The Entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1888-1918

by Isabel V. Hull

Overview

This volume analyzes the immediate civilian and military entourage of the last German Kaiser. Its purpose is to lay bare the internal structures which combined to produce the peculiar, and ultimately fatal, decisions taken by Germany's leaders from 1888 to 1918. The declining position of the Prussian nobility and its efforts to save itself, the increasing predominance in high government of the Prussian officer corps and its rigid ethos, the inelasticity of royal bureaucracy, as well as the character of the semi-autocratic Emperor: these cultural and social structures formed an interlocking whole which determined the quality of political leadership and decision making. Isabel Hull's scholarly and carefully argued study dissects the upper level of leadership to discover the reasons behind its self-destructive response to the crisis of modern Germany. It will interest political and social historians, political scientists and sociologists and make fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the problems of modern Germany and its influence on the destiny of Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521533218
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/08/2004
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	428
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.98(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Wilhelm and his court; 3. Philipp Eulenburg and the Liebenberg circle; 4. Philipp Eulenburg prepares 'personal regime'; 5. Philipp Eulenburg: decline and fall; 6. Other civilians: Fürstenberg, Ballin, and Krupp; 7. The military entourage; 8. The politics of the military entourage; 9. The military entourage and the 'preventive war'; 10. The war years; 11. The entourage: its influence and responsibility.