Sublime

The ‘Old Fritz’ had earned his affectionate nickname in a series of successive military victories (including against France in 1757), often leading his men into battle in person, putting himself in such danger that several horses were shot from under him.

Friedrich Wilhelm’s only saving grace was his beautiful and popular wife, Louise. An intelligent, strong-willed and charming woman, it was she who famously tried to stand up to Napoleon at Tilsit and negotiate better terms for Prussia. Unsuccessful as this was, it made her a figure…

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When Wilhelm II took to the throne in 1888, the tumultuous Year of the Three Emperors, he quickly clashed with Bismarck over the issue of German unity. He recognised the same problem – economic and cultural common ground would not be enough to hold the Second Reich together – but found Bismarck’s solution of Germans battling each other abhorrent. W