>[...] where promotions were based on the favor of a man who did not have the character to set a consistent policy made for a state that was not a credible partner.

>Germany’s interests were incomprehensible and thus there was no option other than to balance against this rogue state in the heart of Europe

>There was a saying of the Kaiser in Vienna, that Wilhelm wished to be “the stag at every hunt, the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral.”

Indeed, indeed.

It was filed under “unintentional allegory”. Or intentional, it’s hard to say.