AFAIU it was Tirpitz.
Prior to even the first Naval Law of 1898 Wilhelm II was rather fond of the "Jeune Ecole" of cruiser warfare and favored cruisers for the thought/dreamed of expansion of the navy.
But Tirpitz "convinced" him of his interpretation of Alfred Thayer Mahan, that the rank and prestige of a nation - and its ruler - depends on its number of Battleships, unfortunatly (?) forgot to care about the geographic prerequisites for such Mahanian politics : bases.
But what do you need oversea bases for, if you also induce an operational doctrin - or rather religious mantra - of "THE ONE DECISIVE" battle, may it be at day or night, that will "fix" ... paralyse your assumed main opponent in world politics - GB and the RN in the waters of the North Sea. ...
Tirpitz does not seem to have read or understood the part Mahan wrote about shaping the battlefield, atttritioning & dispersing the enemy, ect...
A large part of the remarks here are aimed at the question of a long war. But, few of the leaders in question here understood there could be a long war. Their thinking was all in terms of a brief 6-12 month war. A long 'total war' was outside their lifetime experience & had not been seen since the age of Napoleon.
How much overseas fleet do you need for a few islands and jungle swamps? The naval war is going to be won or lost in the North Sea. Even without Mahan it is obvious. A bigger overseas fleet is more to wither on the vine.
Tisingtao China was not a desert island nor a jungle swamp. That & the dry semi tropical colonies like Namibia were seen as future profit centers.
The purpose of the over seas colonial fleet is to force some uncomfortable decisions of nations like Britian who have multiple & important sea routes. Its correct that a long term sea raiding campaign usually does not work, but in the short run in the first months or year of a war it can play havoc with the enemies thinking. Politics enters into when the business leaders start taking action when a few of their cargo ships are casualties of war, or personalities like Churchill are at the top.
One of the top problems Spee was faced with in 1914 was the lack of options. He ran out in the Pacific, and had very few in the Atlantic, which led to him being trapped while nosing around the Falklands in search of coal. Adding a few more German control naval stations at the start increases flexibility & compounds the problem for the enemy. The Brits had bases & options, Spee had fewer leading to a easier task for the Brits quicker end for the problem of Spee.