AR ielO ORI 2 eta RECT ApS cise Tod coleoe: con 070) JOHN C. G. ROHL THE KAISER AND HIS COURT Wilhelm II mm eoaar asta Meraa LA)Kaiser Withelm IL, Queen Victoria's eldest grandchild, took over the running of the powerful German Reich from Bismarck and within a couple of decades had led it into world war and collapse. How did the Kaiser come to. have so much power? Why was there no one to help him steer a less disastrous course? This book analyses these crucial questions with the help of a wealth of new archival sources. The book begins with a character-sketch of the Kaiser which provides new and alarming, insights into his personality. It then looks, crucially, at the Kaiser's friends and favourites, at the neo-absolutist culture of the court and of Berlin court society, and at the nature of his relationship with the court on the one hand and with the administrative ‘pyran Prussia and the Reich on the other, The book makes clear that these bureaucrats and diplomats had neither the means nor the will to oppose the overwhelming determination of the Kaiser and his close friends and advisers in directing the policies of the most dynamic and volatile state in Europe. The dangerous consequences of this situation led to the brink of world war as early as December 1912, A final chapter reveals for the first time the appalling extent and nature of the exiled Kaiser's anti- semitism, JOHN C. G. ROHL (Photograph by Christoph Réhl) Jacket illustration: painting by Anton von Werner showing Kaiser Wilhelm II inaugurating the Reichstag in the Royal Palace, Berlin, on 25 June 1888. (Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz) Jacket design: Alan Forster Printed in Great BritainKaiser Wisin 11, Queen Vicoda’s eles grande, wok ovr the runing fe petal German Reich fom Bamrce ae within nro ‘esas ha ed tino world wat and colape How adhe Kale ctie fo bave so much powe? Why wet these arene to help Hie cr a et Sxstros cours? This book analyses thes crcl questions wih the help ‘faa of new archival sources ‘The bobepna wth chaacter-htch of the Katee which provides ne an alarming insights ints personality. Te thes lok, ocala the Kater’ tends and favourtes atthe ac-absalutse clr of de ‘urs of Bevin cout st, a a he ate is soni wih the cureon theons and and wth the nmiiaentve pri Praia sulthe Rech cn the other The bok makes lea ht there buen “nips bd ner the means no he vl oppoe the vere “Grecia he poles ofthe mos dimaic pd volatile satin Europe The ‘dangerous consequences of this at le othe brink of world war as ‘arly as Decerber 1912. A tal chapter revel forthe fst ihe the JOHN C. G. ROHL is Proto f History atthe University of Susex‘The Kaiser and his CourtThe Kaiser and his Court Wilhelm If and the Government of Germany John ©. G. Rohl fre Hy, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESSPui by de Pee Sys fb Unni of Cambie ‘Taga bade, Tung See, Coe co ‘Te Stumond Road, Oakes Nallwure 316, Austria csc te ke Boece ee Fat ne rayne era nee cpa errare Soe see tt Printed in Gre tant the Unters Pen, Cambie For my daughter Aca rc jor isk i ale fom the Brith Lary Stephanie itary of Comet aang pablo do it, Joe C ‘The Rae and his Cou. Within al he Goverment of German ty fl Ra waned rom te Geman by Terees Fae Ings bogie erences fi Goma Enger 89-198. 2. Germany ~ Pte and sabegih y Gorm “Re chon songs ys tare rato sae guns parideContents Preface tothe English edition Inrodvesion a 4 s 6 5 Kaiser Wilhelm I: a suitable case for treatment? end Philip Eulenbue, the Kaiser's best, “The Kaiser's court “The kingship mechanism’ inthe Kasereich Higher civil servants in Wilhelmine Germany ‘The splendour and impotence of the German diplomatic ess rehearal in December: military decision-making in Germany on the eve ofthe Firs: World War Kaiser Withelm I and German anti-semitism Nowe Ides a Pa 90 23 27Preface to the English edition ‘When this book onthe politcal roe played by Kaiser Wiel TT and his court was publshed in Germany in 1987, it quickly went through thece sitions, selling over 15,00 copies in the space of a few years. This fat lone suggests that is subject, which had for decades been marginalised by professional German historians, wat held tobe of sme interest nd import nce by wider German public. Very few people in che English-speaking ‘word wil share o even understand the view which until cently predam- pated in German histrialctces that Wihelm If was 2 mere ‘shadow emperor’ who played no part in shaping the polices of the Kaserreich, and that the Imperial cour, 10, eould safely be ignored when azalssing German decision-making in the erucal qusrte-century berween Bis smarck’s dismissal and the First World War. There (and elsewhere outside (Germany) the reverse assumption has always prevailed that ‘the Kaiser (as he is known rout court) was an aggressive autocrat who must bear a large agree of responsibility fer plunging the Old Europe into war and cats trope, Some readers ofthe Eglin edition af his bok, while lading such assumptions largely coafirmed, may therefore be especially interested to see how frighteningly chai and enerupe behind the resplendent fade the sovermenalsstem of imperial Germany reall was For this eiten, those chapters aoc orginally writen in English have been {aidfullyeanlated from the German by Terunce F. Cae himself an expert 8 the history ofthe Second Reich, The final chapter, which eveals forthe frst ime the dreadful extent of Wilheln 1's ant-snitism, as weten at the Woodrow Wilson Intemational Center for Scholars in Washington DC in the summer of 1999 and did not therefore form part of the orginal German edition. With this one exception, Thave by and large resisted the temptation to add new material od and established text except where important new evidence on very specif pints has come to light. Since 1 ‘began to study the history ofthe Kaiser's Germany asa doctoral student a ‘Cambridge in 195, the scholaty literate on the period has grown tothe int where itisalmost impossible fer one pstson to absorb; Fave nt tied {bring up to dtethe references tal sich work in the footnotes sony aoa, Susex, November 1993,Introduction “The eight studies collected together inthis book were writen at various times and ina varet of contexts over a period of some ewentS-five years. ‘Thes are nevertheless all concerned with te same fundamental theme, the syst of government ofthe German Reich under Kaisee Wilhelm TT. The book opens with a charactr-sketch of this remarkable rues, who was net merely some exotic ‘Frbuloss Monster’ ase British writer dubbed him, ‘but who in a number of ways embodied the split personality of thet ‘transitional eneition= which bridged he old Prussian weeldof Wilhelm and Bismarck onthe one hand and dhe modern’ word of mass industrial society on the othe, It ends with an investigation ita che nature and extent ‘of the Kaise's anti-semitism which enables us to see how close he came, in the bittemers of eile, tothe IVltanichouang of Adolf Hitler. Most ofthe studies inthis bok, however, are not peimariy concerned with che Kaiser. “Their main focus iy fr on the mencalicy of the Kaiser's frends and advisers; second, on the structural foundations on which his socalled ‘persona rule’ ws fr erected snd then sustained, incloding the court and court society, dhe higher civil service andthe diplomatic carps and third, tnd above all on the interdependent relationship between the Kase, hi ‘nur and the sate, The book is therefore precominantly a work of cult ‘snd social history. Te sets outro analyse the structure and the mentality of the German ring ete in the ert of Kaiser Wilhelm TT "The studies are ll based closely on original sources. Rather than provid- nga sweeping estyitic mterpretation, each chapters perhaps more lke point painting, or like a phetomontage composed of several individu ‘photographs. Each of these picture isan independent composition which Cxiginaed as such and which can therefore be read and judged on is own rerts, These individual pieturs, however, can and should