July 12, 1918
There are five candidates for the Polish throne, according to a cable sent by the London Times to the Washington Post.
The original report was published in the Berliner Tageblatt.
The five candidates are: Archduke Karl Stephan of Austria, Prince August Wilhelm of Germany (Kaiser Wilhelm II's fourth son), Prince Friedrich Christian of Saxony (second son of the King of Saxony), Duke Albrecht Eugene of Württemberg and Prince Kyril of Bulgaria, second son of King Ferdinand.
Archduke Karl Stephan, who is 56, is the most obvious candidate. He speaks fluent Polish and he and his family have an estate at Saysbusch in Galicia. Two of his daughters, Archduchesses Renata and Mechtildis, are married to members of two Polish princely families, Radziwill and Czartoryski
3 comments:
What a pity it didn't take off and established... I am sure today, the Kingdom of Poland would still be there if it only went ahead.
Interesting story.
doubt it ... we were only a few months away from the end of the war. These were German/Austrian plans -- and the Axis countries were inexorably moving toward defeat. A good chunk of what was Germany, such as Galicia, was given to Poland. Poland had to deal with so much in nation building after WWI. Although Communism reared its ugly head during German occupation, the seeds were already sewn in the 1800s.
Was there talk, before the war, that the Poles were considering inviting the Duke of Kent to be their king?
Trish Milne
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