Editing Wilhelm II (section)

==Foreign affairs==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R43302, Kaiser Wilhelm II. und Zar Nikolaus II..jpg|thumb|upright|Wilhelm with [[Nicholas II of Russia]] in 1905, wearing the military uniforms of each other's army]]

German foreign policy under Wilhelm II was faced with a number of significant problems. Perhaps the most apparent was that Wilhelm was an impatient man, subjective in his reactions and affected strongly by sentiment and impulse. He was personally ill-equipped to steer German foreign policy along a rational course. There were a number of examples, such as the [[Kruger telegram]] of 1896 in which Wilhelm congratulated President [[Paul Kruger]] for preventing the [[Transvaal Republic]] from being annexed by the [[British Empire]] during the [[Jameson Raid]].{{sfn|Jastrow|1917|page=97}}<ref>{{cite web |author=Mustafa Sıtkı Bi̇lgi̇n |title=The Construction of the Baghdad Railway and its Impact on Anglo-Turkish Relations, 1902–1913 |url=http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/19/1273/14662.pdf |access-date=6 December 2016 |archive-date=20 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720140026/http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/19/1273/14662.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Jeff Reed |title=Following The Tracks To War – Britain, Germany & The Berlin–Baghdad Railway |url=http://oilpro.com/post/4759/following-the-tracks-to-war-britain-germany--the-berlin-baghdad-railway |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318135451/http://oilpro.com/post/4759/following-the-tracks-to-war-britain-germany--the-berlin-baghdad-railway |archive-date=18 March 2017 |access-date=6 December 2016 |work=Oilpro }}</ref>

British public opinion had been quite favourable towards the Kaiser in his first twelve years on the throne, but it turned sour in the late 1890s. During the [[First World War]], he became the central target of British anti-German propaganda and the personification of a hated enemy.{{Sfn | Reinermann | 2008 | pp = 469–485}}

Wilhelm exploited fears of a [[yellow peril]] trying to interest other European rulers in the perils they faced by invading China; few other leaders paid attention.{{Sfn|Röhl|1996|p=203}}{{Clarify|no reference of this year| date = February 2021}} Wilhelm also used the Japanese victory in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] to try to incite fear in the west of the yellow peril that they faced by a resurgent [[Imperial Japan]], which Wilhelm claimed would ally with China to overrun the conventional European Powers. Wilhelm also invested in strengthening the [[German colonial empire]] in Africa and the Pacific, but few became profitable and all were lost during the First World War. In [[German South West Africa|South West Africa]] (now [[Namibia]]), a native revolt against German rule led to the [[Herero and Nama genocide]], although Wilhelm eventually ordered it to be stopped and recalled its mastermind General [[Lothar von Trotha]].

One of the few times when Wilhelm succeeded in personal diplomacy was when in 1900, he supported the [[morganatic marriage]] of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]] to [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg|Countess Sophie Chotek]], and helped negotiate an end to the opposition to the wedding by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.{{Sfn | Cecil | 1989 | p = 14}}

A domestic triumph for Wilhelm was when his daughter Victoria Louise married the [[Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick|Duke of Brunswick]] in 1913; this helped heal the rift between the [[House of Hanover]] and the House of Hohenzollern that had followed Bismarck's invasion and annexation of the [[Kingdom of Hanover]] in 1866.{{Sfn | Cecil | 1989 | p = 9}}