also be seen es facets ofa larger tality. IFT may stay withthe artistic analogy for amoment longer, his mans that he Book work inthe same wey a @ Cubist painting in which an object can be seen in several different perspectives siml= taneously “This larger picrure hes not always been correctly understood by my2 The Katherand hie Court critics. Aa these studies appeared as inividual contributions in a variety of publications over a quarter af a century, what was an examination of one feature of topic has occasionally been regarded asa fllsale treatment of the entire comple, withthe raul tht one study has been ciiised as ‘being 100 ‘paychologial’ oF ‘personalise, another a8 pechaps usefully ‘multibigraphicel” bot nevertheless too “impressionistic, 2 chird as Saggeraedly statistical, structuralist of sociological. Only now, when the {dividual studies are brought together in one book, ie it possible wo see the cconections between them; only here is it possible @ offer something lpproaching a comprehensive answer to the quction which informs all ‘ght studies: how adequate was the decision-making process how god the ‘quality of government in the German Empire under Kalsce Wilhelm IP (evens, however, there ae many aspect of the problem which are dealt ‘with here all too brie, the army and the avy being ewo striking examples) ‘Whiy do speak ofthe “quality of governmant and why has this question pursued me like « recurrent nightmare for more than thrce decades? Prie- frich Stampfer, the editor of the Social Democratic newspaper Verse delivered the retoxpecive judgment in the Weimar Republic that the German Kaisereeich had been the most economically successful and the best administered but the ‘worst governed” country in Europe before 1914 ‘Max Weber wrote, some years before te outbreak ofthe First World We, that he sometimes had the feling that Germany was being governed by & “hed of lunatic’. And Friedrich von Holstein, the grey eminence’ of the German Foreign Office whose political correspondence must rank as one of the greatest literary ecievementsof the Wilnelmine er, warned.as far back 1 the winter of 1894 that the young Kaiser's mode of governing ws an ‘opereta régime, but not one that & European nation atthe end of the nineteenth century will pt up wit’. Holstein warned that he eould not texcde the possibility that ‘the reign of His Majesty Wilhelm the Second? ‘night form 'e transition either toa cietstorship or ele toa republic "Faced with sch sete adgments, the aberver interested in the historical past (or indeed concerned for the future) finds himself confronting a malt- Dlicty of questions ~ questions which have if anything grown in theit fxplsive potential inthe seventy-five years since the Kaiser's abication. ‘Wa the much eritiised ‘personal rae of Kaiser Wilhelm 1 realy a8 bad, 4s anachronistic, as insane, 26 the judgments of Stampfer and Weber {referred to above would suggest? How sas i posible for such highly developed European people as the Germans to tolerate such an “operetta ‘ime’ until well into the twentieth century, indeed aoe us tolerate but in ‘many cases support it with pret enthusisem? What is che elationship between the ridiculous but also terifying incompetence ofthis régime and sheunleashing ofthe First World Wer, that basic extastrophe of our century in whose beginning - at ‘Thomas Mann so prescientiy wrote atthe begit- ring ofhis novel The Magic Mountain 1924 ~ "so much began which his Scacsly yet let off beginning’? What place should we asin to Kaiser Withelm 1, and to the thicty-year epoch that bears his name in the bret and cataclytmie history of the German nation-state from 1871 t0 1945? ‘What inferences should we deaw from the evidence ~ clearly discernible ring the Withcimine ea itself thatthe deployment of the phenomenal power crested by modern industrial echnology depends inthe fal analysis fn the decisions of a small number of not always very competent ‘statesmen’? ‘So fr s the fist question is concerned, it would clearly be absurd 19 sim that Kaser Wilken 11 ever established fll-seale autoracy. When Contemporaries spoke ertcally of hi pereoal rue’, chey were expressing {isapproval of ht ro fequent and to rudden interference inthe affairs of Stat. f the emphasise place on his Divine Right, which was perceived es fn insult fo the nation, of the speeches and interviews which had such a isestrous impact on the foreign policy and the intemational standing ofthe ‘German Reich, Wilhelm IT might have dreamed of esablishing absolute rule for himself buts remained no more than a dream. Even his severest {rites did or believe that he ever practised such a form of rae. As this point ooasons so much misunderstanding ia the present day, it would Pethaps be wiser, wherever possible, to avoid the use ofthe Wilhelmine polemical term ‘personal rule and to deploy in is stead the more neutral Concept of “kingship mechanism’ elaborated by the sociclogist Norbert lis, The ute of this concept should help to distract attention from the ‘dds and misdeeds of Wilhelm the Sudden’, thus enabling ws to concen- trate onthe more significant and interesting question ofthe interplay of the ‘Kaiser, his court and the state bureaucracy in the exercise of power in Wilhetnie Germany! ‘All dhe same, the central thesis ofthis book is chat she poi stem of ‘the German Kaiserreich iso be understocd in essence a8 a monarchy, and ‘that consequently the Kaiser, the royal family, the Kaiser’scicle of fiends, the Imperial entourage and the court form the heat of this system on which the very highest officals ofthe Reich end state bareaucracy (aswell s the leaders ofthe army’ and navy) were psychologically and poiially depen- dent In this crucial sense the system of government under Wilhelm H ean bevdistinguished from Bismarc’s Chancellor dictatorship, eventhough m0 ‘oostittional changes giving Formal reenenitin the new situation were fected after Bismarck’s diamieal in Mareh 1890. Such constitutional changes were infect not necessary as Bismarck, despite his monopolistic ‘exert of power ad consistently maisained the fiction ~the word is used4 The Rateranahis Court ‘nee in both ts meanings that in Prussia the King gave the orders andthe ‘ministers obeyed. “I this country... the King himself governs’, Bsmarck ‘proclaimed in speech inthe Reichstag in 1882. “Ministers no doub edit, Iredgtoran] what the King has ordered but they do aot govern [repee. ‘After Bsmarek’s dismiss all that Kaiser Wilhelm I! needed ro do was 0 transform Bimaret’s polities ftom ito fact, though this could act be accomplished oversight nor without severeinteral vss. Vein the course ‘ofthe 18908 anew system of power relationships war created, 2 genuinely ‘monstchical régime in wich the Kaiser and his cour, eather than the Chancellor and “his men’, exereked plitzal poser and decision-making authority and thus lid down the fundamental guidelines of damestic, {reign and armaments policy: Kaiser Wilhelm It crazed this system onthe bass of is constiutional authority as King of Prussia, which gave him ‘restricted power of command i all itary matter, and on his right to appoint, promote and dismiss al officials in both Prussia andthe Reich —2 rightof which he made the fullest us, Ta the yeas afer Bismarck’ fll and ‘wth the help frst and foreme of his best friend Count Philipp 2u Eulen burg, and also withthe aid of the chiefs of his thre Secret Cabinets for Miltary, Nava and Civil Aflais, Wilbelm was ia face able to construct a system of what Berahard von Balow called ‘personal rule in the good sense. In this system the Reich Chancellor, as Bulow revealing expresed it in 96, would simply regued himself a “the executive tol of His Majesty, 50 to speak his political Chet of Staff® This was the system which produced the decisions and te avoidance of decisions which eg, vi Welomachtpoliik ‘and Tpit sigantie baleship programme, 0 icernal cess and external ‘solavon, uni at the last thi tiny elite, increasingly dominated by miliary elementsat