Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- Reflections on John Röhl: a Laudatio
- 1 Wilhelm II and ‘his’ navy, 1888–1918
- 2 Hollow-sounding jubilees: forms and effects of public self-display in Wilhelmine Germany
- 3 The Kaiser's elite? Wilhelm II and the Berlin administration, 1890–1914
- 4 Wilhelm, Waldersee, and the Boxer Rebellion
- 5 Dreams of a German Europe: Wilhelm II and the Treaty of Björkö of 1905
- 6 The uses of ‘friendship’. The ‘personal regime’ of Wilhelm II and Theodore Roosevelt, 1901–1909
- 7 Military diplomacy in a military monarchy? Wilhelm II's relations with the British service attachés in Berlin, 1903–1914
- 8 Wilhelm II as supreme warlord in the First World War
- 9 Germany's ‘last card’. Wilhelm II and the decision in favour of unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917
- 10 Military culture, Wilhelm II, and the end of the monarchy in the First World War
- 11 Rathenau, Wilhelm II, and the perception of Wilhelminismus
- 12 Structure and agency in Wilhelmine Germany: the history of the German Empire – past, present, and future
- Index
7 - Military diplomacy in a military monarchy? Wilhelm II's relations with the British service attachés in Berlin, 1903–1914
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- Reflections on John Röhl: a Laudatio
- 1 Wilhelm II and ‘his’ navy, 1888–1918
- 2 Hollow-sounding jubilees: forms and effects of public self-display in Wilhelmine Germany
- 3 The Kaiser's elite? Wilhelm II and the Berlin administration, 1890–1914
- 4 Wilhelm, Waldersee, and the Boxer Rebellion
- 5 Dreams of a German Europe: Wilhelm II and the Treaty of Björkö of 1905
- 6 The uses of ‘friendship’. The ‘personal regime’ of Wilhelm II and Theodore Roosevelt, 1901–1909
- 7 Military diplomacy in a military monarchy? Wilhelm II's relations with the British service attachés in Berlin, 1903–1914
- 8 Wilhelm II as supreme warlord in the First World War
- 9 Germany's ‘last card’. Wilhelm II and the decision in favour of unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917
- 10 Military culture, Wilhelm II, and the end of the monarchy in the First World War
- 11 Rathenau, Wilhelm II, and the perception of Wilhelminismus
- 12 Structure and agency in Wilhelmine Germany: the history of the German Empire – past, present, and future
- Index
Summary
That Kaiser Wilhelm II revelled in the paraphernalia of military life is a matter of historical record. His fondness for uniforms, medals, and decorations; his delight in parades, marches, and army ceremonies; and his enthusiasm for the grand spectacle of the annual manoeuvres, and especially for the grand cavalry charges that occurred there, are all well documented. Equally well known is that he liked the company of Prussian officers and included many such persons within his immediate entourage, much to the irritation of the Reich's civilian politicians who found themselves constantly displaced from the centre of governance by the presence of these martial interlopers. Indeed, so great was the magnitude of the Kaiser's preference for military men over ministers that some officials feared that Wilhelm intended to dispense entirely with his civilian advisors, replacing them with those of his soldierly companions whom he found most congenial, namely his aides-de-camp. One such fearful individual was the senior Foreign Office counsellor, Friedrich von Holstein. As he vehemently complained: ‘Internal conditions, especially at court, are less pleasant. The … aides-de-camp are becoming more and more an organized secondary Government.’
While it was undoubtedly members of the German central administration who suffered most from this situation, the danger of being marginalized by the presence of military men at the German court was, nevertheless, not a problem that was faced exclusively by Reich officials.
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- Information
- The KaiserNew Research on Wilhelm II's Role in Imperial Germany, pp. 176 - 194Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003