Broadcast message from Germany in vanier:
For my dear friend,
Sultan of Turkey,
El Faq al Ohmed
My Brother,
It is with greatest sorrow that I put pen to paper. All that we had dreamed of, the fair and steady rule of Europe, the peaceful interchange among our peoples, is now ground to dust beneath the heel of the Barbarian of the North.
It is especially bitter to reach this condition through the failure of my own staff. Prince Von Grossbeek was a good man, but he was not the right man to lead our empire to its rightful place. Of course, I must take the blame. Perhaps if I had taken greater personal interest in the Prince's plans for our armies, this would not have come to pass. Alas, we brew our own bitter poison; we must be strong enough to drink deeply when our time comes.
So much went according to the German plan. The conquest of the East against an isolated Russia. The suprise attack against a France too intent on Spain to notice their own vunerability. The partition of Austria and Italy with your own empire. Up until 1908, everything had worked. Each chance Germany took paid off; fortune had smiled on us at every turn. And then we hesitated. How ironic that Germany should fall because we hesitated instead of striking at Prince Hamlet. For this, the historians will mock us forever.
Though even now, I am not sure what path would have led to German success. We were trapped in the middle and vunerable to attack from behind, whether we moved north against Norway or south against Turkey. Our only hope was to enlist one against the other, while making the attack on Germany too costly to risk. It was our failure to achieve either of these that was our undoing. I now spend many sleepless nights, wondering what we could have done to convince you to sail your fleets west against the Norwegians in Spain. Perhaps the answer is simple, we should have come out plainly and asked. Perhaps we were too circumspect, waiting for Turkey or Norway to make the first overture.
Still, all might not have been lost if we hadn't miscalculated at the end. Prince Von Grossebeek's plan was straightforward: Give the Norwegians enough ground so that Turkey must come to Germany's aid. But we gave too much ground. And by the time we realized our mistake it was too late. Such are the errors that lead to the fall of once mighty empires.
I was touched by your concern for my person. I do well, even though the journey from Germany to here was harsh. I have not written to you because Prince Von Grossebeek had insisted on handling all the German correspondence. He felt it would be below my station to involve my hands in daily diplomatic affairs. In retrospect, perhaps I distanced myself too greatly, abdicating my responsibilities in practice long before doing so officially.
If you should speak to Prince Hamlet, please wish him well. I do not begrudge him his victory. Though he inherited much of his status and position, it was he that saw it through to the end, making victory out of what might otherwise have been only a glorious failure for Norway.
Your Friend,
Kaiser Wilhelm Frederich
Nairobi, Kenya
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