cour, came to regard shor, sharp, eeshand joyful war’ as the ‘only exit from the Bind ale inca which iced manocuvred itself. "For these reasons the reign of Kaiser Wilbelm 11 should be seen as 2 discrete epoch athe constitutional history ofthe German nation-state, one witht ow distinctive power structures and behavioue patterns. It cannot be understood, as Hars-Uirich Weber has claimed, a the mere contina- ation of the ‘Bonapartist Chancelor-dictatrship" of Bismarck by “the ‘anonymous forces of authoritarian polyeray’. Seen ia this light s @ new “and unique system of rule, the flere campaign spans he new régime bythe Bismarckian“fronde’ after the ismuttal ofthe “Tron Chancellor’ becca readily understndable, Given that Bismarck’s sucessful 28-year period af ‘office could not be obliterated from the memories of the German people ‘oremight, and that on the contrary with each foolish new act onthe part the Kaiser If shone more gloriously than ever, he Bismarekian campugn tstitted a dire threat tothe Hohenzllem monarchy, Bismark’ yet had it sre, boon established inthe 18608 against the ‘piri ofthe times’ Inrodusion 5 but the restoration under Kaiser Wilhelm 11 of » genuinely functioning monary claiming leitimation by Divine Right one hundred years aftr the French Revolution was even mote forced, artifical, aachronisy reactionary, grotesque Despite ite populistand plbisiary element, twat ‘bound to lead to severe tensions ina country where there was universal male sulfage and in which increasingly the dominant forces shaping society and its attitudes. were urbanisation, industilisation and demecratsation ‘isoriclly speaking dis attempt bythe Wilelmiians to introduce onthe ‘threshold tothe rventieth century, a monarchy bythe grace of God with a eovabsoluist court culture ean probably be compared only withthe abso- Jutist designs of Charles I of England who was beheaded inthe middle of ‘he Civil War in January 1649 oF with Charles X of France, who had t flee abroad after the bloodless revolution of July 1830, however wanting sch ‘comparisons ar bound tobe By emphasing the unique character of the Wilhelmine system of goverment as the re-establishment of « pre-Bismarckian monarchical gime in the era of mass industrial society, I do not wish to prechide funsideraton of the question of continuity in the history of the German ‘ation-atate between 1871 and 1945: quit the verse. But the quetion of funtinnity te outta be more complicated ~ and more open ~ than frst appears robe the case. Certainly the appointment of Bismarck as Prussian ‘Minister-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs inthe autumn of 1862 ‘vas decisive curning-point which had implications forthe Wilhelmine period and fr beyond it Yer however signiiant dhe event of 1862101871 vere for the Future development of Germany, the sole of chance, of per- scnality, of political decision-making in the broader course of German history should not be underestimated, What would have happened, for instance, i Kaiser Wilhelm Thad died when he was seventy cr eight rather than when he was over ninety year of age? Without doubt a reign often ot twenty sear bythe ibera-minded Kaiser Friedrich IIT and his English wife, Queen Vietoria’s eldest child (with or without Bismarck as Chan- cello), would have fundamentally reovientaed the system of government ‘long the lines of constitutional o evn parliamentary monarchy. I would Ihave created a situation which thew son Wilheln IT would have found Aliial if not impossible wo reverse. FFurthermre the Wilhelmine ert itelf cannot be seen simply at the forerunner of the Third Reich atleast not without severe qualifetion and ‘liferentation. Certainly features exit in the personality and in the Weltonchawog of Kaises Wilhelm TI which anticipate many terrible things Which were t come much later. These Include not only the "world power strategy with its balefet programme directed against Britain, and the war sims in the First World War so telingly analysed by Fritz Fischer, but a6 TheKalserand his Gort demands to ‘gun down’ sich ‘unpatriotic fellow’ asthe Social Democrats nd the Catholis,to"sweep aay’ chat pst” the Reichstag, o defend the ‘peoples of Europe’ from the yellow pesto have German troops behave “Ermerclesly ‘asthe Huns towards the rebellious Chinese, to bring about fhe final strugle between the Slavs and the Teuton’, to drive 90,000 ‘Russian prisoners of war to death by starvation, and even - this soon afte the Fist World War—to “Wipe ot from German soil and exterminate those ‘parasite’ the hated “tibe of Juda, “this poisonous mushroom on the German oats” And much, mich moze besides. Yet increasingly, and. ‘eaperaly among contemporary ccs of the form of rue practised by ‘Wilken TT and among the oppenents of such appalling aggression, we find those forces ~ liberal politcal commentators, Catholic Centre party tember, Social Democtats and others ~ which were to establish the rich political culture ofthe Weimar Republi, fora while atlas, uni the pret Silence descended, ‘What should have happened, what could have been done, to avoid che unspeakable catastrophes whic ly in wait? At fist sight, the astonishing inser i: nothing, If Germany had net opted for war in 1914 there would have been no war, because Austria-Hungary would certainly noc have dared riska war without Germany's suppor and the Triple Entente would not hve stacked the Cental Powers then, aor three years later (nor indeed Inter stil) Imperial Germany would have continued its unprecedented ‘conomicy scientific and cultural progres, and soon, in its own right and ‘without war it would have become the natural leader among the European, powers, The disoltion of the Hutsburg Empire, tht ‘prison of the tons was almost cerssinly inevitable by thea, bat did thar constitute a fenton for Germany to leap into the dark in an act of Dark Ages tribal ‘Selity? Was there no conctvable ‘diplomatic revolution’ which, without Sra, could have provides the German Reich with the requisite'security and GButrantces which Reich Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, ‘Duh to enforce in his infamous September programme’ of 1914 by mess tf mnexatons revolutionisition and economic measures? An understand- ing withthe Brissh Empire could have been achieved up until the last ‘moment. The British Wat Minister Lord Haldane had offered Germany an Agreement a late a the spring of 1912. The pice? Berlin was o slow down, Spot top entirely ~ the rate of battleship construction, which made no Sremegie Sense in eny ease) and it had to promise not to atack France of Runsia, Reich Chanecllor Bethmann Holiveg, the ‘responsible leader’ of German policy and “ist advise tothe Cre’, wanted to accept. But, even inthis tse critical question, he was overruled; the Kaiser Istened 10 Tpit and sbruptly rejected tae proposal. In this ight itis no surprising hat only ten months later, Bthmann was eluded fom ‘miitary-pliti cal dscusion’ a the royal palace in Berlin, at which the highest-ranking fsenerls and admirals discussed, under the direction of the Kelser, the {ueston whesher a woeld war agaist Briain, France ang Russia should Be Usleased immediately (by urging Austria to stack Serbia), or whether i would be more advantageous to “postpone the grea fit for ane and a half ‘years, util the Kiel Canal wis nied in the summer of t9t4* Prince Lichnowsky, the last Imperial German ambassador in London, derstood ‘early what was happening and warned against st. No-ane listened, Tit German patriot and citizen of the wortd was forced fo ebseve, with « bleeding heart, how a handful of men in Beri, without valid reason, without realy understanding what they were doing, ured the old Ba wer aly is red the old Esrope ts for this reason that I write ‘at fist sight’, for in the last analysis & peacefil policy could mot have heen ensured by doing nothing, but only by 8 ‘change of personnel and of structure athe tp, and neither Lichnowsky nor anyone else had the intention, far ess the power, to bring