THE BIPOLAR KAISER: The Attempt by Wilhelm II at “Personal Rule” in the

1890s

1859: Wilhelm is born the eldest son of Crown Prince Frederick and the English Princess Victoria, with a crippled left arm.1866: Begins at age 7 to study with a tutor 12 hours a day, then at an elite Gymnasium, and for four semesters at the University of Bonn.1881: Marries Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, who bears him six sons and a daughter.1882: On garrison duty in Potsdam, Wilhelm falls under the influence of General Alfred von Waldersee.1888: Year of the three Kaisers

The future Wilhelm II with his mother, Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of the Queen of England. When she condemned Wagner, he became a Wagnerite…

Wilhelm’s strict Calvinist tutor, Dr. Georg

Hinzpeter: “He never learnt the first duty of a

ruler, hard work.”

Young Wilhelm plays the role of a Scottish laird at Balmoral Castle and his 17th-century ancestor, the

Great Elector

He also revered Frederick the Great and Bismarck….

Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-

Holstein married Wilhelm in 1881. He continued to consort with prostitutes and

paid hush money to at least two women who claimed that he was the father of their

children.

Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee

Moltke’s deputy on the General Staff encouraged Prince Wilhelm to despise all things not Prussian. Wilhelm also defended Court Preacher Adolf Stoecker against the “slanders of the Jewish press.”

THE NEW KAISER VISITS

CHANCELLOR BISMARCK AT

FRIEDRICHSRUH

Wilhelm II imagined in 1890 that workers loved

him.

“The Kaiser called, and everyone came!”

(International Workers’ Conference, March 1890)

WILHELM WAS SHOCKED WHEN REPEAL OF THE ANTI-SOCIALIST LAW CAUSED THE SPD TO

GROW….

August Bebel to the SPD Party Congress of October 1891: "Bourgeois society is working so hard at its own destruction that we need only await the moment when we take up the power which has fallen from their hands. Yes, I am convinced that the realization of our ultimate goal is so near that there are few in this room who will not live to see it.“Wilhelm II replied in November 1891 with this address to army conscripts in Potsdam: "Recruits! You have sworn ME allegiance; that means that you are now MY soldiers, you have given yourselves over to ME body and soul. There is only one enemy for you, and that is MY enemy. With the present socialist agitation it may be that I shall order you to shoot down your own families, your brothers, even your parents, God forbid--but even then you must follow MY orders without a murmur."

Queen Victoria and her three sons visit her daughter Vicky and grandson, Wilhelm II, in

Coburg in 1894

The future King Edward VII stands at the right. At times Wilhelm expressed great admiration for the British, but he told fraternity brothers as a student that he longed to drain the English blood from his veins.

Prince Chlodwig von Hohenlohe

(Chancellor 1894-99) sought twice

to renew the Anti-Socialist Law but

failed

The German Reichstag in Berlin (opened in 1894) was divided into 14 different party factions

Wilhelm II, “Nations of Europe, Protect your holiest Goods!” (1895): Archangel Michael warns against the

“Yellow Peril”

Wilhelm loved to sail on his expensive new yacht and

insisted that his entourage exercise on deck each

morning.

The German naval base at Tsingtao, northeast China,

established by Admiral Alfred Tirpitz in 1897

Appointed German naval commander in late 1897, Tirpitz proved a brilliant

lobbyist and secured Reichstag passage of a Navy Law in 1898 that

launched a naval arms race with Britain

Soliciting donations for the German Navy, 1899

Kaiser Wilhelm II addresses the troops departing for China on July 27, 1900, to suppress the Boxer

Rebellion:“No quarter will be given! Prisoners will not be taken!

Just as a thousand years ago the Huns under King Attila made a name for themselves, may the name

German be affirmed by you in such a way in China that no Chinese will ever again dare to look cross-eyed at a German!”(Count Waldersee commanded the Allied forces.)

Ceremonial Entry of Kaiser Wilhelm II into Jerusalem, 1898.

He posed as a friend & protector of Muslims everywhere.

Friedrich Naumann (1860-

1919):A left liberal and former pastor, he

founded the “National Social League” in 1896

to reconcile workers with the

monarchy.

Naumann urged workers to embrace Weltpolitik:Squadron of the “High Seas Fleet” on maneuvers in

the North Sea, ca. 1910

Schlieffen secured recognition of the principle

that he reported to no civilian official; after Russia and

France formed an alliance in 1892-94, he planned for a

two-front war without consulting any diplomats.

Count Albert von Schlieffen, Army Chief of Staff, 1891-

1906

Wilhelm II sought publicity relentlessly

The German Imperial Family (postcard from 1910)

“POLYCRACY”: The Emergence of Autonomous Power Centers in the 1890s

At the Foreign Office, Friedrich von Holstein decided as chief of planning to cancel Bismarck’s Reinsurance Treaty with Russia and pursue closer ties with Great Britain.The Prussian Minister of Finance Johann von Miquel promoted Sammlung, i.e., a united front of all property owners against Social Democracy, with tax breaks and tariff hikes that antagonized both Russia and Great Britain.As Army Chief of Staff, Albert von Schlieffen responded to the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894 with plans to sweep through Belgium in case of war to outflank the French. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz proved brilliant at rallying support for a naval arms race with Great Britain but ignored the implications for diplomacy & fiscal policy.

Karl Kautsky and Eduard Bernstein co-authored the Erfurt Program in 1891.

In 1899 Bernstein broke with Kautsky to advocate “Revisionist” socialism.

AFTER 1900 WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS WERE

THE GROWTH SECTOR IN THE LABOR FORCE

Occupational status

1882 1907 1925

Self-employed 28% 20% 17%

Family helpers* 10% 15% 17%

White-collar worker**

6% 10% 17%

Blue-collar worker 56% 55% 49%

100% 100% 100%

Total labor force(in millions) 19.0 28.1 32.0

* Mostly wives working in their husbands’ farm or small business.** Workers paid with a monthly salary, not hourly wages, including clerks, salespeople, technical employees, and foremen.

“Red” Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) attacked Bernstein

in “Social Reform or Revolution” (1900).