Kaiser

History of the Kaiser Battle

The following commentary about Kaiser Battle in the Churchill Era is produced by the Churchill College (Cambridge): The name given by the Germans to the Spring Offensive launched in March 1918.

History of the Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941)

The following commentary about Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) in the Churchill Era is produced by the Churchill College (Cambridge): German Emperor (Kaiser) from 1888 – 1918.

Wilhelm had a strong love-hate relationship with Britain, epitomised by his difficult relations with his British relatives (he was first cousin to Britain's King George V). After sacking the German Chancellor, Prince Otto von Bismarck in 1890 he was increasingly taken up with ambitious policies to push Germany to international prominence and especially to challenge the position of Great Britain. He supported the Boers in the Boer War and challenged the French and British in the Moroccan crisis, 1905 and again in the Agadir crisis, 1911. He enthusiastically supported Tirpitz's policy of naval expansion, though he adopted a more moderate tone when the war crisis of 1914 actually struck. He was not an inspiring war leader, and his reputation suffered badly from Germany's defeat in 1918, when he was forced to abdicate and flee to exile in Holland. Although German nationalists after 1918 often regretted the loss of the monarchy, neither they nor the Nazis particularly wanted him back, and he died in exile in Holland in 1941.