about such & Srastic transformation. By 1914 it was in an’ ease already fr (00 late for ‘tht. But did the opportunity present itself at any Gime dung the era of ‘Wilhelm Io bring abour significant changes in the system of goverment, ‘ses there an histrialtuening-pointa whic history filed, n ft, urn? Peshaps in 188, if Kaiser Friedrich TT had not been so terils weakened by cancer when he mounted the tone, if he had reigned longer than ninery-nine days, there could hare been a move ia a liberal dreetion, but this was ony a very fleeting possibility. If Bismarck had succeeded in 890 in making himself indispensable by deliberately provoking domestic and foreign crises, and thus checkmating the young Kaiser, German history ‘would also have taken ferent course, though whether it would have been beter one in the long term is more than doubtful. If Friedich von Holstein had succeded in 1895 and 1896 in persuading Reich Chancellor Prince Chlodwig 2u henlobe-Schlingsfarst and the Prussian Ministers ‘of State w extablish a determined and solid opposition tothe ever-growing power of the Kaiser and his couriers, an eleventh-hour move in the ‘lizection of constitutional government anght sill have been possible, But Hohenlobe, the Kaiserin's uncle, was to old oo sft and too venl, andthe ministers had the instincts of public ofclals eather than pelitlans, with the resule that very few among them could stand up 10 the elemental ‘willpower ofthe Kaiser and the lures of the ‘kingship mechanism. If the army had manage to push through is plans foe a coup dat in 1890, 1894 ‘or 1897, poltel power would have slipped into the hands ofthe generals ‘much sooner, bu that would nly have meant, es Holstein rightly observed, ‘an early war! Tn 1897 and 1900 there were repeated rumours to the effect ‘thatthe federal princes ~ the rulers ofthe individual German States —8 The Kaserand his Cure ‘ogeher withthe Reichstag and even some members ofthe Kaiser's family, ranted to force the abdication ofthe Kaiser in the nacional interest, but thing eame of these moves Then came the single and, ast tured oUt, [ast eal chance to introduce a system of government fed to the needs of the times one which would have Been abl to del with the dangers facing the Reich, This was when in November 190, following the painful reve- lations arising fom the Eulenburs-Harden tials and the publication of @ typical sris of indiscretions by the Kaiser in the Daily Telegraph the [Reichstag unanimously demanded thatthe menarch should bebave in a ‘more constitutional fashion. But tere it remained: 2 change in the system ‘vas neither seriously desired no effected, end behind the scenes the sae ‘old opeceta régime was allowed to continue. "The First World War didnot have to come. While the dreams of ‘world power’ among wie sections of the German poptiation must not be ignored for made o sound ares, the fat ofthe matter is that the people, the paris, the pressure groups could aot have forced the government to ‘leash a wold wae. In Bern, as ocr capitals, there were enthusiastic demonstrations in favour of war, but chere were equally large street proces- sions demanding peace. Boh tok place towards the end of July 19145 in other words, when the die had long since been cast And even if this pressure fora below in favour of war had been much stronger, the obvious truth hae tobe remembered that the German Kasereich was nota pebisci- tary democracy forced to accede othe demands of an angry crowd Nor was ita parliamentary monarchy in which the government depended onthe wil ta misorsy inthe Reichstag No: the decision for war agaast the three world empires of France, Resa and Brain was taken by a tiny group of| ten who sem to have hardly any idea ofthe shattering consequences that ther decision would have for Germany, for Europe and forthe word, right down to the present day. T am convinced that @ constitutional ‘onarchy witha collective cabinet responsibeto parliament and the public ‘would age have ected in such isolation and ignorance and, for this reason tone, would have decided diferent. The German people did not unleash the Fist World War, but they oid tolerate an absurd ‘operetia régime’ ‘which in 1914 could think of nothing beter than by unseating the sword to solve al the interaal and external problems which had piled up over a Aart of «century, not least a 4 eeult oftheir own misjudgments and ‘Omissions In this “unpoiia”aeeptance, in this blind ith inthe authori= farian stat — sil being celebrated by Thomas Mann in his Betrachungen tines Unpalitichen in 2918 lay the falc and the tragic fate of the German, people 1 Kaiser Wilhelm II: a suitable case for treatment? hae the eating shar are bing pve by ahd of hats Max Weber Ac the outbreak of war in 1914, ¢ Prussian ofce in Brazil wrote toa frend in Germany that people were a last attributing to Kaiser Wilhelm T "more fstesness than Bismarck and Moltke put together, a higher destiny chan ‘Napoleon I seing in him the Weltgeater~ the ‘shaper of the wold ‘Who i this Kater (the offcerexhimed, whose peaceine sue was so fll of ‘ation nd tresome compromise, whos fergersmens wo ae up i, ly thie nay gain? Who this Kater who now sddenly throws eat fhe ‘windy, tears open his orto bare is Titanic head and take on he word. ave msundersood this Kase, have ough him a waveree He is «Topi Suing onthe Opus ifista- added igh the ignig ola bis gary [Athimoment be Gd and master fhe werd ‘Bven if Germany were to lose the wat, the offcer predicted, “the figure of Witheln I wl stand ut in history ike a colossus"? He was mistaken. To this day nota single Fll-sale biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II has come {rom the pen ofa German historian ins university postion. Worse stil the prevailing tendency of historical esearch smong the younger generation in ‘Germany precludes any teatment of him ~ oF indeed ofthe ole of any snividua in history. That they declare, is Personalimus the flaps ntoa ‘personalise’ historical methodology which has long since been super seed. The'new orthedoxy” insist on writing thehiszory of the Kaisereich ‘without the Kaiser, that of Wibelinism without Wilhelm? ‘And ye, for number of reasons, cere could hardly be a more suitable case for treatment than “The Taevodible Kaiser’ the ‘Fabulous Monster’, ‘this ‘mest brian failure in histor? Foe one thing the Kaiser’ curious characer poses a fascinating eiddle in its on right, as we shall ee in a ‘moment. Second, it must be remembered that Wilhelm ruled noe over Bayreuth, Bremen or Bickeburs, but over the mest powerful, dynamic and state in Europe, and he did o for no less than thirty erueial years, 1 1918 ~ that is to say for even longer than Bismarck, and roro The Kiser and his Court and ahalftimesas long as Hitler. And while no-one would wish cam hat his power quite matched that ofthe Iran Chancellor or the Pare, its alu to suppose that the complex decision-making process inthis heroic fisocrtie warrior sete" can be understood without paying due attention {othe monarch who was in theory and in practic the pivot ofthe whole System of government, to the man who Was sumnas episepus, who had absolutepowers ofcommand in the military sphere and total control ove all ‘official appointments. His contemporaries, in stark contrast to historians writing later, were at any rte agreed in seeing the Kaiser as "the most lrsportnt man in Europe”? ‘There eno strong force in the Germany of todas than Kaiserdom, wrote Friedrich Naumann in £900. Two years later “Maximilian Harden, one of Wilhen'secest crits state chat 'the Kaiser ishisown Reich Chancellor. ll the important political decisions ofthe past twelve years have been made by him.” ‘A thied justification for undertaking study of the Kelser les in the extrinedinary extent 0 which Wilhelm personified and symbolised the political culture of his epoch, He wis a monarch by Divine Right yet always the parven; a medieval knight in shiting armour and yet the inspiration behind that marvel of modern technology, the