Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach

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Prince Wilhelm Karl
Mindaugas II
Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach
MotherPrincess Florestine of Monaco

Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 2nd Duke of Urach (Wilhelm Karl Florestan Gero Crescentius;

morganatic Urach branch of the House of Württemberg
.

Early life

Born as Wilhelm Karl Florestan Gero Crescentius, Count of

Florestan I, Prince of Monaco
.

At the age of four, Wilhelm succeeded his father as

francophone
.

Candidate for various thrones

Through his mother, Wilhelm was a legitimate heir to the throne of Monaco. Wilhelm's cousin Prince Albert I of Monaco had only one child,

Franco-Monegasque Treaty; it required all future princes of Monaco to be French or Monegasque citizens and secure the approval of the French government to succeed to the throne.[2] After the accession of Prince Louis II
in 1922, Wilhelm renounced his rights of succession to the throne of Monaco in favour of distant French cousins, the counts de Chabrillan, in 1924.

In 1913, Wilhelm was one of several princes considered for the throne of

William of Wied
was selected instead.

In 1917, as a newly retired general, Wilhelm sounded out the possibility of being made

Grand Duke of Alsace-Lorraine after the war was over.[4] In 1918, he accepted the short-lived invitation to reign as Mindaugas II of Lithuania. His claims were published in a 2001 essay by his grandson-in-law, Sergei von Cube.[5]

Military career

Typical of his family, Wilhelm entered the army in 1883 and was a professional general by the outbreak of

Schwaben Redoubt (Swabia is part of Württemberg). Wilhelm retired as divisional general on 5 January 1917.[7]

In 1917–18, Wilhelm was

aides de camp included Eugen Ott and Erwin Rommel.[8]

King of Lithuania

Main article: Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)

On 4 June 1918, the Council of Lithuania voted to invite Wilhelm to become the king of a newly independent Lithuania. Wilhelm agreed and was elected on 11 July 1918, taking the name Mindaugas II. His election can be explained by several factors:[9]

  • he was Roman Catholic (the dominant religion in Lithuania);
  • he was not a member of the
    William II, who wanted Lithuania to be a monarchy in personal union with Prussia
    ;
  • the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of March 1918 had established Germany's power in the region, for the time being;
  • he had had a successful military career;
  • if the Central Powers were to win the war, Lithuania could have expected German protection in the event of future intrusions by Russia.

According to Wilhelm's agreement with the Council of Lithuania, he had to live in Lithuania and learn to speak its language.

Portrait 1918

In addition, he was also descended from Casimir IV Jagiellon, grand duke of Lithuania, through his daughter Barbara Jagiellon.

From the beginning, Wilhelm's reign was controversial. The four socialists of the twenty members of the Council of Lithuania left in protest. The German government did not recognize Wilhelm's selection as king, although the influential publicist and politician Matthias Erzberger, also a Catholic from Württemberg, supported the claim. Wilhelm never had the chance to visit Lithuania;[10] he remained instead at Lichtenstein Castle, his home south of Stuttgart. He did start to learn the Lithuanian language, however.[11] Within a few months of his election, it became clear that Germany would lose World War I, and on 2 November 1918, the Council of Lithuania reversed its decision.

In the tiny chapel of Lichtenstein Castle is a framed letter from Pope Benedict XV welcoming Wilhelm's selection as the future king of Lithuania.[12]

In 2009, Wilhelm's grandson Inigo was interviewed on television in Vilnius, and said: "...if he was honoured with a proposal to assume the throne of Lithuania, he would not refuse it."[13]

The German anti-war novelist Arnold Zweig set his 1937 novel Einsetzung eines Königs (The Crowning of a King) around the election of Mindaugas in 1918.[14]

Marriages and children

Wilhelm Karl and his family
Marriage of the Duke of Urach

Wilhelm was married twice. On 4 July 1892, he married firstly

Elisabeth of Austria, and a direct descendant of the Lithuanian princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł of Biržai
. Nine children were born of this marriage:

In 1924, Wilhelm married secondly Princess Wiltrud of Bavaria (1884–1975), daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria. This marriage was childless.

Prince Eberhard's son Inigo made a sentimental journey to Lithuania in November 2009, which was covered by the local media.[15][16]

Honours

Ancestors

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-691-00797-7
    .
  2. ^ 1918 Franco-Monegasque Treaty text Archived 19 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Arben Puto, L'indépendance albanaise et la diplomatie des grandes puissances: 1912–1914 (Tirana: Editions "8 Nëntori", 1982), 456.
  4. ^ London Times. Düsseldorfer Nachrichten excerpt. 1918/11/5. p. 8.
  5. ^ Von Cube Essay, 2000
  6. ^ "Wilhelm II Herzog von Urach". home.comcast.net. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. ^ Online history o the division
  8. ^ "Erwin Rommel". Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  9. ^ See von Cube's essay, op.cit.
  10. ^ Page, Stanley W. (1959). The Formation of the Baltic States. Harvard University Press. p. 94.
  11. ^ Mindaugas Peleckis and Tomas Baranauskas.Karališkojo kraujo paieškos: Lietuva ir šimto dienų karalius. Retrieved 20 June 2007
  12. ^ Stuttgart archives, HStA. GU 117, file 847: copy of letter from Benedict XV dated 24 July 1918.
  13. ^ "Lithuania - Official Gateway to Lithuania". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011.
  14. ^ Eric Sutton (Translator); "The Crowning of a King", English edition; The Viking Press, 1938 ASIN: B00085BS08
  15. ^ "TV coverage (in Lithuanian and English)". Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  16. ^ Lithuanian web page
  17. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 48, 30 July 1915, p. 413.
  18. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 49, 12 September 1916, p. 538.
  19. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 58, 16 October 1916, p. 611.
  20. ^ Otto von Moser: Die Württemberger im Weltkriege (in German), 2nd Edition, Chr. Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i Preußisches Kriegsministerium: Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps für 1914 (in German), E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1914, p. 1160.
  22. ^ a b c Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha 1921 (1921) page 111
  23. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1906), "Königliche Orden" p. 9
  24. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 37, 31 August 1918, p. 306.
  25. ^ "Rother Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (supp.) (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 8 – via hathitrust.org{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 68, 6 November 1915, p. 607.
  27. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 40, 15 September 1917, p. 318.
  28. ^ Sachsen (1901). "Königlich Orden". Staatshandbuch für den Königreich Sachsen: 1901. Dresden: Heinrich. p. 5 – via hathitrust.org.
  29. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 23, 10 May 1916, p. 243.
  30. ^ Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1923) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1923 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1923] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p. 51. Retrieved 2 November 2019 – via da:DIS Danmark.
  31. ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 11, 10 March 1916, p. 145.
  33. ^ Sovereign Ordonnance of 4 December 1883
  34. ^ Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt (in German), No. 20, 15 May 1918, p. 178.

External links

Wilhelm Karl, 2nd Duke of Urach
Born: 30 May 1864 Died: 24 March 1928
German nobility
Preceded by
Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach
 Duke of Urach
17 July 1869 – 11 August 1919 		Succeeded by
German nobility titles abolished
Regnal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Vytautas
King of Lithuania

11 July 1918 – 2 November 1918 		Succeeded by
Republic established
Titles in pretence
Loss of title — TITULAR —
King of Lithuania
2 November 1918 – 24 March 1928 		Succeeded by
— TITULAR —
Duke of Urach
11 August 1919 – 24 March 1928
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