At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the rulers of three big players were all related, perhaps further complicating the political situations of the time. Kaiser Wilhelm II, German Emperor from 1888, was the eldest grandchild of England’s Queen Victoria.
King George V’s relation to the German monarchy is the reason the British Royal Family is now known as the house of Windsor. He felt it would be easier to distract from the family’s German ties during the First World War without the name Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The family name was changed to Windsor in the summer of 1917.
King George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II were also related to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, who appealed to his family for asylum when he was forced to abdicate during the Russian Revolution in 1917. An already delicate situation, as war undoubtedly is, was made far more difficult by the family ties involved. On one hand, they felt obligated to allow asylum, but on the other hand, granting such would have only further damaged the political scales.
History @ Aber 