Wilhelm II, German Emperor Quotes
The relations of our two countries rest on traditional bases, quite other than those with other nations, and are of commanding influence on the whole of the world!
The two were cousins. Wilhelm was a very dominant personality and his cousin quite weak. This quotation shows the egomaniacal view of the German Kaiser. The letters were secret but after the execution of the Czar, the Russians released the letters to show the dominant and warlike history of Germany under the Kaiser who was furious that the Russians had made such personal and secret letters public.
Wilhelm II, 1859-1941, Emperor of Germany & King of Prussia, Letter to Czar Nicholas of Russia, January 5, 1895
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Wilhelm II, anglicised as William II, was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening Germany's position as a great power by building a blue-water navy and promoting scientific innovation, his tactless public statements greatly antagonized the international community and his foreign policy was seen by many as one of the causes for the outbreak of World War I. When the German war effort collapsed after a series of crushing defeats on the Western Front in 1918, he was forced to abdicate, thereby bringing an end to the three-hundred-year rule of the House of Hohenzollern.