===Political visits to the Ottoman Empire===
[[File:Wilhelm_Decorated_Streets.jpg|thumb|left|Wilhelm in [[Jerusalem]] during his state visit to the Ottoman Empire, 1898]] [[File: Wilhelm II in the uniform of a Turkish Field Marshal (15 October 1917, Istanbul).jpg|thumb|left|Wilhelm in [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Turkish]] field marshal uniform at [[Dolmabahçe Palace]] (15 October 1917)|354x354px]]
In his first visit to [[Constantinople]] in 1889, Wilhelm secured the sale of German-made rifles to the Ottoman Army.<ref name="istanbulnet">{{cite web|url=http://www.istanbul.net.tr/istanbul_eski_eserler_detay.asp?id=135 |title=Alman Çeşmesi |access-date=16 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210356/http://www.istanbul.net.tr/istanbul_eski_eserler_detay.asp?id=135 |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> Later on, he had his second political visit to the [[Ottoman Empire]] as a guest of Sultan [[Abdulhamid II]]. The Kaiser started his journey to the Ottoman [[Eyalet]]s with Constantinople on 16 October 1898; then he went by yacht to [[Haifa]] on 25 October. After visiting [[Jerusalem]] and [[Bethlehem]], the Kaiser went back to [[Jaffa]] to embark to [[Beirut]], where he took the train passing [[Aley]] and [[Zahlé]] to reach [[Damascus]] on 7 November.<ref name="Emperor's visit">{{cite web|url=http://www.abdelraoufsinno.com/periodicals/docum_41.pdf|title=The Emperor's visit to the East: As reflected in contemporary Arabic journalism|first=Abdel-Raouf|last=Sinno|date=1998|access-date=10 April 2018|archive-date=23 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123135139/http://www.abdelraoufsinno.com/periodicals/docum_41.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref> While visiting the [[Mausoleum of Saladin]] the following day, the Kaiser made a speech:

{{blockquote|text=In the face of all the courtesies extended to us here, I feel that I must thank you, in my name as well as that of the Empress, for them, for the hearty reception given us in all the towns and cities we have touched, and particularly for the splendid welcome extended to us by this city of Damascus. Deeply moved by this imposing spectacle, and likewise by the consciousness of standing on the spot where held sway one of the most chivalrous rulers of all times, the great Sultan Saladin, a knight sans peur et sans reproche, who often taught his adversaries the right conception of knighthood, I seize with joy the opportunity to render thanks, above all to the Sultan Abdul Hamid for his hospitality. May the Sultan rest assured, and also the three hundred million [[Muslim|Mohammedans]] scattered over the globe and revering in him their caliph, that the German Emperor will be and remain at all times their friend.|author=Kaiser Wilhelm II|source=<ref>{{cite book|first1=Wolf Curt|last1=von Schierbrand |author-link1=Wolf Curt von Schierbrand |first2=A. Oscar|last2=Klaussmann|url=https://archive.org/details/kaisersspeechesf00williala|title=The kaiser's speeches: Forming a character portrait of Emperor William II|publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers|year=1903|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kaisersspeechesf00williala/page/320 320]–321}}</ref>}}

On 10 November, Wilhelm went to visit [[Baalbek]] before heading to Beirut to board his ship back home on 12 November.<ref name="Emperor's visit"/> In his second visit, Wilhelm secured a promise for German companies to construct the [[Berlin–Baghdad railway]],<ref name="istanbulnet"/> and had the [[German Fountain]] constructed in Constantinople to commemorate his journey.

His third visit was on 15 October 1917, as the guest of Sultan [[Mehmed V]].

===Hun speech of 1900===
{{main|Hun speech}}
The [[Boxer Rebellion]], an anti-foreign uprising in China, was put down in 1900 by an international force known as the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]]. The Kaiser's farewell address to departing German soldiers commanded them, in the spirit of the [[Huns]], to be merciless in battle.<ref name="HunSpeechII">{{cite web|title="Hun Speech": Kaiser Wilhelm II's Address to the German Expeditionary Force Prior to its Departure for China (July 27, 1900)|url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=2178|publisher=German History in Documents and Images|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref> Wilhelm's fiery rhetoric clearly expressed his vision for Germany as one of the great powers. There were two versions of the speech. The [[German Foreign Office]] issued an edited version, making sure to omit one particularly incendiary paragraph that they regarded as diplomatically embarrassing.<ref name="HunSpeech">{{cite web|last=Dunlap|first=Thorsten|url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=755&language=english|title=Wilhelm II: "Hun Speech" (1900)|publisher=German History in Documents and Images|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref> The edited version was this:

