It's likely my gun in 1960 passed through some graying German's hands in Suhl, that was a young apprentice when Imperial Germany's armies invaded Belgium, and got close enough to Paris, to hear the bells of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. He was paid by the billions of marks in 1923, to make the same shotgun, that he kept making after Hitler committed suicide and Germany was divided by the victorious allies. There's even a chance he lived to see Germany reunited again in 1992, when he was an ancient, old man.
His grandson could still be making the same shotgun in Suhl, today.
History is always so fascinating because of the "what ifs".
What if William II had not been a breech baby? Was it his withered arm that caused him to be so pompous, vain, and insecure, as to allow some damned fool thing in the Balkans to plunge the entire world into the horrors of the First World War?
Or what if his Cousin Nicky in Russia, had told the Serbs that they had allowed the Black Hand to murder the archduke, and they'd better submit unconditionally to the Austrian Ultimatum, or find themselves on their own, as the cost of regicide.
Had there been no World War One, Czar Nicholas might have died of old age and been replaced by another Czar. William II would have lived to 1942 and been replaced by his son. Hitler would have remained anonymous, and there would have been no myth of the Stab in the Back for him to have spread to try and restore Germany's greatness.
Or what if Francis Ferdinand, had simply went hunting stags with his Merkel, instead of taking that trip with Sophie to Sarajevo?
The Model 8 is silent, and says nothing about the history of the men who made it, or the adventures it's had since it's birth in 1960.
But it surely is a fine old shotgun, just as tight as new, and with most of the bluing still on the barrels, and it's walnut as fresh now, after a tiny bit of linseed oil, as it was the year before the Berlin Wall was put up.
Ah, a student of history, wonderful! Yep, alternate history can be lots of fun, so many different scenarios that could have played out and the results that would have effected our lives. I wouldn't be typing this if WWII didn't happen. Dad met Mom just before he went overseas. Who knows how the world would look today. Interesting to say the least.
Just a minor correction, Wilhelm II died in 1941. To me he is a most fascinating individual, there were so many different sides to his personality, as you said, vain, coincided, but also kind and could be very down to earth. Overall fairly popular with his people, unlike the Crown Prince who was not liked by almost everyone. I always liked the story when Wilhelm was on a shoot, someone said "For Gods sake, don't shoot the Kaiser, look what we'll get". True or not, it's a great story.
Best,
Greg
