The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-10-22
War Quite a Family Fight.

If the matrimonial alliances of Eu-
ropean royalty were allowed to play
as important part in the present
muddle as they did in the middle
ages, the confusion attendant on Eu-
ropes present crisis would be many
times more remarked. Nearly every
ruler in Europe is in some way en-
tangled with all the others through
family connections: and if hereditary
had anything to do with the problems
of the national alignments, the mess
would be beyond solution.
Take England to begin with.
George V. present king, is the grand
son. on his mothers side, of Chris
tian TX, of Denmark, and the broth
er-in-law of Prince Charles, of Den
mark, who is Haakon VII, king Of
Norway Thus far the Norse-Eng-
lish ties are close.
But the late king, Edward VII,
left a brother and two or three Sis
ters who have helped complicate
England's royalty. Prince Arthur
(duke of Cannaught) married Prin-
cess Louise. of Prussia, and their
daughter married the Swedish prince,
Gustavus Adolphus. Princess Hell
ena, eldest sister of the late king,
contracted an alliance with Prince
Christian, of Schlesweig eig-Holstein,
and their second daughter married
a minor German prince of Anhalt.
And Princess Beatrice, Youngest sis
ter of Edward, married son of the
prince of Hesse, from which union
was born Victoria Eugene, the bride
of Alfonso XIII of Spain.
England's international matrimon-
ial alliances are simple compared
with those Of the German empire.
The German empire is divided into
four kingdoms, six grand duchies,
five duchies, seven principalities,
three free towns and the Reichsland
of Alsace-Lorraine-t is, so many
are represented in the Bundesrat and
the Reichstag. There are number
less duchies and counties which boast
detached mobiles of all grades. AL
most all of the various divisions Of
the empire retain their hereditary
rulers, and these keep up some sort
of State of their own. And each Of
these subdivisions Of the German
empire has it's royal or ducal family,
forming all sorts of alliances, not
alone among the other States Of the
kaiser's dominion, but among all the
countries of Europe. Here are some
Of the alliances between the ruling
families of German States and other
European countries, serving to show
the complications which have set in:
Wilhelm II, German emperor, and
king of Prussia, is the son of the En-
eporr Friedrich III and Victoria,
princess royal of Great Britain. Will
helm married the Princess Victoria,
of Schleswig-H Holstein Sonderburg =
Augustenburg. Which names would
seem to embrace the empire, but in
spite of their length really mean on
ly small part.
The marriage of the kaiser's sons
have been within the empire, with
princesses of German States. But
the kaiser's sister, Princess Sophie,
is married to Constantine, crown
prince of Greece.
The intermarriages Of the reign
ing family Of the kingdom of Bava-
ria have been almost altogether with
other German States and with Aus
tria. Hesse, besides that already
mentioned, possesses another bond
in common with England, for its
reigning grand duke is the son Of
Princess Alice, of Great Britain and
Ireland. Two Of the grand dukes
sisters made German marriages, and
the other two Russian-one was the
wife of the Russian Grand Duke Ser
gius Alenandrovitch and the other
(the youngest) is the Czarina. So
the grand duchy Of Hesse seems to
be fairly divided.
The sister of the grand duke of
Baden is queen of Sweden.
The duke of Cumberland is the ex-
cluded heir to the reignancy of the
duchy of Brunswick, because he will
not give up his claim to the throne
of Hanover.
Denmark, whose affiliations we
saw were mainly Morse and English,
is also represented in the German
German royalties by the marriage of
its king. Christian X, to princess
of Mecklenburg.
Victor Emmanuel III, of Italy,
married Elena, daughter of the king
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