Prompt Cast
The Decline of European Monarchies in the 20th Century
TLDR The 20th century saw the decline of European monarchies, with nine European kings either abdicating or dying under suspicious circumstances. Advances in communication and transportation allowed for the largest gathering of royalty in history at the funeral of Edward VII in 1910, marking the end of the 19th century European order before the outbreak of World War I.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Nine European monarchs gathered for a photo at Windsor Castle in 1910, and in the years following, their lives would undergo significant changes.
01:49
The funeral of Edward VII in 1910 became a significant event because of advancements in communication and transportation, allowing European monarchs to attend and making it the largest gathering of royalty in history.
03:18
The funeral of Edward VII in 1910 brought together nine monarchs from around the world, including King George V of the United Kingdom, and marked the end of the 19th century European order before the outbreak of World War I.
04:49
King George V changed the name of the dynasty to House of Windsor and relinquished many titles, while King Hock of Norway refused to abdicate when the Nazis invaded and helped the Norwegian resistance during World War II, and Zara Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicated the throne in 1918 to preserve the Bulgarian monarchy, which was later abolished by the Communists in 1946.
06:19
King Manuel II of Portugal became king in 1908 but the monarchy was abolished a few months later during the Republican Revolution, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany had to abdicate at the end of World War I, thus ending the German monarchy.
07:44
The Greek monarchy was abolished in 1973, King Albert I of Belgium died in a mountaineering accident in 1934, King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile in 1931 and his son Juan Carlos became king in 1975, and King Frederick VIII of Denmark died of a heart attack in Germany in 1912.
09:17
All of the nine kings, except for George V, either abdicated or died in suspicious or untimely deaths, and the 20th century was not a good one for European monarchies as most of them were abolished or had their powers severely curtailed.