{{blockquote|Great overseas tasks have fallen to the new German Empire, tasks far greater than many of my countrymen expected. The German Empire has, by its very character, the obligation to assist its citizens if they are being set upon in foreign lands.&nbsp;... A great task awaits you [in China]: you are to revenge the grievous injustice that has been done. The Chinese have overturned the law of nations; they have mocked the sacredness of the envoy, the duties of hospitality in a way unheard of in world history. It is all the more outrageous that this crime has been committed by a nation that takes pride in its ancient culture. Show the old Prussian virtue. Present yourselves as Christians in the cheerful endurance of suffering. May honor and glory follow your banners and arms. Give the whole world an example of manliness and discipline.

You know full well that you are to fight against a cunning, brave, well-armed, and cruel enemy. When you encounter him, know this: [[no quarter]] will be given. Prisoners will not be taken. Exercise your arms such that for a thousand years no Chinese will dare to look cross-eyed at a German. Maintain discipline. May God's blessing be with you, the prayers of an entire nation and my good wishes go with you, each and every one. Open the way to civilization once and for all! Now you may depart! Farewell, comrades!<ref name="HunSpeech"/><ref>{{Citation|last=Prenzle|first=Johannes|title=Die Reden Kaiser Wilhelms II|location=Leipzig|pages=209–212|language=de}}</ref>}}

The official version omitted the following passage from which the speech derives its name:

{{blockquote|Should you encounter the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! Prisoners will not be taken! Whoever falls into your hands is forfeited. Just as a thousand years ago the Huns under their King [[Attila]] made a name for themselves, one that even today makes them seem mighty in history and legend, 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.<ref name="HunSpeech"/><ref>{{Citation|last=Görtemaker|first=Manfred|title=Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert. Entwicklungslinien|year=1996|publisher=Schriftenreihe der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung|location=Opladen|edition=Volume 274|page=357}}</ref>}}

The term "Hun" later became the favoured epithet of Allied anti-German war propaganda during the First World War.<ref name="HunSpeechII"/>

=== Assassination attempt ===
On 6 March 1901,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1901/march | title=Historical Events in March 1901 | date=March 1901 }}</ref> during a visit to [[Bremen]], in an apparent assassination attempt Wilhelm was struck in the face by a sharp iron object thrown at him.<ref>"Kaiser Hit by a Missile Thrown into His Carriage", ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', 7 March 1901, p. 1.</ref> The assailant, identified as Johann-Dietrich Weiland,<ref>"Kaiser Suffers from His Wound— Injuries Received by German Emperor More Serious than First Reported— Details of the Assault", ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', 8 March 1901, p. 2.</ref> was adjudged to be insane.  The Kaiser was riding in a coach to the railway station when the incident happened at 10:10 pm, and the object thrown "afterward proved to be a [[fishplate]]".  The German Emperor was left with a deep wound, an inch and a half long, below his left eye; the Chief of the Naval Ministry would note later, "On the temple or in the eye the blow could have been devastating.  The wonder of it is that our All-Gracious Lord felt neither the object flying at him nor, in the rain, the copiously flowing blood; it was those around him who drew his attention to it at first."{{Sfn|Röhl|2013|pp=133–134}} Despite rumors in the press that the Kaiser had sunk into a depression, he would say in a speech at the end of the month, "nothing is more false than to pretend that my sanity has suffered in some way. I am exactly the same as I was; I have become neither elegiac nor melancholic... everything stays the same."

