Post by futurist on Jan 5, 2019 6:10:39 GMT
Would you prefer to be German Kaiser Wilhelm II, Austro-Hungarian Kaiser Franz Joseph, or Russian Tsar Nicholas II if you were given the opportunity by a magical wizard to be one (and only one) of these rulers?
For the record, you get to start at the beginning of their reign and decide to proceed from there. Also, you have a body which is identical to the one that the ruler that you chose had at that point in time. Thus, for instance, if you decide to become Franz Joseph, you would have a body which is likely to survive for an additional seventy or so years (relative to the start of your reign).
I chose these three monarchs because they are all from Eastern Europe and they all had very significant power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thus, I felt that offering people a choice between these three monarchs and only these three monarchs is a good idea.
As for me, I would probably choose Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Austria-Hungary (or the Austrian Empire before 1867) was too fragmented and divided to become a power comparable to either Germany or Russia. True, A-H was a Great Power, but it certainly wasn't in the same league as either Germany or Russia. Also, while Germany might have been more powerful and more industrialized than Russia was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Russia had much more potential than Germany had in the long(er)-run due to its massively larger population (a population that was probably growing at a faster rate than Germany's population was growing). Thus, I'd like to be in charge of a future superpower. Also, I am a big fan of living space (the U.S. model--certainly not the evil and vile Nazi German model!) and Russia has by far the best expansion opportunities out of these three countries and also much more living space to settle than either Germany or Austria-Hungary has. Basically, I want to emulate the U.S. model of settler colonialism (or I suppose the French model of settler colonialism in Algeria--though that model was far less successful than the U.S. model was), but with much less brutality.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?
Also, if you want, I can let you swap Franz Joseph for his nephew Franz Ferdinand. Then, you just need to be careful to avoid going to Sarajevo so that you won't get shot and killed there in 1914.
For the record, you get to start at the beginning of their reign and decide to proceed from there. Also, you have a body which is identical to the one that the ruler that you chose had at that point in time. Thus, for instance, if you decide to become Franz Joseph, you would have a body which is likely to survive for an additional seventy or so years (relative to the start of your reign).
I chose these three monarchs because they are all from Eastern Europe and they all had very significant power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thus, I felt that offering people a choice between these three monarchs and only these three monarchs is a good idea.
As for me, I would probably choose Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Austria-Hungary (or the Austrian Empire before 1867) was too fragmented and divided to become a power comparable to either Germany or Russia. True, A-H was a Great Power, but it certainly wasn't in the same league as either Germany or Russia. Also, while Germany might have been more powerful and more industrialized than Russia was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Russia had much more potential than Germany had in the long(er)-run due to its massively larger population (a population that was probably growing at a faster rate than Germany's population was growing). Thus, I'd like to be in charge of a future superpower. Also, I am a big fan of living space (the U.S. model--certainly not the evil and vile Nazi German model!) and Russia has by far the best expansion opportunities out of these three countries and also much more living space to settle than either Germany or Austria-Hungary has. Basically, I want to emulate the U.S. model of settler colonialism (or I suppose the French model of settler colonialism in Algeria--though that model was far less successful than the U.S. model was), but with much less brutality.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?
Also, if you want, I can let you swap Franz Joseph for his nephew Franz Ferdinand. Then, you just need to be careful to avoid going to Sarajevo so that you won't get shot and killed there in 1914.
