the denouement of the old royal families
Up until WWII, royal families played a major role in making history in Europe and elsewhere in the world -- particularly if they ruled in conjunction with the churches -- but increasing democracy has now reduced their history-making exploits to the tabloids rather than the battle-fields.
The gradual and sometimes dramatic demise of the old royal families over the past 200 years can be traced from their genealogy chart -- see Royal Tree -- which is more like a potted history of Europe than a family history. Countless numbers of our ancestors lost their lives fighting the dynastic squabbles of the old royal families, and it is fit and proper that their role is now strictly constitutional.
The denouement of the old royal familes started with the fall of the French monarchy in the French Revolution of 1789 but was hardest hit by German unification under Prussia in 1871. Prussia broke up the many German kingdoms and led to the impoverishment of previously prestigious royal families. The German shakeup exacerbated not only the search for rich and powerful brides and grooms for the many children of these now defunct old German royal families but also for new spheres of influence for the many displaced sons.
Just like Christian IX of Denmark had set up his youngest son, William, as George I, King of Greece -- and Leopold of Saxe Coburg Saalfield had been created King of the Belgians -- Augustus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha set up his son, Ferdinand, as King of Bulgaria and the Hohenzollerns set themselves up as monarchs of Romania.
The passive way in which the Greeks, Belgians, Bulgarians and Romanians accepted foreign rulers moving in and taking over -- arrogant young men raised to believe they were born to rule, without any of the qualities of a warrior king like Napoleon -- was in stark contrast with what was happening in South America. Maximillian of Austria, who had proclaimed himself Emperor of Mexico, was executed in 1867 by the Mexicans; and Pedro II of Portugal was deposed by the Brazilians as Emperor of Brazil in 1889.
WWI, 1914-1918, sparked by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie -- and essentially a royal war between the children of Queen Victoria, proving that intermarriage breeds hatred rather than peace -- caused the break-up of the Hapsburg Austrian Empire, the humiliation of Prussia and the indecent scramble by all of the old royal families -- against the wishes of destitute governed people everywhere -- for greater spheres of royal influence and sources of wealth.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 not only abolished the old Romanov dynasty but also executed the Tsar, his wife and five children -- driving the remaining Russian royal family members into exile and hasty marriages into any other European royal family that would take them.
The continuing repulsion against monarchy and unearned privilege led to increasing discontent and bloodshed in Spain, Greece and the Balkans and, finally, WWII, after which only the established democratic monarchies survived. Umberto II actually lost the Italian throne by referendum.
Consequently, the ranks of the royal 'dispossesed' -- mainly living in exile in France and England, mostly living off ill-gotten gains and some even refusing resolutely to renounce their royal rights and titles -- swelled to sizeable numbers.
In Europe, the days of kings and queens and dukes and duchesses actually playing an active part in government had well and truly ended by the end of WWII -- as had the days of someone like Napoleon seizing power and pronouncing himself emperor, like a true warrior king of ancient times.
Defeated in what they considered to be a divine or genetic right to rule, the sons and daughters of the now defunct royal dynasties who had any sort of ability turned instead to corporations to make their mark on the world and some, indeed, have succeeded magnificently in the corporate world and wield as much, if not more, power than the constitutional monarchs.
The gradual and sometimes dramatic demise of the old royal families over the past 200 years can be traced from their genealogy chart -- see Royal Tree -- which is more like a potted history of Europe than a family history. Countless numbers of our ancestors lost their lives fighting the dynastic squabbles of the old royal families, and it is fit and proper that their role is now strictly constitutional.
The denouement of the old royal familes started with the fall of the French monarchy in the French Revolution of 1789 but was hardest hit by German unification under Prussia in 1871. Prussia broke up the many German kingdoms and led to the impoverishment of previously prestigious royal families. The German shakeup exacerbated not only the search for rich and powerful brides and grooms for the many children of these now defunct old German royal families but also for new spheres of influence for the many displaced sons.
Just like Christian IX of Denmark had set up his youngest son, William, as George I, King of Greece -- and Leopold of Saxe Coburg Saalfield had been created King of the Belgians -- Augustus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha set up his son, Ferdinand, as King of Bulgaria and the Hohenzollerns set themselves up as monarchs of Romania.
The passive way in which the Greeks, Belgians, Bulgarians and Romanians accepted foreign rulers moving in and taking over -- arrogant young men raised to believe they were born to rule, without any of the qualities of a warrior king like Napoleon -- was in stark contrast with what was happening in South America. Maximillian of Austria, who had proclaimed himself Emperor of Mexico, was executed in 1867 by the Mexicans; and Pedro II of Portugal was deposed by the Brazilians as Emperor of Brazil in 1889.
WWI, 1914-1918, sparked by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie -- and essentially a royal war between the children of Queen Victoria, proving that intermarriage breeds hatred rather than peace -- caused the break-up of the Hapsburg Austrian Empire, the humiliation of Prussia and the indecent scramble by all of the old royal families -- against the wishes of destitute governed people everywhere -- for greater spheres of royal influence and sources of wealth.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 not only abolished the old Romanov dynasty but also executed the Tsar, his wife and five children -- driving the remaining Russian royal family members into exile and hasty marriages into any other European royal family that would take them.
The continuing repulsion against monarchy and unearned privilege led to increasing discontent and bloodshed in Spain, Greece and the Balkans and, finally, WWII, after which only the established democratic monarchies survived. Umberto II actually lost the Italian throne by referendum.
Consequently, the ranks of the royal 'dispossesed' -- mainly living in exile in France and England, mostly living off ill-gotten gains and some even refusing resolutely to renounce their royal rights and titles -- swelled to sizeable numbers.
In Europe, the days of kings and queens and dukes and duchesses actually playing an active part in government had well and truly ended by the end of WWII -- as had the days of someone like Napoleon seizing power and pronouncing himself emperor, like a true warrior king of ancient times.
Defeated in what they considered to be a divine or genetic right to rule, the sons and daughters of the now defunct royal dynasties who had any sort of ability turned instead to corporations to make their mark on the world and some, indeed, have succeeded magnificently in the corporate world and wield as much, if not more, power than the constitutional monarchs.
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