Wilhelm II
Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941

Final volume in acclaimed biography of Wilhelm II exploring his role in the origins of the First World War.

John C. G. Röhl (Author), Sheila de Bellaigue (Translated by), Roy Bridge (Translated by)

9781107544192, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 March 2017

1570 pages, 71 b/w illus.
24.8 x 17.4 x 5.9 cm, 2.47 kg

'Scholars of the period owe a great debt to Röhl. Whether, in the final analysis, one agrees with his reading of Wilhelm, Röhl has redirected attention to the importance of human agency in history. In tandem, he has also liberated his subject both from being a caricature, a cardboard cutout knave, and from the less-than-benign neglect of those with structuralist predilections.' T. G. Otte, The Journal of Modern History

This final volume of John Röhl's acclaimed biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II reveals the Kaiser's central role in the origins of the First World War. The book examines the Kaiser's part in the Boer War, the Russo-Japanese War, the naval arms race with Britain and Germany's rivalry with the United States as well as in the crises over Morocco, Bosnia and Agadir. It also sheds new light on the public scandals which accompanied his reign from the allegations of homosexuality made against his intimate friends to the Daily Telegraph Affair. Above all, John Röhl scrutinises the mounting tension between Germany and Britain and the increasing pressure the Kaiser exerted on his Austro-Hungarian ally from 1912 onwards to resolve the Serbian problem. Following Germany's defeat and Wilhelm's enforced abdication, he charts the Kaiser's bitter experience of exile in Holland and his frustrated hopes that Hitler would restore him to the throne.

1. Death and transfiguration
2. The Kaiser and England during the Boer War
3. 'I am the balance of power in Europe': Wilhelm between Britain, Russia and France
4. The Boxer Rebellion and the Baghdad Railway
5. The shabby compromise: Wilhelm II and Bülow's Chancellorship
6. Wilhelm II and the Germans, 1900–1904
7. 'We two make history and destiny is in our hands!' Kaiser and Tsar on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War
8. The Anglo-German antagonism: the Kaiser, the King and public opinion
9. The Kaiser and America
10. Uncle and nephew: Edward VII and the 'encirclement' of Germany
11. East Asia in flames: the Russo-Japanese War and its consequences
12. Operational plans for a war in Western Europe
13. 'Paris must get one in the eye from us one day!' The Kaiser and the First Morocco Crisis
14. 'A turning point in the history of Europe', or the fiasco of Björkö
15. Balance of power or hegemony? The Anglo-German conflict and the quarrel with King Edward
16. Humiliation in Algeciras
17. 'Encirclement': caught in the web of the Entente
18. Germany's 'Dreadnought Leap': the Kaiser and 'his' navy
19. The zenith of personal monarchy: the Kaiser and the government on the eve of the great crisis
20. 'Kings are only human, after all': scandals at the Hohenzollern court
21. Prince Eulenburg's downfall: the campaign against the Liebenberg 'Camarilla'
22. The Kaiser's visit to Windsor and Highcliffe, November-December 1907
23. The hot summer of 1908: on the verge of war with Britain
24. 'Our Kaiser and his People!' The crisis of Wilhelm's personal monarchy
25. Nemesis: Wilhelm II and the Daily Telegraph affair
26. Upheaval in the Balkans: Kaiser Wilhelm and the Bosnian Annexation Crisis of 1908–09
27. The 'pantomime': from Bülow to Bethmann Hollweg
28. Wilhelm and the direction of foreign policy under Bethmann Hollweg
29. The king is dead, or new hopes of an agreement with England
30. Agadir: the leap of the Panther
31. 'The enemy identified': the acceleration of the naval race and the growing menace of war
32. 'Already leader of the United States of Europe'? The Kaiser and the debacle of the Haldane Mission
33. November 1912: the strategic switch from West to East
34. Deterrence: the unresolved problem of Britain's neutrality
35. 'Berlin has warned us off again': the 'postponed racial war against Slavdom'
36. Kaiser and Reich: Wilhelm's Personal Monarchy on the eve of war
37. 'With head held high and hand on hilt!' Preparations for war 1913–14
38. Summer 1914: the decision for war
39. The Kaiser's last Norwegian cruise
40. Confusion in Potsdam: the fear of Britain's involvement
41. Into the abyss: the outbreak of war
42. The Supreme War Lord in the First World War
43. The Kaiser's war aims
44. Downfall: the collapse of the Hohenzollern monarchy
45. The unicorn in winter: a new life in exile
46. 'Blood must flow, much blood': the Kaiser and the 'swinish' Weimar Republic
47. Monarch by the grace of Hitler? Wilhelm II and the Third Reich.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD], Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]