Kaiser Wilhelm II Flashcards
what year did kaiser wilhelm become kaiser
1888
who became the biggest party in Germany by 1912
the social democratic party (spd)
roles of the kaiser
head of the armed forces
controlled foreign policies
appointed chancellor
when did the kaiser abdicate
november 1918
how many industrial workers in germany by 1910
10.8 million
why were german workers angry with the kaiser
lived and worked in poor conditions in industrial towns
what impact did growing numbers of voters for the spd have on the kaiser
the more seats the spd had in the Reichstag the harder it became to pass laws
why were the naval laws put in place
Wilhelm fiercely competitive with uk and wanted expand german empire
why did he hate english docotrs
shaken by English doctor as a baby so his left arm didn’t work properly, blamed them
also balmed english doctors for his father’s death
when did germany start producing equal coal to UK
how was this made possible
1913, more iron and steel too
through industrialisation
why did Wilhelm believe his mother was anti-german
she would tell him what a backwards country it was so he would reform it
what did wilhelm’s german teachers tell him
what impact did this have
that he should rule alone and reform germnay
made him arrogant- would sack ministers just because he didn’t like them
what does ‘weltpolitik’ mean
‘world policy’
build german empire
socialism
the idea that power and wealth should be shared equally among the people
what did many socialists hope the kaiser would do
share some of his power
allow the Reichstag to make more social reforms or laws to improve workers’ rights and conditions
