I am a history buff too. But I don't hold "Willie" harmless in the matter at all.

Kaiser Wilhelm was an insecure chap who had an arm that never fully formed. (Inbreeding royalty effect) Because of this physical deformity - he had a bit of the Napoleon syndrome - where inferiority makes one beat one's chest loudly. He was related to the Tsar's wife, Alexandra - a cousin, she being a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Telegrams were sent trying to resolve the issue peacably - but Wilhelm deployed and didn't stand down as requested. After waiting as long as he could for a reply - the Tsar deployed. Then after Russia deployed, Wilhelm sent a telegram saying Russia was obviously prepared for war and that they would not stand down. Total asinine stupidity. The Tsar assumed then, rightly, that Wilhelm, who was always holding maneuvers and fanatically funding the German military, withheld his cable response until Russia would deploy and was intent on having a war.

The Russians when the war went badly used Alexandra's German heritage against her and suspected her of having German sympathies. Wilhelm holds a lot of culpability for the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Bolshevik/communist he--hole that was created in place of the Romanov reign.

Wilhelm helped fuel the flames of the disastrous 1905 conflict with Japan and he offered also to fuel the Tsar's ships on their very long voyage and to their fateful, disastrous encounter with Japan. He was always encouraging the Tsar to stand up to the "Yellow threat" and said that it was Russia's destiny to act as a barrier to the "Yellow plague" and that the Tsar was the Admiral of the East - While he was the Admiral of the West. Wilhelm had also developed the German navy to unprecedented strength. Yes, he was eager to use his wares and counted on a quick, decisive victory.

He may not be the most evil of chaps on that list - probably not by a longshot - but he goes up there with the dumbest of royalists, who singlehandedly helped to destroy both Russia and Germany - leading the way for the real evil folks like Hitler, Lenin and Stalin - to gain power and to act out due to their own insecurity complexes and create tidal waves of death.

SDAI-Tech1