Research On Kaiser Wilhelm II

From the famous "Fischer controversy" till today,the German Empire and its last monarch have become the ideal theme of the enquiries and researches of the so-called "continuity in German history".Many German and western scholars have repeatedly questioned,what kind of ideological and systematic links are exactly there between the Nazi movement on one side,and the customs and structures left behind by German Empire,especially Kaiser WilhelmⅡ,the acknowledged personal symbol of the mid-late Empire on the other side? This article pays attention to this continuity in German history similarly,however,from the reverse direction,points out that Germany in the era of WilhelmⅡwas a complex unit,which served not only as the extension of the Prussian tradition,but also as the most centralized and latest independent development of the whole German tradition.Any polar interpretative structure which overemphasized the Nazi-evil spirit too much can never be sufficient to explain its richness and complexity.Based on important recent achievements of foreign academia,this article uses the "psychological-political history" research method to analyze the physiological and psychological traits and ruling ideals of WilhelmⅡ,hereby demonstrates the tangible impacts which the Kaiser had made in a specific power mechanism and environment,so as to make clear the place of WilhelmⅡin the German political life at that time and even in the whole German history.The text can be divided into 3 chapters.The first chapter simply looks back upon the bad luck of the difficult birth,family relations and growth process of WilhelmⅡ,analyzes his physiological and psychological traits and finally points out the formation and the content of his political ideas.The second chapter pays attention to the domestic policies pursed by WilhelmⅡ.Firstly It gives a brief analysis on how was power distributed within imperial Germany,then,in detail, describes the subjective or objective impacts which the Kaiser had made upon the democratization and socialization process of Germany through two dimensions,namely the changes of power structure and the process of social legislation.On one side,from his accession to 1897 WilhelmⅡhad established the so-called "personal rule" with the help of his belligerent entourages at the cost of Reich chancellor;from that time to 1908 was the period of the Kaiser's "personal rule",while with its downfall,the Kaiser withdrew gradually from the political onstage after 1908,and the polycracy factors such as the responsible government,the Reichstag and the public opinion had obtained unprecedented strength.On the other hand,under the Kaiser's direct support or implied consent,the social legislation had experienced a durative progress for more than 20 years,which in addition to the deepening of financial assistance had also marked the actual beginning of labor-capital relationship reform in Germany,with the first intervention of the state into labor relations and the enthusiasm increases of the organized workers to protect their own legal right.The third chapter discusses WilhelmⅡ's foreign policies.It points out the one-sidedness of the "social imperialism" viewpoint and emphatically stresses that the Kaiser's starting point of his international political ideas was the normal national interests and national glories,which was totally different from that of the Nazis.Based on the historical process,this chapter firstly points out that from Bismarck's forced resignation to around 1897 WilhelmⅡhad pursed or tacitly approved pro-British policies,but when the British manner was always ambiguous,impelled by his dual personalities and political ideas,the Kaiser began to adopt a method of challenging the British benefits to prove the alliance value of Germany;secondly,after the failure of Anglo-German alliance negotiations at the turn of the century,Anglophobic German elites represented by chancellor Bülow had made use of the Kaiser's "forced alliance" views,while Bülow's suspicious and changeable character and his lacking of foresight made himself the chief culprit for the international isolation of Germany;finally,the Kaiser had after Bülow's fall out of power for many times supported Bethmann to adopt a more moderate standpoint in international crises,even delayed the navy construction.However,in the sudden new crisis,the german military's strong standpoint and the strong will of France and Russia to change the present status still promoted the unfortunate breakout of the Great War.The conclusion refers to the relation between the Empire's difficult political problems and the Kaiser's policy space,replies to the debate between the "personal rule" and "shadow emperor", and gives the author's own answer to the Kaiser's place in German history.WilhelmⅡ's ruling practices had pushed forward the industrialization,social class harmony and cultural prosperousness of Germany,had objectively helped strengthening of the Reichstag,and had as a result established the ideological,organizational and systematic foundation of Weimar Republic.If not for the tragedy of the Great War,the legacy of WilhelmⅡwas open and had no necessary connection with the Nazism.