Editing Wilhelm II (section)

===''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}}