WI: Wilhelm II abdicates after Daily Telegraph affair

In 1908, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany gave an interview to the Daily Telegraph full of outbursts and outlandish statements that offended everyone in Europe. There were serious calls in Germany for him to abdicate, and while that didn't happen he did lose most of his prestige and power after the incident.

What if he actually had resigned? Would there still have been a great war, and if so what would it look like (it's true that during WWI he was mostly a figurehead but what if there had been another kaiser instead, who wasn't?)? If not, what would European diplomacy and German politics look like going forward?
 

LordKalvert

Banned
Interesting, and we should always be careful because statements made while Crown Prince are often changed when one is faced with responsibility

The old Kaiser,for all of his bombast, was known in Court circles to be a pacifist at heart. Nicholas once said "to know him as I know him- how much he hates war" is one of the clearest insights into the diplomacy of the era. Nicholas never thought there would be war with Germany as long as Willie ruled

Whether Nicholas would have developed the same relationship with the son is hard to say. If Nicholas thought that war was a greater risk, he may have encouraged a more tempered French policy, delayed the rebuilding of the fleet and taken the matter seriously. That would run the risk of heighten tensions between Germany and Russia- when two neighbors start thinking that war is possible it often becomes a self fulfilling prophecy

On the other hand, the Crown Prince would have been a young man in his mid twenties. He might have relished the thought of being Kaiser and enjoyed the job- enjoyed it so much that he didn't want to risk it on war

In the final analysis though, Franz Joseph seems determined on war. So determined that he may have ignored the young Kaiser's interests in peace (if he had them) like he ignored the father's.

My guess, is Franz Joseph was determined on war and was going to take the continent with him and there is nothing the Crown Prince could do to stop it even if he wanted to.
 
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