Memoirs of the Crown Prince of Germany

[Robert Dunlop]

Naval and Military Press have just republished the English translation of one of Crown Prince Wilhelm's memoirs. I approached this book with mixed expectations. In fact, I wasn't sure it would provide much substance, perhaps because the Crown Prince was, and still is, portrayed as an almost comical figure. It was compelling. He wrote the book while in exile off the coast of Holland. Despite his obvious sense of humour, the Crown Prince was haunted by what had happened during the war. Wilhelm gives an account of his growing up: the close relationship with his mother, the distant father, the separation from the real world. He then describes his training for and subsequent service in the military. There are some insights into his experience as a commander during the war itself. He gives a detailed account of the Kaiser's abdication.

Besides the mental anguish that Wilhelm experienced, there were two other things that stood out. One was the descriptions of what was happening to the German Army in the last months of the war. The other was the terrible effect that the abdication had on Wilhelm's mother. He was so close to her, and you can feel the pain as he watched his mother, during the few visits he was allowed, wasting away to her death.

A very powerful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Robert

[Halder]

I presume you're referring to "My War Experiences"; if so, yes, an extremely lucid account - compare with the self-serving and very bland memoirs of his father.

Little Willy has never really emerged from the shadow of wartime propaganda which portrayed as a "clown prince" (which at times, he undoubtedly was). On the down side, he did fall heavily under the spell of the Nazis...

His memoirs are often sadly neglected by historians, but i find them far more interesting than Hindenburg's ghostwritten - and oft-quoted - autobiography.

[Robert Dunlop]

No, I think the German title of the original was 'Erinnerungen Des Kronprinzen Wilhelm', which was co-authored with Karl Rosner. This is a guess on my part because the original source is not clear in the English version. Wilhelm mentioned that he was writing a separate, more detailed account of his war experiences. I noted he also wrote 'Meine Erinnerungen aus Deutschlands Heldenkampf' and 'Ich suche die Wahrheit: Ein Buch zur Kriegsschuldfrage'. Was the first of these the book that you are referring to? Thanks.

Robert

[Halder]

I'm guessing that "Meine Erinnerungen aus Deutschlands Heldenkampf" became My War Experiences in the UK (My Memoirs of Germany's Heroic Fight was probably a little too gung-ho for British audiences in the 1920s )

I didn't realise he wrote a more general memoir as well. One to add to the ever-growing list of books to read...

[Robert Dunlop]

Thanks, Halder. I hadn't realised that there was an English version. It didn't help that I was searching for 'Wilhelm' as the author. He was recorded as 'William of Germany' - another sign that publishers were treading the path of caution . I too now have another book to add to the collection. That leaves the memoirs of the commander of the German Sixth Army as the only one missing from the series of 'Why I didn't mess up the von Schlieffen Plan in 1914...'