Editing Wilhelm II (section)

==Dismissal of Bismarck==
[[File:Bismarck Portrait(arms folded)).jpg|thumb|[[Otto von Bismarck]], the Chancellor who dominated German policy making until Wilhelm II assumed the throne in 1888]] 
According to adherents of the "Bismarck myth", the young Kaiser rejected the Iron Chancellor's allegedly "peaceful foreign policy" and instead plotted with senior generals to work "in favour of a war of aggression". Bismarck himself once complained to an aide, "That young man wants war with Russia, and would like to draw his sword straight away if he could. I shall not be a party to it."{{sfn|Röhl|2014|p=44}}

But the origin of Bismarck's dismissal lies in home affairs. After gaining an absolute majority in the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]] he formed the ''Kartell'', a [[coalition government]] of the [[German Conservative Party]] and the [[National Liberal Party (Germany)|National Liberal Party]]. They favoured making the anti-Socialist laws permanent, with one exception: giving the German police the power, similarly to the Tsarist [[Okhrana]], to expel alleged Socialist agitators from their homes by decree and into [[Exile#Internal exile|internal exile]]. Even [[Old Liberals|Old Liberal]] statesman [[Eugen Richter]], the author of the famous 1891 [[dystopia]]n novel ''Pictures of the Socialistic Future'', opposed banning the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] outright and said: "I fear [[Social Democracy]] more under this law than without it".<ref>W. H. Dawson, ''Bismarck and State Socialism. An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870'' (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1891), p. 44.</ref> The ''Kartell'' split over this issue and the law was not passed.

As the debate continued, Wilhelm became more and more interested in the social problems being exploited in the propaganda of the Socialists, especially the treatment of mine workers who [[Strike action|went on strike]] in 1889. He routinely disagreed with Bismarck during Cabinet meetings. Bismarck, in turn, sharply disagreed with Wilhelm's pro-labor union policies and worked to circumvent them. Bismarck, feeling unappreciated by the young Emperor and by his ambitious advisors, once refused to co-sign a proclamation regarding the protection of industrial workers, as was required by the [[German Constitution]], and prevented it from being made law. While Bismarck had previously sponsored landmark social security legislation, by 1889–90, he had become violently opposed to the rise of [[organized labor]]. In particular, he was opposed to wage increases, improving working conditions, and regulating labour relations.

The final break between the Iron Chancellor and the Kaiser came when Bismarck initiated discussions with the opposition to form a new parliamentary majority without consulting with Wilhelm first. The ''Kartell'', the shifting [[coalition government]] that Bismarck had been able to maintain since 1867, had finally lost its majority of seats in the Reichstag due to the Anti-Socialist Laws fiasco. The remaining powers in the Reichstag were the [[Catholic Centre Party]] and the Conservative Party.

In most [[parliamentary system]]s, the head of government depends upon the confidence of the parliamentary majority and has the right to form coalitions to maintain a majority of supporters. In a [[constitutional monarchy]], however, the [[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellor]] is required to meet regularly with the monarch to explain his or her policies and intentions within the Government. A Chancellor in a constitutional monarchy also cannot afford to make an enemy of the monarch, who represents the only real check and balance against a Chancellor's otherwise [[Autocracy|absolute power]]. This is because a constitutional monarch has plenty of means at his or her disposal of quietly blocking a Chancellor's policy objectives and is one of the only people who can forcibly remove an overly ambitious Chancellor from power. For these reasons, the last Kaiser believed that he had every right to be informed ''before'' Bismarck began coalition talks with the Opposition.

In a deeply ironic moment, a mere decade after demonizing all members of the [[Catholic Church in Germany]] as ({{langx|de|Reichsfeinde}}, "traitors to the Empire") during the ''[[Kulturkampf]]'', Bismarck decided to start coalition talks with the all-Catholic Centre Party. He invited that party's leader in the Reichstag, [[Freiherr|Baron]] [[Ludwig Windthorst|Ludwig von Windthorst]], to meet with him and begin the negotiations. The Kaiser, who always had a warm relationship with Baron von Windthorst, whose decades long defence of German Catholics, Poles, Jews, and other minorities against the Iron Chancellor have since attracted comparisons to [[Irish nationalist]] statesmen [[Daniel O'Connell]] and [[Charles Stewart Parnell]], was furious to hear about Bismarck's plans for coalition talks with the Centre Party only after they had already begun.{{sfn|Steinberg|2011|pp=445–447}}

After a heated argument at Bismarck's estate over the latter's alleged disrespect for the Imperial Family, Wilhelm stormed out. Bismarck, forced for the first time in his career into a crisis that he could not twist to his own advantage, wrote a blistering letter of resignation, decrying the Monarchy's involvement in both foreign and domestic policy. The letter was published only after Bismarck's death.{{sfn|Cecil|1989|pp=147–170}}

In later years, Bismarck created the "Bismarck myth"; the view (which some historians have argued was confirmed by subsequent events) that Wilhelm II's successful demand for Bismarck's resignation destroyed any chance Imperial Germany ever had of stable government and international peace. According to this view, what Wilhelm termed "The New Course" is characterised as Germany's [[ship of state]] going dangerously off course, leading directly to the carnage of the First and Second World Wars.

According to Bismarck apologists, in foreign policy the Iron Chancellor had achieved a fragile balance of interests between Germany, France and Russia. Peace was allegedly at hand and Bismarck tried to keep it that way despite growing popular sentiment against Britain (regarding the [[German colonial empire]]) and especially against Russia. With Bismarck's dismissal, the Russians allegedly expected a reversal of policy in Berlin, so they quickly negotiated a [[military alliance]] with the [[Third French Republic]], beginning a process that by 1914 largely isolated Germany.{{Sfn | Taylor | 1967 | pp = 238–239}}

[[File:1890 Bismarcks Ruecktritt.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|"[[Dropping the Pilot]]" by [[John Tenniel]], published in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' on 29 March 1890, two weeks after Bismarck's forced resignation as Chancellor]]
In contrast, historian [[Modris Eksteins]] has argued that Bismarck's dismissal was actually ''long overdue''. According to Eksteins, the Iron Chancellor, in his need for a [[scapegoat]], had demonized [[Classical Liberal]]s in the 1860s, [[Catholic Church in Germany|Roman Catholic]]s in the 1870s, and [[Marxism|Socialist]]s in the 1880s with the highly successful and often repeated refrain, "The Reich is in danger." Therefore, in order to [[divide and rule]], Bismarck ultimately left the [[German people]] even more divided in 1890 than they had ever been before 1871.<ref>Modris Eksteins (1989), ''Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age'', pp. 66–67.</ref>

In interviews with [[C.L. Sulzberger]] for the book ''The Fall of Eagles'', [[Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia|Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia]], grandson and heir of Kaiser Wilhelm II, further commented, "Bismarck was certainly our greatest statesman, but he had very bad manners and he became increasingly overbearing with age. Frankly, I don't think his dismissal by my grandfather was a great tragedy. Russia was already on the other side because of the [[Berlin Congress]] of 1878. Had Bismarck stayed he would not have helped. He already wanted to abolish all the reforms that had been introduced. He was aspiring to establish a kind of [[Shogun]]ate and hoped to treat our family in the same way the Japanese shoguns treated the [[Japanese emperor]]s isolated in [[Kyoto]]. My grandfather had no choice but to dismiss him."<ref>C.L. Sulzberger (1977), ''The Fall of Eagles'', Crown Publishers. Page 391.</ref>