While England and Russia were part of the Triple Entente, Germany was the main power among the Central Empires. When the First World War started, George V, Wilhelm II, and Nicholas II were ruling over England, Germany, and Russia respectively. However, Nicholas II and George V were cousins also because their mothers - Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra of Denmark, respectively - were sisters. Their second-last child, Alexandra, married Nicholas II (Emperor of All Russia). Alice and Louis gave birth to seven children. She married Louis IV (Grand Duke of Hesse) in 1862. Their second child, George, became King of the United Kingdom in 1910.Īlice was Queen Victoria’s third child. Edward and his spouse Alexandra of Denmark had six children (the last one, Alexander John, died just twenty-four hours after being born). He became King of the United Kingdom in 1901. The first one was Wilhelm, who became German Emperor in 1888.Įdward was Queen Victoria’s second child. Victoria and Frederick gave birth to eight children. Victoria, Queen Victoria’s eldest child, married Frederick III (German Emperor) in 1858 at the Chapel Royal of St. “Family of Queen Victoria” by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1846) (Source: Royal Collection, Wikimedia Commons) Queen Victoria gave birth to nine children who got married into royal and noble families across the European continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet “the grandmother of Europe”. George V (King of the United Kingdom), Wilhelm II (German Emperor), and Nicholas II (Emperor of All Russia) were either grandsons or grandsons-in-law of the same grandmother, namely Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. More specifically, England’s, Germany’s, and Russia’s sovereigns were cousins.

Might sound weird, but during the First World War - also called the Great War - most of the sovereigns of the countries involved were relatives.

George wilhelm nicholas cousins