William II’s first major action as emperor was his dismissal in 1890 of the aged chancellor Prince Otto Von Bismarck, who had been largely responsible for the growth of the German Empire under the emperor’s grandfather, William I. Thereafter he participated significantly, often decisively, in the formulation of foreign and domestic policies. His administration of internal affairs was marked by the rapid transformation of Germany from an agricultural to a major industrial state and by the accompanying development of serious problems in capital-labour relations. William was only partially successful in his attempts to curb the growth of Germany’s social Democratic party, which ultimately became his largest empire.
The emperor was fond of travel, but his state visits frequently engendered ill feeling, as in the Moroccan crisis of 1905. His combined eloquence and impetuousness led him to speak or act unadvisedly on many occasions. Among the more famous incidents was his dispatch of the telegram of encouragement to the president Paul Kruger of the Transvaal after the Boers had repulsed a British raid on the Transvaal. The message aroused British public opinion against Germany and the emperor.
Again in 1908, in the Daily telegraph affair, William’s indiscretion caused a public furor in Great Britain and in Germany. In an interview with the London Daily Telegraph, William revealed that German Naval expansion was not directed at Great Britain but at Japan. He also stated that German public opinion was anti-British but that he did not share this sentiment. The affair produced a widespread demand for a check on the emperor’s personal rule.
The Kaiser was a warmonger solely responsible for the First World War. The Kaiser did not start the war. The Kaiser did not want the war. "Saber rattling" is one thing, a war with the other major European powers is something very different indeed! The most that can be said is that the Kaiser did not do enough to try to control the actions of Austria-Hungary and prevent the outbreak of war. In the end he accepted war.
After the outbreak of World War William’s power started to decline. World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918, it was also know as the Great War. From 1917 the military leaders Erich Ludendorff and Paul Von Hindenburg were the virtual dictators of Germany. The failure of the great German drive of 1918 was a prelude to the collapse of the Hohenzollern dynasty. The last chancellor of the German empire, Maximilian, prince of Baden, negotiated for an armistice, but clamor for the emperor’s abdication began to be heard in Germany, especially after U.S. president Woodrow Wilson made it to prerequisite of peace negotiations. Naval mutiny and civilian revolt were followed by republican proclamations in leading German cities.
On Nov. 9, Prince Max, without William’s consent, announced the emperor’s abdication. William fled to Holland and two weeks later formally abdicated in his own name and that of the family. Although the Treaty of Versailles provided that William be tried for promoting the war, the Dutch government refused to extradite him, and he remained in retirement at Doorn. There, after the death of Augusta Victoria, he married the widowed princess Hermine of Schonaich-carolath.
As emperor, William endeavored to maintain and if possible extend the royal prerogative in order to make Germany a major naval, colonial, and commercial power. Friction soon developed between him and Otto Von Bismarck, the chancellor who had controlled German affairs for nearly 30 years, and Bismarck was forced to resign in 1890. Succeeding chancellors (Leo Von Caprivi, Prince Hohenlohe-schillingsfurst, Prince Von Bulow, and Theobold Von Bethmann-Hollweg) were much less influential, and William was in general the dominating force in his own government. In domestic affairs he extended social reform, although he detested the socialists.
The conduct of foreign affairs was William’s major interest, but he had no basic policy and was greatly influenced by his ministers. The reinsurance treaty with Russia, which had been a chief feature of Bismarck’s system of alliance, was not renewed in 1890. Although sincerely desirous of maintaining friendly relations with Great Britain, William by his naval program and his colonial and commercial aspirations precluded an alliance between the two countries and drove England into the Entrente cordiale with France.
The German support of Russia in East Asia and the friendly relations between William and Czar Nicholas II of Russia were counteracted by the by the encouragement William gave to Austria in its Balkan policy. The already strained relations with France were further embittered by German interference in French colonial affairs in Africa, especially Morocco. Alarmed at the growing isolation of Germany, William Strengthened the Triple Alliance with Austria and Italy and secured Turkish adherence.
The emperor believed that he ruled by divine right; foreign affair interested him, but his polices were contradictory and confused. He professed great friendship for Great Britain but drove that country into alliance with France and Russia by his aggressive programme of colonial, commercial, and naval expansion. Similarly, his policy of friendship with Russia and the support of Russian ambitions in the Far East was negated by his encouragement of Austro-Hungarian actions in the Balkans. He believed firmly in the efficacy of the Triple Alliance as a deterrent to war, and he probably was devoid of militaristic ambitions. Imperial policy under his impulsive guidance severely aggravated the international frictions that culminated in World War I.
During the war William’s position became increasingly that of a figurehead. Realizing his own incapacity as a military leader, he left the responsibility for military decisions increasingly to the German generals Paul Von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. He ignored the1917 peace resolutions submitted by the Reichstag and urged continuation of the war. Failure of the German offensives of 1918 brought mounting unrest to the German armies and people, and on November 10, a day before the armistice was signed, William left his country and went to Holland. During the peace negotiations at Versailles, various representatives of the victorious allies urged vainly that William be extradited and tried as war criminal. He spent his remaining years in complete seclusion at Doorn castle in the Netherlands. After the death of the former empress in 1921, William married Hermine, princess of schonaich-carolath. He lived to see the resurgence of German armed power and after his death on June 4, 1941, was buried with military honours on the orders of Hitler.
SQ.1 What skills did you learn?
1. How to use windows 98 and Microsoft word
2. How to find information in the local and school library and on the Internet.
3. How to write an historical essay to leaving cert. honours standard.
1.Kaiser Wilhelm II
Christopher M. Clark, Christopher Clark
Paperback - 224 pages (11 September 2000)
Pearson P T R; ISBN: 0582245591
2.Kaiser William II (Profiles in Power) (Paper)
Christopher M. Clark
Hardcover (August 2000)
Longman Pub Group; ISBN: 0582245605
3.Almanac of World War I
David F. Burg, L. Edward Purcell
Hardcover - 392 pages (November 1998)
University Press of Kentucky; ISBN: 0813120721
4.The Diplomatic Background of the World War
Lawrence William Cramer
Paperback - 132 pages (December 1929)
Simon Publications; ISBN: 1931313687
5.Fields of Memory: A Testimony to the Great War
Anne Roze, John Foley (Photographer), Jean Rouaud
Hardcover - 232 pages (March 2000)
Cassell; ISBN: 0304353248