The contradictions were so numerous and startling that before Wilhelm had spent two years on the throne, people wondered if he were quite sane.” Enormously energetic and ambitious, he proved utterly unable to work hard. Fascinated by the latest technology, thoroughly at home in a fast-moving modern world, Wilhelm clung to medieval notions of divine right. Endowed with high intelligence and an excellent memory, he was capable of the most crashing stupidities. The caricature of the sabre-rattling warrior, he broke down when war actually began. “Kaiser Wilhelm II was a bafflingly complex person. Whoever tries to interfere with my task, I shall crush.” And I believe, as it is written in the Bible, that it is my duty to increase this heritage, for which one day I shall be called upon to give an account. “I look upon the people and the nation, as handed on to me, as a responsibility conferred upon me by God. “The coming of the wireless era will make war impossible because it will make war ridiculous.” It may not take place now but it will probably take place in one or two years.” “ racial war, a war of Slavdom against Germandom… with the Anglo-Saxons with whom we are related by common ancestry, religion and civilisation building… The racial struggle cannot be avoided. “I see myself as an instrument of the Almighty and go on my way, regardless of transient opinions and views.” Where would our country be in case of attack? We should be starving in three weeks, if the supply of food should not come in.” We require annually at least 33 million quarters of wheat … and we only grow seven quarters ourselves. “The first and foremost reason why we should have a supreme Navy is our island home our food supply. ![]() Wilhelm II, interviewed by the Daily Telegraph, 1908 I regard this as a personal insult… You make it uncommonly difficult for a man to remain friendly to England.” “You English are like mad bulls… you see red everywhere! What on earth has come over you, to heap on us such suspicion as is unworthy of a great nation. It is now my task to see to it that this place in the sun shall remain our undisputed possession.” “Despite not having the fleet we should have, we have conquered for ourselves a place in the sun. If that were to happen, the place of Germany as a world power would be gone forever. “I am not a man who believes that we Germans bled and conquered thirty years ago pushed aside when great international decisions are made. “It is the soldier and the army, not parliamentary majorities and decisions, that have welded the German Empire together. “Called to the throne of my fathers, I have taken over the government, looking to the King of all kings, and have vowed to God, following the example of my father, to be a righteous and gentle prince, to foster piety and the fear of God, to maintain peace, to further the welfare of the country, to be a help to the poor and oppressed, and to be to the righteous man a true protector.”īritish Navy League slogan, calling for eight Dreadnoughts, 1889 German society owed its willingness to discriminate against minorities… And German capitalism, despite its rapid flowering, served only the interests of employers’ groups, industrialists and agrarian interests.” German foreign policy owed its restless dynamic to the influence of a militarist spirit and the moral neutrality of Realpolitik. “Germany’s domestic politics owed its immaturity to Bismarck’s ‘dictatorial’ determination to prevent the growth of democratic institutions. “All treaties between great states cease to be binding when they come in conflict with the struggle for existence.” “Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.” Otto von Bismarck, German statesman, 1888 “The next great European war will probably come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” If you would like to suggest a quotation, please contact us. We will update this page with new quotes from time to time. They feature statements from contemporary figures, political leaders, military commanders, service personnel, anti-war campaigners and historians of World War I. ![]() These World War I quotations about the failure of diplomacy in 1914 have been compiled by Alpha History authors.
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