German Crown Prince Wilhelm inspecting German Stormtroopers near Sedan, July 20, 1917.
This footage was captured 104 years ago at Charleville near Sedan.
The German Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, the eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, is seen here inspecting Stormtroopers. Standing beside him is Major-General Jakob Ritter von Danner.
Crown Prince Wilhelm was named Commander of the German 5th Army in August 1914 despite being completely inexperienced for the role. In October 1914, he gave the following statement on his views on the war:
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"I am a soldier, and therefore cannot discuss politics, but it seems to me that this whole business, all of this action that you see around here, is undoubtedly the most stupid, senseless, unnecessary and uncalled for war of modern times.
But Germany was left no choice in the matter. From the lowest to the highest we all know that we are fighting for our existence. I know that soldiers of the other nations probably say, and a great many of them probably think, the same thing. This does not alter the fact, however, that we are actually fighting for our national life.
Since we knew that the present war was to be forced on us it became our highest duty to anticipate the struggle by every necessary and possible preparation for the defense of the Fatherland, against the iron ring which our enemies have for years been carefully and steadily welding about us.
The fact that we foresaw and, as far as possible, forestalled the attempt to crush us within this ring, and the fact that we were prepared to defend ourselves is now being used as an argument in an attempt to convince the world that we not only wanted this conflict, but that we are responsible for it."
Crown Prince Wilhelm and his 5th Army is most notable for launching the Battle of Verdun in February 1916, after which the Crown Prince was dismissed from his command, instead serving as commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince, a position he held until the end of the war.
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