Kaiser Wilhelm and difficulties ruling Germany Flashcards
Kaiser Wilhelm II description
. grandson of Queen Victoria due to one English Mum and one German Dad
. left arm injured and bad balance mechanism partially disabled
. he was interested in the military from an early age.
.He wasn’t prepared for the role as Kaiser
.he was erratic and sensitive to criticism and couldn’t be taught
. he liked to do things alone and was prone to rage spells
. he was unpredictable unbelievable and unsuitable (3 U’s)
. lazy and an interest in government
. believed in the divine right power from God.
The political system under the Kaiser
The Kaiser was at the top of the system and it was hereditary for life
under the Kaiser. there was the government, imperial Parliament and the army
the imperial parliament was made up with the Bundesrat (which was made up of state representatives and supported the Kaiser it made the laws members were chosen by state governments .) and the reichstag (which was a debating chamber with some control of a finance and could only aprove laws it was elected by men 25+)
Under the government was chancellors and ministers
Kaiser’s role in power
leader of Germany and commanding chief could dismiss the chancellor minister and Reichstag. He could dissolve the reichstag which he did in 1906. He had power of the army. His only weakness was that he couldn’t create any laws. He had a very high amount of power.
The chancellors role in power
The chancellor was selected by the Kaiser and could be removed from power by him. any laws that they wanted to be put through had to get approval from the reichstag and the role had a very limited amount of power overall .
Reichstag role in power
they have power over the chancellor and could overrule some of the Kaisers decisions and could possibly influence the Kaiser. The SDP was the largest party in 1914. The weaknesses was that they couldn’t create any laws and couldn’t sack the chancellor. 
The conservative elite
they were dominant in politics. They pushed expansion of the arm and navy they could put pressure on the chancellor to force his decisions. The weaknesses was the opposition which was the socialist movement (SDP) which had 28% of the vote.
Budgetary crisis
The reichstag United to vote against the government 1906 budget the Kaiser was angry at this and used his constitutional power to dissolve the reichstag and call the new election in 1907 .
The daily Telegraph affair 1908
The Kaiser made anti-British comments which were then reported in the daily Telegraph causing tension between Germany and Britain. The Kaiser had to go before the reichstag and agreed that he would not act in this way again showing how the reichstag was able to influence his actions, however, the Chancellor was sacked shortly after this as the kaiser was upset that he was too supportive of the reichstag.
The conservative elite
The conservative elite were dominant in German politics they push for the growth of the army navy and Empire and quite often succeeded in pressuring the chancellor into putting him forward policies like the Navy bill in 1906.
The vote of no confidence in Bethmann 1913
in 1913 there was a vote of no confidence action against the chancellor despite him losing a vote or no confidence. however they did not have the power to force him to resign therefore he stayed Chancellor highlighting the limited power of the reichstag
