The Entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1888-1918Cambridge University Press, 2004 M07 8 - 428 pages Kaiser Wilhelm II 91859-1941) is one of the most fascinating figures in modern European history. Inheriting 'the mightiest throne on earth' in 1888, he played a central part in fashioning the policies which culminated in the catastrophe of 1914-18, the collapse of the Reich, and his own abdication. To an extraordinary degree he was also representative of his epoch: brilliant, bizarre, aggressive, insecure. Yet German historians have virtually ignored him. In September 1979 a dozen historians met in the Kaiser's palace in Corfu to discuss the character and role of Wilhelm II. This book contains their findings. The early chapters examine the Kaiser's psychological disturbance which, hidden from the public, often caused those who closely worked with him to doubt his sanity. Next, it is revealed how by virute of the Bismarckian constitution, and with the aid of a small circle of friends, he was able to translate private neurosis into public policy. The later chapters analyse the ideology and image of Kaiserism, discovering mentalities and attitudes which were to survive the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 and play an incalculable part in the undermining of Weimar democracy and the rise of Nazism. The views in this book are fresh and exciting, suggesting new ways in whcih the interrelationship between individuals and society, between personalities and structures, might be interpreted. |
Contents
Wilhelm and his Court | 15 |
Philipp Eulenburg and the Liebenberg Circle | 45 |
Philipp Eulenburg prepares personal regime | 76 |
decline and fall | 109 |
Fürstenberg Ballin and Krupp | 146 |
The military entourage | 175 |
The politics of the military entourage | 208 |
The military entourage and the preventive war | 236 |
The war years | 266 |
its influence and responsibility | 293 |
Notes to the text | 307 |
Bibliography | 382 |
Glossary | 403 |
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Common terms and phrases
Admiral army August Eulenburg BA Koblenz Ballin became Berlin Bernhard Bernhard von Bülow Bethmann burg Cabinet chief Caprivi chancellor Civil Cabinet civilian Court Denkwürdigkeiten Diary entry diplomatic Donaueschingen Emperor Erinnerungen Eulen Eulenburg to Bülow Eulenburg to Wilhelm Eulenburgs Korrespondenz FFA Donaueschingen Fischer Foreign Office Freiburg Friedrich Friedrich von Holstein Fritz Krupp Fürstenberg German Germany's Görtz Graf Hahnke Harden Hauptquartier helm helm's Herbert von Bismarck Hinzpeter Hohenlohe Holstein to Eulenburg homosexuality HStA Stuttgart Hülsen ibid imperial John C. G. Röhl Junkers Kaiser Wilhelm Kaiser Wilhelm II Kaiserreich Karl Karl von Einem Klepsch-Kloth Liebenberg Lucanus Lyncker Marschall Maximilian Harden military attaché military entourage Minister Moltke's monarch MStGO Müller Müller's diary Naval Cabinet navy officer corps Offizierkorps ÖStA Vienna personal regime Philipp Eulenburg Plessen political position Prince Prussian Regierte der Kaiser Reichstag Schwertfeger Senden-Bibran social Tirpitz Treutler Tschirschky Valentini Varnbüler Waldersee Wilhelminian wrote Zedlitz-Trützschler