Kaiser Wilhelm II

• Keen to maintain a powerful army and build up a large navy.
• Took great pride in leading the army and was very interested in military tactics.
• Spent most of his youth in the army.
• Militarism - the belief that a country should have strong armed forces was important to Prussia.
• Prussian generals, army officers, and tactics formed the basis of the new united Germany.
• Wanted Germany to be a global power and have an empire to rival Britain’s. This idea was called Weltpolitik - “world policy”.