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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, Napoleon'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 that this fleet would intimidate Britain into severing its alliance with France. He realized that this approach was not effective in 1911 when the British intervened in the Agadir Crisis in support of French interests. Provoked by the British intervention, the military and the right-wing parties began to agitate in favor of a military solution. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. Treating this vote as a mandate, the General Staff adopted the "Schlieffen Plan" to invade France by way of Belgium as Germany's sole war plan.

Wilhelm's foreign policy aimed at "Napoleanic supremacy" over France and Russia. In the kaiser's view, Napoleon'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 that this fleet would intimidate Britain into severing its alliance with France. The focus of German attention shifted from the navy to the army following the Agadir Crisis of 1911. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. Treating this vote as a mandate, the army adopted the "Schlieffen Plan" to invade France by way of Belgium.

The assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] in Sarajevo in July 1914 led to a European diplomatic crisis. The planned invasion of Belgium and France was launched in early August, triggering [[World War I]]. 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. Wilhelm's desire to establish a German naval base in Antwerp was an obstacle to later proposals that aimed at a negotiated settlement.

The assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] in Sarajevo in July 1914 led to a European diplomatic crisis. The planned invasion of Belgium and France was launched in early August, triggering [[World War I]]. 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. Wilhelm's desire to establish a German naval base in Antwerp was an obstacle to later proposals that aimed at a negotiated settlement.