batletiee; a djed-i-the- ‘wool reactionary ye also fora ime atleast —‘dhe Socialist emperor. Like the sciety over which he roled, he vas at once brilliant and bizarre, fggressive and insecure, Wilhelm was what most Germans at chat time ‘wanted him to be, During the Silver Jubie celebrations af his reign in June 1913, Friedrich Meinccke declared before the assembled members of the University of Freiburg: ‘We need @ Fulves... for whom we can march ‘through lames, "Even beyond the span of his reign, Wilhelm canbe seon as “ey figure’ {or understanding the hubris and the nemesis ofthe German nation-state es a whole, His ie spars, almost exacts, the history of the German Reich fiom ss unification by Bismarck to is sei-destructon under Hitler. His love-hate for is mother, Queen Vitora’s eldest daughter, exactly mierors ‘the Anglo-German antagonia which calsinated i the naval armsrace and the terrible European civil war of 1914-18, Defeat, revolution and absi- ‘ition in 1918-19 produced in Wilhelm a fanatical radicalisation of bis ‘ated for his enemies, rel ind imagined, at home and abroad, which Ie lisleto choose between his atiudes and the supposedly more eevoltionary nti-semitiom and recal nationalism of Adolf Hider. If Wilhelm bad lived ‘only few wesks longer he would undoubtedly have sent che Farer an ‘rthusiatc congratulatory telegram tomark te attack an Rusia, jastas he had after Germany's victory over Poland in 1939 and France in 1940 "The Best reson of fo stdving the Kase, however, simply thatthe suchives of Europe ae full bursting with eters from him, to irn and aise Wiel ssl ae for treet? " bout im ~ eters which for the most part no-one has ever looked at, The historian has more thin a right 1 examine and assess this abundant source: he has the duty. For otherwise the myths put out by propagandists and ‘wishful thinkers wil continu to ge unchallenged. Ia this shor characte ‘kesh [hope to beable to convey atl of my exctement at sa, breaking the seal in an East German archive ona package of sixty-one letters from (Queen Victoria tohergrandion Willer of my bewilderment and distress on reading, high in a turret ofthe Hohenzllen ancestral castle in Swabia, fhe eile Kaite's anti-Jewish dates. ‘Who, then, wa this Kater, who in 1888 atthe age of twenty-nine years Inherited “he mightiest throne on earth” Bernhard von Bulow wrote in 1898, when he was already Foreign Secretary and about t become Reich Chancellor: grow fender an nde of he Kar He so eportan Together with the Great ‘Kingund the Gret Bector herby fremont emportane Habenzolem eer to bare lived Tnavey hae ever een belch combines ent ~the oer abet and ‘igual eu with the cers bors His iimeginon ite ke a ale high above psy dea yet he can judge sbery what sori not pombe and ‘Maiabi And what vial Whats memory! How auc re is understand Ing! In the Crown Coulis morning Tus copay oterwhelned™ “That the Kaiter posetsed some ofthe impressive qualities invoked by Bilow isnot in dsb. The woubleis tat these qualities Went hand-in-hand with more alarming traits which, though mostly kept from the public, were ound to discourage even the most optimistic f those who worked closely ‘vith im, Noteven Bilow’s lth could survive contact with alt for long. ‘What war hat reality? Lat me bepia by enumerating sx of the charicter- intice which sack close servers most abour the Kaiser 1 Any sketch of his character must begin withthe fact that he never ‘matured: To the end of his thirty-year reign he remained the ‘young’ ‘inpeor ith the ‘chile genius! He se child andl wil always remain ‘one, sighed an ante court oficial in December 1998? Wilhelm semed incapable of leening from experience. Philipp Fulenburg, who knew bisa better chan anyone, remarked ina letter to Blow at che ern ofthe century that Wilhelm had, in the eleven years since his accession to the throne, "pecome very much quieter as fa as his outer being is concerned Spiritually however there bas not been the slightest development. He is unchanged in his explosive manner. Indeed even harsher and mare sudden 2 his self-esteem has grown with experience — which iso experience. For his “inividualiy” is stronger than the effet of experience.» More than thingy years ltr, when both Eulenburg and Bilow were dead andthe Kaiser ‘exiled un seventy-two years old his adjutant Sigurd von Hemans wrote in bis diary at Doors12 The Kaiserandhis Court "have now slats ised eading the sen volume ofthe Bilow ments and am fuck ver and rer aan by how il the Kale as changed since thowe anes ‘Aino cesyihing that ecused thn sll happens ao the wnlycileeace Being that hs son, whic the had gave sigieane and practical consequens, 20 (de oduage, The many sod quale, 0 of his sang, peculiar fhe ‘aip'sm vy cpl character, re peselySuesed by Bulow." ‘Why? In her study ofthe Kaiser's entourage, the American historian Ihabel Hull has suggssted that his notorious restlessness ~ his endless traveling, his craving on those journeys for an unceasing stream of stories 1 jokes, his inalty to listen to other, his esstence on turing every ‘conversion’ iatoa hectic monologue, his need o hve people sbout him al he time, even when he was reading, the great sped with which he ate~ teas but a ‘conspiracy against sel-understanding’, a defence mechanism t0 tenable him to avoid confronting his own personality"? That i surely the fase. At the very leas one must amit that sul a estes lifestyle mast have fevers inhibited the proces of maturation towards what psychologist al ‘ersonal autonomy and eg integrity. "> However, another of Wilheim's character tats his notorious over cstimation af is own abilities, dubbed by contemporaries caesaromanit ct Jolie denpereur, silriy inhibited his responsiveness wo constructive ‘iticism, For ow could the mooarch lear fram experience ifhe despised his minister, rarely received them and seldom istened to what they hed to says he wa convinced ttl! his diplomats ha so ‘illed thee pant’ that “the entire Wilhelstrase stank’ to high heaven, when he addressed even the War Minster and the Chef ofthe Military Cainer with the words ou ‘ld asses" and announced to a group of admirals: “All of you know frothing alone know something, Talone decide"®” Even before coming to te throne be had warmed, “Beware the time when T shal give she orders” Even before Bismarck'sdismisal he had threatened to ‘smash’ ll oppe- sition to his will> He alone was master of the Reich, he sid ina speech in ‘May #891, and he would tolerate no ethers.”* To the Prince of Wales he proclaimed at the turn ofthe etary: ‘Tam the sale master of German policy and my country mast follow me wherever | o.""Ten yeas later he {splined in a letter toa young Engishvoman: ‘As for having to sink my ideas and feeling atthe bidding ofthe people thats 2 thing unheard of in Prussian history or traditions of my bouse! What the German Emperor, King of Prussia thinks right and best for his People he does. In Seprem= ber 1912 he chose Prince Lichaowsky tobe ambessador in London aginst the advice of Chancellor Betbmann Holiveg and the Foreign Offic withthe ‘words will nly send an ambassador 9 Landon who bas My tus, obeys ‘My wl and caries out My orders And during the First World War he fxcaimed “What the public thinks i totally immaterial to me. T decide Kaiser Wibelm I: sable ase for trestment? 