Kaiser Wilhelm II
In the spring of 1916, as the result of intense international pressure, Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer called in all his submarines after Germany announced an end to unrestricted underwater attacks on transatlantic merchant ships. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
In the latter part of the 19th century, Germany’s young Kaiser, Wilhelm II, was anxious to play Weltpolitik (global politics) and expand his country’s influence beyond the borders of Europe, where Germany was already an acknowledged power player. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
In mid-October 1806, four days after Napoleon had crushed the Royal Prussian Army at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstädt, a distraught Queen Louise sat down with her two sons at the royal castle in Schwedt. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
The German Luger is, most likely, the most famous pistol in modern warfare. Almost every World War II movie ever made featuring German armed forces seems to show it as an integral part of its action sequences. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
This WWI Timeline covers the first decade of the 20th century, in which the so-called “Great Powers” of Europe attempted to advance their economic and technological prowess to out-do—or at worst, at least keep pace—with their neighbors and rivals. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
On October 18, 1944—the 131st anniversary of the Battle of the Nations’ victory over Napoleon in 1813—Reichsführer-SS (National Leader) Heinrich Himmler stepped up to a microphone to make a national radio address announcing the formation of the Nazi Party-controlled Volkssturm, or People’s Militia. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Never was Theodore Roosevelt’s famous dictum, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” used to greater effect than in the high-stakes standoff between the American president and prickly, pugnacious Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany over the debt crisis in Venezuela in December 1902. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
At 3 am, on August 23, 1914, a solitary figure stood on a darkened railway platform at Hanover, Germany, awaiting a special train’s arrival from Berlin. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
On June 6, 1944, as the massive Allied naval armada made its way from ports in England across the English Channel to launch the projected D-day invasion at Normandy, a German fleet sortie swept down from its home ports on the North Sea and from occupied Norway. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson was not a happy man, and his sour mood was made worse by the weather. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
The old proverb that states, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” gained significant meaning for the government and people of Great Britain at the turn of the 20th century. Read more
Kaiser Wilhelm II
When Kaiser Wilhelm II acceded to the throne of the German Empire in 1888, the young nation was already an economic and military force with which to be reckoned on the European continent. Read more
Military History
