Ever since his election as President Donald Trump has reminded me of the last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II.  An Strangly enough, after almost a full two years of the Trump and Administration I feel the connection even more strongly.  Mostly because of the new Bob Woodward’s book “Fear”.  This is because I see a great many simulaities between the Kaiser’s pre-war Administration and our current Sdministration.  This is mostly because both Administrations are functioning in simular manners for simular reasons.

Let me be clear from the start, I am not saying that Pres. Trump is going to take us into a nation destroying world war.  Ever since 2016 making predictions of political outcomes is not a game I want to play.  No, what I am doing here is comparing how the Second Rich government and the current Administration have/are acting. So lets start with the root cause of the actions, the fundamental personalities of Kaiser Wilhelm and Pres. Trump.  Both Very charismatic personalities, both born to privilege and power.  Both  psychologically damaged, one do to a withered left arm and the other to a withered family life.  Both murcurical in temperament and both  fixated on being right.  Both fixated in being the center of attention and being the Bigest, best, ever.  Both totally incapable of picking the right people for the right job and both demanding of loyalty and equally incapable of giving loyalty.

Before I go on, be warned, their is a dearth of material in English on the political history of the Second Reich (aka Wilhelmina Germany).  Most of what I learned about Wilhelm II I have got form political studies of the years leading up to the Great War (WWI) and so it can be suspect to a greater or lesser degree.  That said I feel that I can draw some valid observations on Wilhelm II actions and the reasons for those actions.  It is most unfortunate that I can neither read nor speak German, either as it is spoken now or how it was spoken in the Edwardian era.  These means I can not bring the leavel of understanding I can bring to how Pres. Trump speaks and just what it tells me about his personality and thought processes.

It is going to be much easier to show similarities between the two administrations as we have a great deal the records of the Wilhelmina government and while we do not, as yet, have that much on the Trump Administration, the way it leaks and the way former members talk it is not too hard to see what is going on.

Coming Next in Part 2: The actions of two erratic people.