5 according tomy conviction, although I do then expect my officials todo what ‘hey cant correct the fale opinions ofthe public by whatever means sem appropriate Small wonder, after sucha catalogue ofself-gorfication, that the Vienaese should jke thet Wiel insisted on being the sag at every hun, the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral! 3. Third, the Kaiser had an extrsrdinary capacity for secing the world ota ema, but ashe wished io be, Inthe summer of 1903 Philipp Eslen- ‘burg vote to Reich Chancellor Blow fom onboard the Impeil yacht ‘Beinn contact wth the beloved mtr for wets an ed pens the eyes ren the [stint and he to then shocked bythe fas wich Becomes ore parent ‘he tse eh ELM sera ade a! ngs sa lf men purely rom his ero andpoit Object is st eompletely pd suet ids on biting {nd semping son 11927 the Crown Princes wonder howit was possible that sucha clever ‘an could lose all sense of proportion and sy the most fantastic things and tren believe them, Ata certain moment there is abeolutely nothing more to ‘be done withthe Kase, he closes is eyes to every ety and then believes Jn the most impossible connections. He i and remains a rdle™” ‘A graphic example of Withclm’s propensity for literally swearing that ‘black was white if suited his psychological requirements s his verdict in 1933 that he had been wrong to war Europe against the ‘yellow peril ‘Atlas Tow (be si) what the farrell forthe German pope hate shall {flav to ache! We tl beth ages ofthe Orie api the Ossett ‘tallpow hate olen peur Peoples of Europe’. We eng the he sided ‘Once nc avs proved othe Geren ht the Frneh and Engh re are not Wastes ‘salle Hacks =the they le upon his able* ‘Aman who could categorise the English andthe French as negroes of course ‘na ite diicaltyin designating Jens of Nazareth aa “on-Semite nr in aiming thatthe ater “had never. been a Je.2 “4: The Kaiser ged against all those who would not o hs bidding, and plated to avenge himself on those he thought had betrayed him. In 1920 Eulenburg observed that Wilhelm IT regarded che murder ofthe German ‘envoy to China bythe Boxer rebels asa porzanaliesul’ and tha he wes determined to ‘send troops to take revenge! The Kaiser accordingly sent Blow atelegram demanding that Peking be destroyed: The German envoy rnust be avenged by my troops. Peking must be eazed tothe ground." A few weeks late, in whats probably his most shocking speech, he ordered (German troops on their way to China to behave ike Huns You mutt be examples of manliness and discipline, but ao of sein and seitconol You willbe ping spats wosemed power but the sane tine“The Kaiser and his Core sou must avenge the deth nt only of he envoy ba f many oer Germans and “Europerns When Yo come befoethe enemy, you must eet hi pardon will nt ‘este, pitioners wl pth taken. Whocrer ls ne your ans Wl fal yout ‘ord Jat houeand year ago he Huns unde thei King Ala made mame forthe fr fry ich tron ileal 50 may the name of Germany ‘come kc hina isch way tht 0 Ciaran wl eer ga dare ook 2 Geman in the eye even th guint “This was no mere sip ofthe tongue. In ue erly stages of the Firs World \Wat Wilhelm shocked his entourage by commanding one divsen to take n0 prisoners. After the battle of Tannenberg in September 1914he proposed to Kill go, Russian prisoners of war by driving them ono the barren spt of lund inthe Bale Sea known asthe Kurische Nehrung, and lting them starve and this to death > “Things were no beter with regard to home aff. In 1899 the Kaiser declared: ‘Matters will not inprove until dhe troops drag the Social Deme- ‘rats leaders oat ofthe Reichstag and gun them down.* During strike of ‘tam workers in Berlin in 1960, etlegraphed the Commanding General T fexpect when the Uoops move in st lat §00 people to be guned down.” ‘Andon the North Sea eruiseof 1903 the Kaiser outlined how he would dea ‘with the coming revolution. He would, he ssi, mowr down all the Social Democrats, but only after they had fist plundered the Jews and the rc His plan wast “ake revenge foe #848 revenge!!!" His desire for revenge naturally became more dominant sill after the revolution of 1978 had ousted him from the thon. By the early 19208 Wilhelm had evolved a full-sale world conspiracy theory acoediag 10 sshich the Freemaons, Jesuits and Jes were plotting to takeover the world tnd destroy all “German” (he meant monarchical) values. His frends in Germany and America were regularly bombarded with twenty t thiry~ page letters warning agnnst this Jewish world conspiracy in terms so Ldendorfian or even Hitlerian that, as T reed them, I began to dred the moment, which seemed 0 be appcaching with increasing cersin, when T ‘would discover the unspeakable. And sure enough befor long I discovered ‘the following passage ina letter frm the Kiser: “Thelomest, most abject outrage ctr tobe perpetrated by ony sation in history that ‘awit the Germans have done es themselve-Eegedon andmisled by the tbe! Sua wh te hie, wo ese ucts ing ht! That was he anh ey pot {Etna Geman eves ng thi orev ntl these parates hae Ben wiped xt from German soil and been extetnatd! This poonoar mtivcom (he Germans” “These words were written in the Kaiser's own handwriting nd were dated 2 December 1919 Te was not only spsinat the so-alled ‘enemies of the Reich’ ~ the Kier Wibel I: stable aefortreent? 6 Socialists, Catholics, Jews and Freemasons ~ that the Kaiser raged, however, but apuinst anyone who opposed his will. After Hindenburg’s death in the summer of 1934 he declared, expecting an imminent return to the throne “Blood must Bow, muck blood, [he blood] of the officers and fe civil servants, above al of the nobility, of eversone who has deserted sme Tt was a8 Eulenburg had realised in 1901, as if ‘certain feelings ‘which we take Tor granted ia others were suddenly simply noe there.” 'Bven Wilheln’s famly and relations were not exempt. In 1887 he threatened or cxample, to put bullet through the head” of tat ‘damned Pollack’ Prince Aleuander of Battenberg and to ‘club the Bateaberpee to eat’ During Queen Victoria's visit to Belin in the following year, he i that it was high time thatthe od woman ~his grandmother ~ died. He now refered ther asthe ‘empress of Hindustan’, to his mother and sisters asthe “English colony’, othe doctors ia attendance on his father as ‘Jewish lout scoundrels and ‘Satan’s bone’ ll he aid, were inepired by “acs hated” and ‘ani-Germanism even atthe edge of the grate © Dring the tragic 99-day reign of his father, Wilhelm wrote to Eulenbu ‘hat I have ended ere i the ln # ays sly defies descriton and even ‘nods the imagine sense of dep shame forthe sunken reste of ence Shighand ive Hoge thats the eager fling [oct aemething sent ‘ory me and all of us and am ating o bea ic with patience. But that our fami shield should be besarched andthe Rech brought othe risk aby a Eglin process who my mother thts the most eile hing al. (One year before his accession, Wilhelm had declared ‘One cannot have ‘nough hatred for England’, snd had warned that Eland had better watch fut when he tok ever*™ '. A fth point is that Wilhelm’ ‘sense of humout” frequently rook an offensive, sometimes even a sadistic run, While his let arm was Weak due to damage at birth, his ght hand was stong in compensation, and he found amusement i turning his ings lnwards and then squcezing the hand of visting dignitaries so hard that tear came to their eyes King Ferd- ‘and of Bolgsria let Berlin white-hot with hated” after the Kaiser had slapped him hard on the behind in public Grand Duke Viadimie of Russa was hit over the back by Wilhelm wich a field-marshal's baron." “The Duke of Saxe-Caburg-Gotha, another af Queen Vietra's grandsons, vas pinched and puramelled by the Kater in the library to such an extent “thatthe poor Kile Duke received a proper beating up, asthe Court ‘Marsal wrote in his dary** Even afte the duke had ascended the throne the Kaiser on one occasion made hi lie 0 his back and then proceeded to siton his belly-® The Kaiser's entourage were tated in much the same ‘mance. One diplomat noted in his diary dusing the Nor See cruise of 19616 The Kaiser and is Court ne mornings well recs tngetes with the Kaiser. Irs curios sight tose od tay fogeyr having oo the koe jerks wit strained faces! The aise semenes opis ou ud an epg them oa wa ig in heb. Theo ‘oye then presenta hey a paral dlp over sucha avr, but nat they son tek n thes pockets and afterwards grumble among themes ‘Sour the Kaiser ke alo fd women Philipp Eulenburg wat alo shocked by the quite disgusting spectacle’ of al the old excllencies and dignitaries having to assemble for gymnastics the ‘Sccompanitnen of shouts and jokes." After one particularly enervating doy Gn bord the Hotencellerm when Eulenburg had sought the refuge of his ‘bin, he suddenly heard at midnight ‘the loud, laughing, shouting, peling Noice ofthe Kaiser outside my door he was casing the old excelencies Heinze, Kessel, Scholl, ete, through the corridors ofthe ship to bd "This, to, di aot change with the passing ofthe yeas. Ac the height ofthe ‘Second Moroccan Crisis in 1912, Admiral von Mller recorded in his diary ‘nth dismay: "At gymnastics this morning erat tomfoolery. FLM. cuts ‘through [General vor) Scholl's braces with a penknife.” 