===Eulenberg Scandal===
{{main|Harden–Eulenburg affair}}

In the years 1906–1909, Socialist journalist [[Maximilian Harden]] published accusations of homosexual activity involving ministers, courtiers, army officers, and Wilhelm's closest friend and advisor,{{sfn|Massie|1991|pp=673–679}} Prince [[Philipp zu Eulenberg]].{{Sfn|Steakley|1989|pp=325–326}} According to [[Robert K. Massie]]:

{{blockquote|Homosexuality was officially repressed in Germany.&nbsp;... It was a criminal offense, punishable by prison, although the law was rarely invoked or enforced. Still, the very accusation could stir moral outrage and bring social ruin. This was especially true at the highest levels of Society.<ref>Robert K. Massie, ''Dreadnought'' 1991 p. 674.</ref>}}

The result was years of highly publicized scandals, trials, resignations, and suicides. Harden, like some in the upper echelons of the military and Foreign Office, resented Eulenberg's approval of the [[Anglo-French Entente]], and also his encouragement of Wilhelm to rule personally. The scandal led to Wilhelm experiencing a nervous breakdown, and the removal of Eulenberg and others of his circle from the court.{{sfn|Massie|1991|pp=673–679}} The view that Wilhelm was a deeply repressed homosexual is increasingly supported by scholars: certainly, he never came to terms with his feelings for Eulenberg.{{sfn|Röhl|1982|p=48}} Historians have linked the Eulenberg scandal to a fundamental shift in German policy that heightened its military aggressiveness and ultimately contributed to [[World War I]].{{Sfn|Steakley|1989|pp=325–326}}

===Moroccan Crisis===
{{Main|First Moroccan Crisis}}
[[File:Germany GB France.gif|thumb|upright|A 1904 British cartoon commenting on the [[Entente cordiale]]: [[John Bull]] walking off with [[Marianne]], turning his back on Wilhelm II, whose sabre is shown extending from his coat]]
One of Wilhelm's diplomatic blunders sparked the [[First Moroccan Crisis|Moroccan Crisis]] of 1905. He made a spectacular visit to [[Tangier]], in Morocco on 31 March 1905. He conferred with representatives of Sultan [[Abdelaziz of Morocco]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Morocco|volume=18|page=858}}</ref> The Kaiser proceeded to tour the city on the back of a white horse. The Kaiser declared he had come to support the sovereignty of the Sultan—a statement which amounted to a provocative challenge to French influence in Morocco. The Sultan subsequently rejected a set of French-proposed governmental reforms and invited major world powers to a conference that advised him on necessary reforms.

The Kaiser's presence was seen as an assertion of German interests in Morocco, in opposition to those of France. In his speech, he even made remarks in favour of Moroccan independence, and this led to friction with France, which was expanding its colonial interests in Morocco, and to the [[Algeciras Conference]], which served largely to further isolate Germany in Europe.{{Sfn | Cecil | 1989 | pp = 91–102}}

===''Daily Telegraph'' Affair===
{{main|Daily Telegraph Affair}}

''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' Affair of 1908 involved the publication in Germany of an article from the British newspaper that included a series of wild statements and diplomatically damaging remarks. Wilhelm had viewed the article, which was based on discussions he had had with Colonel [[Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley|Edward Stuart-Wortley]] in 1907, as an opportunity to promote his views on Anglo-German friendship, but due to the content and emotional tone of many of his statements, he ended up further alienating not only the British but also the French, Russians and Japanese. He was quoted as saying that he was among the minority of Germans friendly to Britain; that during the [[Second Boer War]], he had rebuffed the French and Russians when they asked Germany to help them "not only to save the Boer Republics, but also to humiliate England to the dust''"'';{{Sfn|Snyder|1958|p=298}} and that the German naval buildup was targeted against the Japanese, not Britain. One especially memorable quotation from the article was, "You English are mad, mad, [[Mad as a March hare|mad as March hares]]" because they refused to see his friendly intentions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_Daily_Telegraph_Affair|title=The Daily Telegraph Affair}}</ref> The effect in Germany was quite significant, with serious calls to modify the constitution to limit the emperor's powers.{{Sfn|Röhl|2013|p=681}} The ''Daily Telegraph'' crisis deeply wounded Wilhelm's previously unimpaired self-confidence, and he experienced a severe bout of depression. He kept a low profile for many months after the scandal broke, although in July 1909 he took the opportunity to force the resignation of the chancellor, Prince von Bülow, whose defence of him in the Reichstag had been aimed primarily at shifting blame from himself for not stopping the publication of the article.{{Sfn|Röhl|2013|p=681}}{{Sfn|Cecil|1989|pp=135–137, 143–145}} As a result of the scandal, Wilhelm had less influence in domestic and foreign policy for the remainder of his reign than he had previously exercised.{{Sfn | Cecil | 1989 |pp=138–141}}

