History Trivia Thread Reducks

[The Larch]

Following the WW2 line...

Otto Skorzeny is generally regarded as the man that "saved" Mussolini from the clutches of italian troops by getting him from the Gran Sasso motel. But the real hero of the operation was a german high-ranking general that actually followed the movements of the italians and managed to pinpoint the location of Mussolini. What's his name?

Hint: it's not hard at all... 

24 hour rule. BTW, I googled and looked in wiki to no avail, so I guess it's not that easy as you thought.

[Alatriste]

Following the WW2 line...

Otto Skorzeny is generally regarded as the man that "saved" Mussolini from the clutches of italian troops by getting him from the Gran Sasso motel. But the real hero of the operation was a german high-ranking general that actually followed the movements of the italians and managed to pinpoint the location of Mussolini. What's his name?

Hint: it's not hard at all... 

24 hour rule. BTW, I googled and looked in wiki to no avail, so I guess it's not that easy as you thought.

Given the time frame, it was probably Albert Kesselring. It is either him or our old friend Erwin Rommel... 

[The Larch]

Following the WW2 line...

Otto Skorzeny is generally regarded as the man that "saved" Mussolini from the clutches of italian troops by getting him from the Gran Sasso motel. But the real hero of the operation was a german high-ranking general that actually followed the movements of the italians and managed to pinpoint the location of Mussolini. What's his name?

Hint: it's not hard at all... 

24 hour rule. BTW, I googled and looked in wiki to no avail, so I guess it's not that easy as you thought.

Given the time frame, it was probably Albert Kesselring. It is either him or our old friend Erwin Rommel...

Kesselring was Marshall for the whole theatre, I doubt he kept himself busy tracking small groups of people. My guess would have been a lower level guy.

[Alatriste]

Kesselring was Marshall for the whole theatre, I doubt he kept himself busy tracking small groups of people. My guess would have been a lower level guy.

Good point... Kurt Student?

[The Larch]

Kesselring was Marshall for the whole theatre, I doubt he kept himself busy tracking small groups of people. My guess would have been a lower level guy.

Good point... Kurt Student?

He did participate in the operation, but my understanding was that he joined it after Skorzeny took charge of it.

[The Larch]

Ok, as wether it was Kesselring, Student or some other general, 24 hours still passed with no answer, I'll ask a new question myself.

From the mid XVIIIth century until the late XIXth or early XXth century, in the royal marriage market in Europe, German princesses were very much sought after due to a certain bias regarding their supposed better legitimacy to a higher ranking status amongst European nobility by a third party agent (besides the two houses that were celebrating the marriage, that is) that was the unofficial authority in these matters.

Question: Which was this agent?

Bonus question: Which was their bias?

Mega-bonus question: Why and when did this original agent (not their successors) cease to operate?

[Syt]

Seedy's Foster Home for Wayward Young Women.

Building character through flogging.

Asian mail order brides became readily available, so the original home was closed.

[Alexandru H.]

I forgot about this thread. 

Alatriste was right though. Kurt Student. Did not join after the operations, as Nazi propaganda announced, but actually found out where Mussolini was kept. Good old Otto was there to provide the "Hitler's men" angle.

I said it was easy because the operation resembles in many ways the Eben-Emael success.

[Admiral Yi]

The Hapsburgs.

They dug the bushy armpits.

They lost face when they whored out their daughter to the Corsican tyrant.

[Viking]

Meyer Rothschild

Wanting to maintain the solvency of his debtors

Napoleonic Wars

[The Larch]

No dice so far.

Clue: The agent in question issued a periodical publication (whose name is a correct answer on itself for the question) that was delivered to all European courts, and was based in a ducal court in the HRE.

Edit: And here's an interesting showing of their bias. It's a letter by Napoleon, complaning that the publication didn't include the people he ennobled, and kept including deposed rulers:

'Monsieur de Champagny, this year's XXX is badly done. I protest. There should be more of the French Nobility I have created and less of the German Princes who are no longer sovereign. Furthermore, the Imperial Family of Bonaparte should appear before all other royal dynasties, and let it be clear that we and not the Bourbons are the House of France. Summon the Minister of the Interior of XXX at once so that I personally may order these changes'.

[Viking]

I'd guess Who's Who, but that's obviously wrong since it doesn't have a Minister of Interior.

[The Larch]

I'd guess Who's Who, but that's obviously wrong since it doesn't have a Minister of Interior.

It's not that, but you're getting closer.

[Alexandru H.]

Ok, I seem to vaguely recall something...

Is it related to something called "Gotha"?

Edit: googled it and it seems I remembered correctly... of course, it was just a lucky hunch, I couldn't have told you anything more about it... 

[Razgovory]

I was going to go with "Horse and Nobility Breeders Quarterly".