16, Finally, the Kaiser loved uniforms, historical costumes, jewellery and gems, most ofall childish pranks in all-male company. One of his closest {Siends, Cunt Em’ Gort, who was onthe plump side, could ‘dance like a Howling dervish and do all Kinds of nonsense forthe Kaiser # One of his favourite ticks tas to roll backwards down the hillside ‘like @ hippo- [otamus that hes gone berserk” On another occasion Gort and the future Foreign Secretary Alired von Kidelen- Wier ‘id the Siamese twins for Wilhelm by tying themselves together with a lrgestusage.* For the hunt st Liebenberg in #892, Georg von Hulsen proposed to Gortz YYournust be panded by mess cies poole! ~ That willbe hi ke uti ie Jot hike shed hn ot lang bang out af Hack ewe wool at {chuck uncer genuine pedi ala mated rectal opening and, when 300 be’ ‘rae lent Jo thik hw’ worl when you tary how oman shot off & Fislordoather ick Tessin spendin mind's ee Tan sendy ce FEM igh mith we Tam apping self with rea lsh co this Wook i Seder to forget that ny lve ster the dares tag Fave on earth ahi frome eying Breau] fe lice the clown in Kraus pure ‘Behind he ‘Stoned Nomar! HLM tal sis Im i908, Georg von Hulsen’s brother Detrich ~ the head ofthe Military {Cabinet —died of a heart attack at Donaueschingen while dancing forthe aiser in large fenther hat and arcu. ‘Our eailogue ofthe Kaiser's peculiarities has so far produced 2 highly ‘unedifping portrait, one which is Sar removed from the picture painted by most of his biographers, Bur was allthis perhaps only a fade? Was theres ‘behind this hard fearsome exterior, # softer nicer Wilhelm, as Rathenas— Kaine Wiel 1: wine cise for testes? ” fr one ~ supposed?” To discover the answer we shall have to delvea litle sore deply into his private le. Ar frat glance there seems itl wo relate, Prior whi acetsion throughout his long reign and also chereater, Wilhelm was praised as paragon of ‘ert virtua, ss the embodiment of “Germaa’ of *Christian* morality ‘His biographers have agreed, Michael Balfour, for example, writes tat the Kalserin “represented a point of sabilty in his restles Ife’, that she manage to increase her bold over him "by her ability to sais hi sexual appetites, and that “the complete lck of worthwhile evidence of his ever bbving been unfaithful is certainly remarkable when one considers how ‘many people would ave liked to catch him erring’ ‘Buti asthe French says more lke @ novel than a novel is ke ie Within a year of his mariage in February 1881, Wilhelm wrote « leter “guiteofclally,withour disguising his handwetng’ roa well-known Vien ese procures by the mae of Frau Wolf. Through her good offices he made ‘the acquaintance of Ela Somsics (or Sommsscs) an Austrian gil who came to live in the Linkstrasse in Belin, where the prince visited her ‘very ‘requently" over a number of yeas. Ia October 1887, when his Father lay dying of cancer, Piace Wilhelm tavelled to hunt in Austris and Ell Somsics followed with a fiend ealed Anna (or Marie) Homolatsch. The three young people met in the village of Miastg, frst in the Catholic ‘cemetery and then atthe only ina. But since Wilhelm was unwilling to pay the worn thelr rll ae, they departed in anger ~ though only after Ela ‘nad stolen Wilhsin’s mosogeemmed culT-links adorned with the Prussian ‘crown, t6 dspiy them in trump around Vienna. After several urgent pleas fom Wilhelm, lla and Anna eventually joined him in Fisener, atthe ‘Gasthaue zum Konig von Sachsen” A policeman was on the point of sending them avay when one of Prince Wilheim’s servants appeared and explained thatthe ladies were or hismaste. Whea the Pence jined hem both in one room inthe middle of the night the noise was so great that the other guests were awakened. By an extravedinary stoke of good fortune, a Viennese archivist recently disenvered a eter fim Cxbwn Prince Rudelf which gives fal description of Prince Will's pillow tak with Ell Somsis and Anna Homlatich, According to Rul’ eter othe Austian military attaché, Wilhelm spoke not very respectful of ou Keser (Prana Josep very dimen about Ie, hkening me this ater a aconcrited poplar neker and ew alance thou character, witout at etc ee Then Rea things ere Well Sain Pasi im Aus the ee ste Wa etn, close 10 dsaucon. Wouldsf "The Kalter and his Cour apes would come angie Archdukedom nt a poston more depend (ton Prva tans Barn, The Kaiser f Aus a, fhe so ses, coat i fess eigalane monarch in Hungary. He ad, moreover hat eid 0 ‘not with yw wereall lesan people, but ween panes and gourmand no Tonge fer ie. Ta pli heen sch thing as sympths, Histask wl eto {lusge Geary a or expense. Alter had aed hs grader andeven re Filed colon nthe sor cyical may abou he paents ands wile, be {lod thie enchanting conversion wit se oules females. [cul not wite verti down [aid RUG, Iu oly recount ei (Bat Twas non he CCeresinly there ste sign here ofa softer, nicer Withelms ony the same ‘elf-satisGod malicious cone which wns apparent the Jeter, speeches and ‘marginal comments which we already know. ‘Whatever plemure Wilhelm gor out of such risky eeapades must have seemed even ess worthwhile when the women involved began to blackmail fim. Nine months after her memorable night in the "Kénig von Sachsen’, ‘Anna Homolstech gave birth wo a daughter and claimed thatthe eild was Withcim’s. In the end a substantial sum of money was paid over by. ‘Wilhein’s private correspondence secretary, Privy Councillor Miessner."* ‘Another woman, whose professional name was Miss Love, aso had a daughter by Wilhelm and was similarly silenced by the expedient of ‘handing over money * Oneof the women with whom Wilhelm was involved {nthe mid 1880 accidentally left ive of his Ietersin the ae ofthe Persian Legation in Berlin, where she worked fora time. In 1936, incredibly, these letters were discovered in Teheran, and facsimiles of some of them were ‘Published ins popular German magazin. In one of them he wrote: ‘Chére Comtesse, you bave ined ficult ie behind you. Oh ma cher adore, how great are you im my csimatil You stctfced your love out of patriotism! That is magnificent! You refused your former husband every~ thing, would you refuse me, adore, everything to, if we should one day Be together? If [kel before sou and begged?" ‘After his accession 10 the throne in 1888, the risk involved in such sedventures became too great for Wilhelm. He did continue 0 fire with twomen he found siraciv, especialy an his journeys away frm Berlin Eulenburg was shocked, for eximple, when, on ons North Sea cris, the ‘Kaiser kisted the hand of «certain Mrs Gould from New York ~ especially ‘when it emerged tht the lady had once earned her living by lying on her ‘back ns nightclub and ring of les with her big tee "What woul. the ‘German sy ihe were to learn ofthat”, asked Eulenburg nhorroe 9” But ‘despite al the rumours to the contrat it would appear that Wilhelm did ‘ot dare enter into any more love-affis afer 1888. ‘One wonders, however, what such sf-estraint may have cost the Kaiser. “The indications are that, spite his very active seein the 18808, his Kaine Wiel I: sutabie cae fr weatment? » atttude towards women was ambivalent throughout hs lf. Wilhelm once ‘wmte in English of his dislike of the women of Berlin who talked only of ‘othe ad lovers. T hope thar you know me well enough to know that [am # serious enemy of such kind of ladies, who want tobe fied with. T chink tha is something beneath areal man and gentleman, especially think ‘beneath myself, don't you think so 10028 