Editing Wilhelm II (section)

===July 1914{{anchor|30 July 1914}}===
[[File:General Hans G. von Plessen.jpg|thumb|upright|Wilhelm conversing with the victor of [[Battle of Liège|Liège]], General [[Otto von Emmich]]; in the background the generals [[Hans von Plessen]] (middle) and [[Moriz von Lyncker]] (right)]]

{{Main|July Crisis}}

On the night of 30 July 1914, when handed a document stating that Russia would not cancel its mobilisation, Wilhelm wrote a lengthy commentary containing these observations:{{blockquote|For I no longer have any doubt that England, Russia and France have agreed among themselves—knowing that our treaty obligations compel us to support Austria—to use the Austro-Serb conflict as a pretext for waging a war of annihilation against us ... Our dilemma over keeping faith with the old and honourable Emperor has been exploited to create a situation which gives England the excuse she has been seeking to annihilate us with a spurious appearance of justice on the pretext that she is helping France and maintaining the well-known Balance of Power in Europe, i.e., playing off all European States for her own benefit against us.{{Sfn | Balfour | 1964 | pp = 350–351}}}}

More recent British authors state that Wilhelm II really declared, "Ruthlessness and weakness will start the most terrifying war of the world, whose purpose is to destroy Germany. Because there can no longer be any doubts, England, France and Russia have conspired themselves together to fight an annihilation war against us".{{Sfn | Willmott | 2003 | p = 11}}

{{listen
| filename     = Wilhelm II 6-8-1914.ogg
| title        = An das deutsche Volk
| description  = Extract from Wilhelm's public address for mobilisation, 6 August 1914.
| format       = [[ogg]]
}}

When it became clear that Germany would experience a war on two fronts and that Britain would enter the war if Germany attacked France through neutral [[Belgium]], the panic-stricken Wilhelm attempted to redirect the main attack against Russia. When [[Helmuth von Moltke the Younger|Helmuth von Moltke (the younger)]] (who had chosen the old plan from 1905, made by General [[von Schlieffen]] for the possibility of German war on two fronts) told him that this was impossible, Wilhelm said: "Your [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder|uncle]] would have given me a different answer!"{{Sfn | Ludwig | 1927 | p = 453}} Wilhelm is also reported to have said, "To think that [[George V|George]] and [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicky]] should have played me false! If my grandmother had been alive, she would never have allowed it."{{Sfn | Balfour | 1964 | p = 355}} In the original [[Schlieffen Plan]], Germany would attack the (supposed) weaker enemy first, meaning France. The plan supposed that it would take a long time before Russia was ready for war. Defeating France had been easy for Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. At the 1914 border between France and Germany, an attack at this more southern part of France could be stopped by the French fortress along the border. However, Wilhelm II stopped any invasion of the Netherlands.