Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II
$64.00
USDKaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941) ruled Imperial Germany from his accession in 1888 to his enforced abdication in 1918 at the end of the First World War. This book, based on a wealth of previously unpublished archival material, provides the most detailed account ever written of the first half of his reign. Following on from the author's highly acclaimed Young Wilhelm (1998), the volume demonstrates the monarch's dynastic arrogance and the wounding abuse he showered on his own people as, step by step, he built up his personal power. His thirst for glory, his overweening nationalism and militarism, and his passion for the navy provided the impetus for a breathtaking long-term goal: the transformation of the German Reich into the foremost power in the world. Soon the predictable consequences - constitutional crisis at home and diplomatic isolation abroad - began to make their alarming appearance.
- A further volume in John C. G. Röhl's life of Kaiser Wilhem II, one of the supreme biographical undertakings of modern times
- Based on a superabundance of new archival evidence, much of it unexamined by any other scholar
- The three volumes have transformed the perceptions of historians and the general public of the Imperial period in Germany
Reviews & endorsements
"[Röhl's] scholarship is profound and beyond reproach."
- Times Literary Supplement
"...This authoritative tome based on more than 20 years of scholarly research represents the second installment of Röhl's meticulously detailed biography of Germanyas Kaiser Wilhelm II. Highly recommended."
- Choice, June 2005
"...truly an extraordinary accomplishment, one representing the capstone of a lifetime of research and thinking about Wilhelm II and Germany."
- H-German, Kelly McFall, Newman University
Product details
September 2017Paperback
9781107565951
1306 pages
247 × 173 × 53 mm
2.59kg
55 b/w illus. 1 map
Temporarily unavailable - available from TBC
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Table of Contents
- Preface to the English edition
- Preface to the German edition
- 1. The accession
- 2. The first state visits
- 3. The Kaiser and his mother
- 4. An ominous family quarrel
- 5. The young Kaiser: a sketch drawn from nature
- 6. First steps in foreign affairs
- 7. The pillars of imperial power
- 8. The domination of the Bismarcks
- 9. The Bismarck crisis begins
- 10. The Kaiser, the Chancellor and the Kartell
- 11. Constitutional conflicts
- 12. Bismarck's fall from power
- 13. The haphazard transition: from the Bismarcks to the New Course
- 14. In Bismarck's footsteps: the conduct of foreign policy under the New Course
- 15. The dualism of power
- 16. The fall of the Court Generals
- 17. The School Bill crisis and the fragmentation of power
- 18. Dynastic diplomacy
- 19. The rude awakening
- 20. The predictable disaster: Wilhelm II and the 'public soul' of Germany
- 21. Caprivi's dismissal
- 22. Head of the family
- 23. The Kaiser and the 'Newest Course'
- 24. An enemy of the people
- 25. Wilhelm and world politics
- 26. Great Britain and the spectre of encirclement
- 27. Endgame: the breakthrough to decisive personal power
- 28. Personal Monarchy: Wilhelm II at the summit of power
- 29. The Kaiser, art and architecture
- 30. The challenge: from continental policy to Weltpolitik
- 31. The Kaiser and England
- 32. Wilhelm and the birth of the German battle fleet
- 33. 'Young Germany, your Kaiser!' or what was wrong with Wilhelm II?
- List of archival sources
- Select bibliography
- Index.
