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Wilhelm was a constitutional monarch and shared power with his ministers and an elected parliament, or Reichstag. However, the kaiser had the final say on all significant matters, including appointments.<ref name=rohl18>Röhl, John C. G., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FN9GAgAAQBAJ&dq= Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941]'', Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. xxviii.</ref> His supporters boasted that he was the "mightiest ruler on earth."<ref name=rohl17>Röhl, p. xxvii.</ref> His manic depressive personality led to chaotic policymaking.

Wilhelm was a constitutional monarch and shared power with his ministers and an elected parliament, or Reichstag. However, the kaiser had the final say on all significant matters, including appointments.<ref name=rohl18>Röhl, John C. G., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FN9GAgAAQBAJ&dq= Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941]'', Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. xxviii.</ref> His supporters boasted that he was the "mightiest ruler on earth."<ref name=rohl17>Röhl, p. xxvii.</ref> His manic depressive personality led to chaotic policymaking.

Wilhelm's foreign policy aimed at "Napoleanic supremacy" over France and Russia. In the kaiser's view, Napolean's mistake was to go to war with Britain, something he hoped to avoid. Wilhelm had great enthusiasm for naval matters, and Germany began building a high seas fleet in 1902. This strategy was designed to threaten Britain, an island nation proud of its naval supremacy. The kaiser wanted Britain to sever its alliance with France. In the Agadir Crisis of 1911, Wilhelm discovered that the Anglo-French alliance was stronger than ever. Disappointed, the kaiser shifted his focus to the army. German public opinion, long wary of war, swung in favor of militarism. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. The General Staff, led by Ludendorff, adopted the "Schlieffen Plan" to invade France by way of Belgium. Ludendorff and other advisors assured a skeptical kaiser that they could create a pretext for war that would keep Britain out of the conflict.

Wilhelm's foreign policy aimed at "Napoleanic supremacy" over France and Russia. In the kaiser's view, Napolean's mistake was to go to war with Britain, something he hoped to avoid. Wilhelm had great enthusiasm for naval matters, and Germany began building a high seas fleet in 1900. The kaiser hoped to use his navy to intimidate Britain into severing its alliance with France. He give up on this project after the British intervened in the Agadir Crisis in 1911 in support of French interests. Public opinion was outraged to learn that the resources expended on the fleet over the years would not give Germany its promised "place in the sun." The military and the right wing parties agitated in favor of a military solution. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. The General Staff adopted the "Schlieffen Plan" to invade France by way of Belgium.

The planned invasion was launched in August 1914, triggering [[World War I]]. Although the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in July created a useful pretext, this wasn't enough to prevent British involvement. The British were outraged by the invasion of neutral Belgium. They responded with a declaration of war against Germany, as well as full military support for the Belgians and French.

The planned invasion was launched in August 1914, triggering [[World War I]]. Although the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in July created a useful pretext, this wasn't enough to prevent British involvement. The British were outraged by the invasion of neutral Belgium. They responded with a declaration of war against Germany, as well as full military support for the Belgians and French.