In 1914, when Britain went to war with Germany, its traditional first line of defensethe British navywas under the command of a German-born prince named Louis of Battenberg. For all that he was a close relative of the royal family and a veteran of 45 years' devoted naval service, Prince Louis' name and ancestry were a sight too much for many patriotic Britons to bear. "I have lately been driven to the painful conclusion," wrote Britain's First Sea Lord in a letter of resignation as a raging sea of slurs rose about...
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