters, which explains why they looked so alike. For a brief moment in time, it seemed that their savior would be King George V.” On this episode of Noble Blood, Dana examines the relationship between the two cousins, the two countries, and the political machinations that led to the bloody end of the tsar. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Ireland and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha had 9 children that married into various royal families across Europe. It is unfortunate that this indirect family feud could have been prevented due to the family ties but were not utilized correctly. Nicholas and his family were transported to various locations throughout the Russian Empire before being placed in Ipatiev House on the 30th of April 1918. Listen to find out how the Romanov family met its end, the hard decisions King George V had to make, and the true villain of the story, in this episode of Noble Blood. Wilhelm was ordered to abdicate before any armistice was signed and he did so on the 9th November 1918 leading to the cease-fire being signed on the 11th November 1918. In his memoirs, Wilhelm calls his third cousin Nicholas “weak and vacillating” and stated that he tried to mend the relationship between the two countries because of a promise he made to his grandfather on his deathbed. Nicholas II was married to Alexandra Fedorovna, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, but not only that. During the last days of July 1914 telegrams flew between the King, the Kaiser and the Tsar. read more © Wikipedia Pictured arm in arm wearing yachting uniforms, the two future kings could be mistaken for twins. Watch later. Nicholas II and his family were taken hostage and later murdered by the revolutionaries in July 1918. Whilst in hindsight this seems to have been a very bad decision to make as it led to the death of the entire Romanov family, there was no indication that they were going to be murdered. Who would go to war with their own immediate family? Nicholas’ wife was also a first cousin to George (on his father’s side) and Kaiser Wilhelm bore the same close relationship to both. Since George’s father and Wilhelm’s mother were also siblings, they were first cousins. Wilhelm II and George V were first cousins because Wilhelm's mother, Victoria was the sister of Edward VII, the father of George V. The relationship between Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II might be more direct if you go back to either Tsar Paul 1 or Tsar Alexander II through marriages between the two royal families of Romanov and Hohenzollern. One of them (“Alix,” or Alexandra) married the man who would become Tsar Nicholas II, emperor of Russia. “It was about this time when the provisional government's foreign minister, a man named Pavel Milyukov, approached the British ambassador and requested that the imperial family might be allowed to come to England.” But that request presented its own problems. The two royals were George V's father , Edward VII. By the time his father, Frederick III, ascended the throne on the 9th March 1888 following his own father’s death, he was suffering from an incurable throat cancer that meant he ruled for only 99 days before Wilhelm succeeded at the age of 29. But while cousins Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Britain’s King George V were described as close friends, their relationship ended in … “Hosting the tsar and his wife would be nothing short of a PR nightmare.” And while the king was worried for his cousin and friend, he also had to be cautious. Following his father’s death on the 6th May 1910, George became King. On the 1st November 1894, Nicholas took the throne at the young age of 26 after his father died of kidney disease. Nicholas' five children were shot, bludgeoned, stabbed and then shot again. He died in Doorn on the 4th June 1941 at the age of 82. Photo comes from my collection and was scanned by me. After the peasant massacre by the Imperial Guards, the tsar was given the nickname “Nicholas the Bloody,” and things only got worse from there. Pictured here, King George is pictured alongside his identical cousin Czar Nicholas II in 1913 when their relationship was still intact. It was pretty common for European royalty to promote each other into each other’s militaries. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was born on the 18th May 1868 to Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) making him first cousins with George through his mother, who was the sister of George’s mother Alexandra; Nicholas also married a first cousin of George, Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, so technically he is a cousin of blood and marriage. “But if you look to history, there was another...alternate reality in which the Romanov family was saved at the 11th hour. Share. George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I by Miranda Carter. “They would need to stay in Russia's good graces for trade and for continued support in World War I,” Dana points out, “but there was no way around the fact that bringing ‘Bloody Nicholas’ and his German empress to England would look bad...Regardless of what the political situation actually was, the truth is it would look like a move of family loyalty, and not diplomacy.” Plus, Britain was a constitutional monarchy, where “a king's power is at the mercy of the people. He was King George V. He put England - and himself - first.”. George V + Nicholas II as children and adults Royal Cousins at War Wilhelm II (1859 - 1941), third and last Emperor of Germany from 1888 - 1918 and ninth king of Prussia. How much do you know about England and its involvement in World War II? Nicholas, his entire family, and 4 servants were executed in this location by Bolshevik forces on the 17th July 1918. Following the war, George and Wilhelm did not interact again marking the end of a friendly relationship that existed before the war between the three cousins. Wilhelm’s mother was the sister of George’s father; George’s mother and Nicholas’ mother were sisters from the Danish royal family. In the early 1900’s, England was ruled by King George V and Russia ruled by Tsar Nicholas II, George’s cousin. A Power Point demonstration of how King George V of England, Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany are related. Times were changing and it seemed as though royals were no longer wanted in the world. Did you know that at the time of the First World War, the rulers of the world’s three greatest nations – King George V of Great Britain and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia on the one hand, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany on the other – were first cousins? 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