===Naval arms race with Britain===
{{Main|Anglo-German naval arms race|Alfred von Tirpitz}}
[[Image:Naval-race-1909.jpg|thumb|upright|1909 cartoon in ''Puck'' shows five nations engaged in naval race; the Kaiser is in white.]]

Nothing Wilhelm did in the international arena was of more influence than his decision to pursue a policy of massive naval construction. A powerful navy was Wilhelm's pet project. He had inherited from his mother a love of the British [[Royal Navy]], which was at that time the world's largest. He once confided to his uncle, the Prince of Wales, that his dream was to have a "fleet of my own some day". Wilhelm's frustration over his fleet's poor showing at the [[Fleet review#Queen Victoria|Fleet Review]] at [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria|his grandmother's Diamond Jubilee celebrations]], combined with his inability to exert German influence in South Africa following the dispatch of the Kruger telegram, led to Wilhelm taking definitive steps toward the construction of a fleet to rival that of his British cousins. Wilhelm called on the services of the dynamic naval officer [[Alfred von Tirpitz]], whom he appointed to the head of the Imperial Naval Office in 1897.{{Sfn|Boyd|1966}}

The new admiral had conceived of what came to be known as the "Risk Theory" or the [[Tirpitz Plan]], by which Germany could force Britain to accede to German demands in the international arena through the threat posed by a powerful battlefleet concentrated in the [[North Sea]].{{Sfn|Steinberg|1973}} Tirpitz enjoyed Wilhelm's full support in his advocacy of successive naval bills of 1897 and 1900, by which the German navy was built up to contend with that of the British Empire. Naval expansion under the [[Fleet Acts]] eventually led to severe financial strains in Germany by 1914, as by 1906 Wilhelm had committed his navy to construction of the much larger, more expensive [[dreadnought]] type of battleship.{{sfn|Cecil|1989|pp=152–173}} The British depended on naval superiority and its response was to make Germany its most feared enemy.<ref>Matthew S. Seligmann, "The Anglo-German Naval Race, 1898–1914". In ''Arms Races in International Politics: from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century'' (2016) pp. 21–40.</ref>

In addition to the expansion of the fleet, the [[Kiel Canal]] was opened in 1895, enabling faster movements between the North Sea and the [[Baltic Sea]]. In 1889 Wilhelm reorganised top-level control of the navy by creating a [[German Imperial Naval Cabinet|Naval Cabinet]] ({{lang|de|Marine-Kabinett}}) equivalent to the [[German Imperial Military Cabinet]] which had previously functioned in the same capacity for both the army and navy. The Head of the Naval Cabinet was responsible for promotions, appointments, administration, and issuing orders to naval forces. Captain [[Gustav von Senden-Bibran]] was appointed as the first head and remained so until 1906. The existing Imperial admiralty was abolished, and its responsibilities divided between two organisations. A new position was created, equivalent to the supreme commander of the army: the Chief of the High Command of the Admiralty, or {{lang|de|[[Oberkommando der Marine]]}}, was responsible for ship deployments, strategy and tactics. Vice-Admiral [[Max von der Goltz]] was appointed in 1889 and remained in post until 1895. Construction and maintenance of ships and obtaining supplies was the responsibility of the State Secretary of the Imperial Navy Office ([[Reichsmarineamt]]), responsible to the Imperial Chancellor and advising the {{lang|de|Reichstag}} on naval matters. The first appointee was Rear Admiral [[Karl Eduard Heusner]], followed shortly by Rear Admiral [[Friedrich von Hollmann]] from 1890 to 1897. Each of these three heads of department reported separately to Wilhelm.{{Sfn | Herwig | 1980 | pp = 21–23}}