Thar was ia 1879, when he was sweny. Thiety-ihree years later, in @ leer to a young English ody, be ‘expressed the view that “women Were to mary, love their husbands have Joe of babies, Bring them up wellcook well and make thet husbands home ‘comfy for them’ © He was clearly fascinated and a thesame time somewhat Slarmed a the evidently rather advanced iets of his young correspondent on fre love: "hve aloo tank you fr a ery long eter. which ead through seer nes twas moe interesting Tt contsined mac information sou he opin and ont oe inser Enh gt ch ee el (ew © me them cee ably co marry we coc ant. Twe ey moc aprned at thcway of thinking, and mast gre wth owen, When yous thar hae Dot eigen, of what pts thnk fey they we ete todo? Tom, er (what Tread cht Ta tolls and sayin wat of experience English i "ata events | fancy tha thal new of Me end actions springing rr wl ‘iainiy lead to very apie seveuprcns and cause much dass ahd Allin all, the new evidence on Kaiser Wilheim’s relationships with women, though demonstrating that he was fr more “he ave of his sexual Ares" than contemporary admiters and later biographers imagined, fers few clues to the causes of his agitated resessness and his savage ‘anger. Iranything, we only see ere once again that his “ndividality’ wat Stronger than experience. No, Wilhelm seems to have found his point of ‘pose not in the compan of women in the Linkrraste or in Eisner, but mong hir regimental comrades and even moreso inthe soled ‘Lieben- beng Circe led by Count Philipp 2u Fulenburg. "Tnever fee! happy really happy at Beri’ he wrote in his iiospncratic English. ‘Only Possum that is mye dorado... where one feels free with the besutiful nature around you and solders 25 much as you lik, for T love my dear Regimeat very ‘mich, those such kind aie Young men ia it”? In his regiment, a6 he ‘confided to Eulenburg, he found his fay, his frends, his interests — ‘everything which he had previously missed. Over were the terrible yeas in ‘which no-one understood my individuality.” On his accession, Willi ‘vas able to appoint many of hs former regimental comrades as adjutant ‘And with them he could indulge his “disturbing bent for the obscene" trent every comples political issse as + straightoreard ‘purely military20 TheKaiserandhis Court ‘avestion’, and receive enthusiastic encouragement in his absoluist, ‘Sevings. Bismarck remarked in his memois on Wilhelm's preference for “all chaps’ sch ashis ancestor the Sergeant King ha liked to have around him.” Ealenburg, who knew fot abou such things, once sighed thatthe ‘adjutans~and in particular a certain eye’ had “unfortunately become 2 prblem in thar ont right nthe life of our dese master" Ii indeed ‘iturbing to reflect thatthe general who took Geemany and Europe into the Armageddon of 1914 not infrequently owed their carer tothe Kaiser's ‘dmirtion for their height and good looks in their splendid uniforms “The voluminous political correspondence of Pili Eulenburg eaves no scope for doubt that he (Eulenburg) and the other members ofthe influen- til ‘Licbenberg Circe’ who in the 1890s stood atthe Yery centre of the politcal stage ia the Kaiser's Germany were indeed homosexual, as thet estoyer, Maximilian Harden, believed.” This of course ruses the {question of where to place the Kaiser on the “beterosexusl-homosexval ‘Sontinuum’. fhe ever did have anything appreachinga homosexual exper- ‘ence it almost certainly eccurred inthe mid+1 8s, in the same period, tat {sya his numerous extre-marital affair with women. Afer interviewing Jikob Emet, the Starnberg fsherman whose testimony in 1908 damaged ulenburps care ireparably, Maximilian Harden became convinced that tne wat ia portion of evidence which, if laid before the Kaiser, would suifce to cause him to abdicate. What information Harden received fom Jakob Ernst, we can only guess at. In several letters writen at this ime, Harden linked Wilhelm 1! not oaly with Jakob Ernst but ao with Eulen- burg’ private secretary, Karl Kise.” But these are only staws in the vind, net pool. On the evidence presently availble tows 5 probably Grser to atime, as Isabel Hull has written, that Wilhelm remained ‘unconscious ofthe homoerotic bass of his friendship with Bulenburg ané thus aed to recognise the homosexsal aspects of his own character.” Tm the late 19708 and early 1980, this interpretation of Wibelm IL a « repressed homesexual seemed for «time to be gathering supports the Balenburg corespondence and similar new evidence war being evaluated Itisow becoming clear, however, that no matter how much it might help tus to explain sme of bis character traits — his restlessness, hs friendship, his love of cileish games of rings and bracelets, of dressing up in all-male ‘company, perhaps even the sftass of his skin and hair, which made such fan impression on Rathenaa® repressed homosexuality was not the funde ‘mental fact of Withele’s Ife. "The disturbance lay deeper, at & more ‘primitive level This becomes clear when we examine the fears concerning ‘his mental tate shared by his fay is riends and those who worked most closely with hi Keiser Wilhelm Ta suitable case for weatmen? * ‘The constant worries of Withelm’s parents throughout his childhood about his health were significantly strengthened in 1878 when is right ea not only became chronically infected, but worrying growths and supporating ‘ischarges were detected inthe inner ear. The doctors warned explicitly {hat ‘the position ofthe infection in the depshs ofthe head, separated fom ‘he brain only by ano very thick wal of Bane and] the ctectelaionship that exists between the deeper part of the ear andthe brain... ould well lead wa rapid spreading ofthe infection into the brain"! "rom this tne on, numerous mecical authorities Warned that Wilhelm ‘was not and never would bes normal man’s that ‘he would always be subject to sudden accesses of anger and would, at such times, be “quite Incapableof forming a reasonable or temperate udgmen’, and that, though he would probaly not become clinically insane ‘same of his ations would probably be those of a man not shelly sane’. They expressly warned that ‘Withsin’s accemion tthe throne could bes danger to Europe’ Tn very similar vein Sir Felix Semen, the German-born throat specialist wosking in London, characterised ‘the restlessness of the present Kaiser as the pre- cisely definable ist stage of a psychiatric condition, but one which in the beginning should be considered end treated from the physiological rather than from the psychological standpoint In 1895 a diplomat athe British Enbass in dhe German capital reported to Lord Salisbury that thee were ‘curios rumours going about Beilin as tothe Emperors heath’. Tr would indeed be a serious matter, he wrote, “if a Sovereign who possesses @ dominant voice in the Frsign policy of the Empire is subject 10 balluc- nations and influences which mus inthe long tem warp his jadgmeat, and render Him lable at any memeat to sudden changes of opinion which no-one can anticipate o provide against ** ‘Lond Salisbury, who was informed in 1887 and 1888 of the doctors? worries, repeatedly exprescd the fear thatthe Kaiser was ‘got quite nor- mmal.® A later British Prime Minister, Asquith, sad in 1912, after reading she epor ofa strange conversion between the Kaiser and Prince Louis of Rareenberg: ‘One is almost tempted to disce in some of the things he [Witheim 11 sid to Prince Louis the workings of disordered brain; but (even if that were So) they ate none the less dangerous. The liberal Foreign Secretary ir Edward Grey also expressed the view that che Kaiser was “aot quite sae, and very superficial The German emperor reminded ‘him, Grey sa of' atleship with steams up and screws going, but with n0 rudder’, and he warned that che Kaiser could well cause catastrophe’ some dy." Tm the spring of 1892 the French Foreign Ministry also came tothe conclusion, nthe basis of repors it had recived from Berlin, that “the ‘German Kaiser mortally il an temporarily of unsound min? Ache