A once blossomed and tendered relationship, in the context of things, turned sour almost overnight. This is the case with the relationship between The German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II and The Russian Emperor, Tsar Nicholas II during the upcoming months of the First World War. The disentigration of their relationship had been recorded in a series of telegrams they had sent to one another in the come up to the war. Initially polite and almost apolegetic, these telegrams that were written with “hearty and tender friendship”1 quickly turned sour as the Germans began to show their teeth. Both leaders came to a collision through attempting to solve disputes between their own countries allies and their counterparts allies, resulting in Russia and Germany becoming entangled in the web of war.
Wilhelm II was born on January 27th 1859 to the then heir of the German throne, Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and his English wife, Victoria, eldest daughter of the Queen Victoria. Born with a withered arm, from an early age Wilhelm was brought up to be proud of his English ties, something he had trouble coming to grips with throughout his life, causing his views and intentions to be at times contradicting and his nature was often seen to be erratic2. As Wilhelm devoloped into a man, he became a very military minded person. This stemed from the beliefs his grandfather, Wilhelm I, held, as he had a great influence on his grandson. Wilhelm became the German Kaiser and King Of Prussia in 1988, at the tender age of 29. He held his grandfathers beliefs and also the beliefs of Bismark, that Germany should base itself around a model of Prussia. Prussia, being a heavily milterised state. He believed that German power would increase as the strength of the military increased. In particular he tried to bolster the strength of the German navy in an attempt to match the British navy, and this is seen in the complete duplication of the British naval ship The Dreadnought by the Germans...