The Kings Depart by Richard M. Watt (1968)
History – 530 pages – my copy (hardback; 1969) borrowed from University of Plymouth library, courtesy of Jay
- 4 nods
History – 530 pages – my copy (hardback; 1969) borrowed from University of Plymouth library, courtesy of Jay
- 4 nods
Germany at the end of 1918: an empire wrecked by over four years of war, of internal conflict and rising hatreds. This is the starting point for Richard M. Watt’s study upon the German people in this tumultuous time, the book’s subtitle encapsulating the massive, historic dimensions: ‘the tragedy of Germany: Versailles and the German Revolution’.
In the space of 530 vigorous pages, Watt takes the reader through the closing weeks of the war, the comings and goings in the offices of the German government, the rise of the Spartakists, misadventures on the borders of Soviet Russia, before the acceptance of the harsh peace treaty mercilessly bestowed by the Allies. 1919 was a frantic and frenzied year for Germany; and Watt does a terrific job of tackling each of the key issues in an impressive manner.
There is a mammoth amount of detail to fit into these pages, from the Kiel Mutiny to the rise of the Friekorps to the Bavarian revolutions. Such a size could force many historians to cower in submission; but not Watt. His style throughout all is informative while being easy to read, thus making each session with the book a real delight. Furthermore, The Kings Depart is not a weighty report detailing economic and social trends (though it does touch upon these), but rather one centred upon the personalities of the time. He spends much energy on the socialist leader Ebert, of the dynamic Gustav Noske, of Hindenburg and the Kaiser; as well as the allied leaders of Woodrow Wilson, Clemenceau and our very own David Lloyd George.
My chief gripe with The Kings Depart is the book’s layout and narrative. The first hundred pages deal not at all with Germany, but rather with the Allies when drawing the Versailles peace treaty (mainly centring on Woodrow Wilson). Although Watt’s biographical sketches are strong, the pace of the book is somewhat skewed when it flings from the Allied leaders to the heart of Germany and its troubles, where it stays for the next three hundred pages. A curious choice, and perhaps the book’s greatest failure: Watt attempting to consume as much as possible of this period into the book. Perhaps the portrayal of Wilson would have been better served in a separate volume.
The wonder of this period is the possibility of history taking dramatically different courses: a communist Germany, perhaps, or a fully fledged republic dedicated to defending democracy; both of which would have stopped the rise of Hitler and his Nazi party, as well as the Second World War. There was so much change in such a short space of time in 1919 that any eventuality can be argued. What did result, however, was the weak Weimar Republic and a doomed constitution, both of which only survived fourteen brief years before the shadow of Hitler loomed larger and ever larger. The Kings Depart keeps the reader wondering at the What Ifs of History.
