Britain’s King Edward VII makes a visit to the Royal Russian yacht to discuss an alliance with Russia. Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Izvolsky, begins intriguing to have the Bosphorus opened to the Black Sea Fleet, preferring access to the Dardanelles over guaranteeing Serbian sovereignty against Austria in the Balkans. He quickly finds himself outplayed by Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal when Austria rapidly annexes the Turkish territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, precipitating the Bosnian crisis. In its wake and with the sting of the loss to Japan still fresh, Russia is again outwitted and embarrassed by diplomatic intrigues and forces beyond its borders.

With Franz Joseph now dead and the Romanovs murdered by the Bolsheviks, Kaiser Wilhelm is the lone eagle still standing. German troops move west from the now peaceful Russian front, but the Spring Offensive fails, with the Allies making surprising advances across France and Belgium. Wilhelm’s optimism of his soldier’s fighting will is not fully shared by the General Staff, particularly because of the desperate erosion of the home front. Wilhelm’s cousin Prince Max is made Chancellor as a concession to reform, but that only hastens the clamour for change. The 1918 German revolution finally forces the Kaiser’s abdication, and he flees to exile in the Netherlands.