In the year 1888 William Kaiser II was enthroned in Germany after the death of his father. Bismarck was serving as Chancellor but within two years the new Emperor compelled the old Chancellor to resign and thus after the downfall of Bismarck the reins of German foreign policy came into the hands of William Kaiser II who was a great ruler but not a skilled politician.
He was very proud and used to say about himself, “I am not only the son of a great man. I am myself great. I am another Bismarck.”
Though he held no comparison with the diplomatic skill of Bismarck yet he was bent upon making Germany a world power. H. A. L. Fisher has remarked:
“William II of Germany bade goodbye to the conciliatory policy of
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Bismarck and adopted the policy of world politics.”
William II was a most ambitious ruler. He once said, “Nothing must go anywhere in the world in which Germany does not play a part.” He believed in the principle of ‘world power or downfall’.
He had a firm faith in the superiority of German race. Pan-German League was established on the basis of this radical national feeling. Bismarck used to say that Germany was a saturated country but William II wanted to take part in every event of the world.
Thus William II bade goodbye to the principles of Bismarckian foreign policy and adopted an aggressive and dynamic policy for capturing the world politics.