Kaiser Wilhelm II

• What was Germany like before the First World War?

  • Before 1870, there was no such country as Germany
  • Instead, there was a collection of small states that were loosely linked together by a similar culture and language
  • The king of the biggest state, Prussia, wanted to unite all the other German-speaking states together to become more powerful
  • Nearby, France, Austria and Denmark felt threatened by this, and Prussia had to fight a series of wars against them
  • By 1971, the new nation of Germany was formed
  • The King of Prussia became the new German Emperor, the Kaiser
• How was Germany ruled?

  • Prior to the unification of Germany in 1971, Prussia was the most powerful Germanic state
  • Militarism, the belief that a country should have strong armed forces, was important to Prussia, and it had a mighty army equipped with the most advanced weaponry
  • When Germany was unified, Prussian generals, army officers and tactics formed the basis of the new united German army, and the German Kaiser was its supreme commander
• How was Germany ruled? pt.2

  • The Kaiser ruled over all the states in Germany
  • Each state sent representatives (known collectively as the Bundesrat) to consult with the Kaiser over new laws
  • The Kaiser was supported by advisers, or ministers, and the chief minister was called Chancellor
  • There was a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by all men over age 25
  • The Reichstag discussed and voted on the laws that the Kaiser and his ministers drew up
  • The Bundesrat discussed these laws too
  • However, one of the problems faced by the Kaiser's governments was that he could choose to ignore their advice and make all the decisions he wanted to on his own
  • The Kaiser also made all decisions that related to the army, navy and other foreign countries
• Kaiser Wilhelm II

  • In 1888, Wilhelm became Kaiser
  • He was the grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria and the cousin of Britain's future king, George V
  • When he became Kaiser, Britain was the world's most powerful country; it had the largest empire, and dominated world trade
  • Britain also had a navy that was twice the size of its two closest rivals added together
  • Wilhelm dreamed of making Germany as powerful as Britain, and began by building up Germany's industry
  • This process is called industrialisation
  • Supported by rich, powerful German businessmen, Wilhelm's desires came true, and by 1913, Germany was producing more iron and steel and as much coal as Britain
  • In industries such as electrical goods and chemicals, German companies dominated Europe
• German industry

  • The success of German industry had made many landowners, business and factory owners very rich
  • These people, along with noble army officers, were a powerful force in Germany at this time and had much influence with the Kaiser
  • They were keen to preserve their positions of influence, but things were changing
  • Many workers in the new factories, mines and workshops were unhappy because their wages were low, working conditions were poor, and food was expensive
  • More and more working class people joined trade unions and organised strikes in the hope that this might force the Kaiser, his advisers and the politicians in the Reichstag to try to improve their conditions
• The growth of socialism

  • Many German workers voted for a new political party called the Social Democratic Party
  • They believed in socialism - the idea that power and wealth should be shared equally among the people
  • The Social Democrats hoped that the Kaiser might share some of his power, and allow the Reichstag to make more social reforms or laws to improve workers' rights and conditions
  • Around one in three Germans voted for this political party at this time
  • There were some socialists who took a more extreme view: they wanted to rebel against the Kaiser's rule, start a revolution, take over the country, and allow cities and towns to be governed by councils of workers
  • The rise in popularity of socialism is one of the major events in Germany at this time - and was potentially a major problem for the government
• The German Empire

  • Around this time, many of the larger European countries (such as France, Britain and Portugal) had extensive overseas empires
  • The Kaiser decided that Germany should have an empire abroad too
  • He wanted to transform Germany into a global power with control over countries in different parts of the world
  • This idea was known as Weltpolitik, meaning 'world policy'
  • In the late 1800s, Germany began to do what many other European countries were doing - they took over other nations, most notably in Africa
• Protecting the new empire

  • The Kaiser wanted a large navy of powerful battleships for several reasons
  • He thought it would help Germany take over more countries and protect the countries already in the German Empire
  • He was a very militaristic man who wanted the German navy to rival Britain's vast navy
  • A series of Naval Laws, introduced between 1898 and 1912, saw the German navy rapidly increase in size, and huge sums of money were spent to achieve this
  • The Kaiser expanded the size of the German army too
  • Taxes were raised and money was borrowed to pay for this - and Germany would remain in debt for a very long time