>If the Belgian State, for quite ordinary political and financial reasons, itself constructed its chief railway lines; if Bismarck, not under any economic compulsion, took over for the State the chief Prussian lines, simply to be the better able to have them in hand in case of war, to bring up the railway employees as voting cattle for the Government, and especially to create for himself a new source of income independent of parliamentary votes — this was, in no sense, a socialistic measure, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously. Otherwise, the Royal Maritime Company, the Royal porcelain manufacture, and even the regimental tailor of the army would also be socialistic institutions, or even, as was seriously proposed by a sly dog in Frederick William III's reign, the taking over by the State of the brothels.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/ch03.htm
A message from His Majesty, the King of Swedes, Wends, and Goths, Gustav III of the House of Holstein-Gottorp.
My Dearest, Frederick William II,
I write to you, not from a dire time, but in a time of celebration. Our mutual enemy has been pushed back from Gothenburg and our other mutual enemy has been stalled at the Eastern Border. It is at this time that I can confidently write to you, from the fortress in Gothenburg.
My Dearest King Frederick William II, I wish you a most fantastic 1789 and may this be the year that both of our nations reach majesty. In the past, you and I have never had conflicts and, indeed, it was past monarchs of both our fine kingdoms that had ever gone to arms. Yet in this day and age, in the year of our Lord, 1789, we find ourselves on the same side of a malicious foe.
Russia is a monster and a threat to both of our sovereignties. I know that you are no stranger to the Russians and that I myself share kinship with the deposed Russian monarch. At present, it is Catherine who rules the Tsardom and she is waging an aggressive war against my ally, the Ottoman Turks. I too am engaged with war with her. However, her territorial ambitions see no limit and I fear that she may turn her sights on you next, perhaps to aid her ally, the foul Joseph II in Austria.
Denmark-Norway too, of the House of the ever so insignificant Oldenburg wish to see my sovereign reign cut short. I know that the Danes are oppressing fine Prussian stock in Holstein, the origin of my family, and that they will answer to Russia’s beck and call like a castrated pup.
The Danish control the way to the Western Seas for both of our nations O Dearest King Frederick William II, and at any moment they could blockade both of our fine states by closing the Sound Tolls. It is thus that I come to you in a time of majesty for I have won a resounding victory against our mutual foes at Gothenburg, not without the diplomatic assistance of His Majesty George III and yourself. I wish to propose a formal alliance between our two Kingdoms, so that we may stand against the Russian encroachment from the East. We do not obligate you to come to war against Russia with us under the terms of this alliance, lest you felt the desire to.
*In the future, however, we will gladly defend Prussia as we would defend Sveriges, and any Swede will give his life before the Prussian crown just as he would before my crown. To solidify this alliance, I propose a formal betrothal between m
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Let's say that for some reason. Queen Victoria just doesn't like Prussia and doesn't send her daughter, Princess Victoria to marry Crown Prince Frederick (future Kaiser Frederick III), thus making Kaiser Wilhelm II never born. How would this affect Germany or WWI.
This is a semi-repost because I can't access the original link, and a cached version doesn't exist on Google. I can recall what the top-voted comment said though.
According to the top-voted comment, Frederick III was liberal and married to another liberal royal from the UK. Therefore, he was unlikely to have Germany compete with the UK since he respected the UK. Wilhelm II, on the other hand, was conservative, aggressive, and determined to create a navy that could compete with the UK's. It's possible that an alliance could have formed between the UK and Germany. In the event that the Entente Cordiale between the UK and France still occurs, Germany could get involved with France again but instead of hostilities, the lingering resentment over Alsace-Lorraine could be resolved in terms favorable to both nations. Eventually, a Western European Union could rise among the three nations.
To clarify, the territory of Bradenburg was part of the HRE, but Prussia was not. Frederick William (Grandfather of Frederick William I), the Great Elector, helped to unify these territories. How did this situation play out politically and economically?
For example, did Brandenburg have to take certain orders from the Holy Roman Emperor, when Prussia did not? Furthermore, if so, how could Brandenburg-Prussia be unified when the territories are under the authority of different people?
