Crown Prince Wilhelm on the Prospect of War,1913

Crown Prince Wilhelm on the Prospect of War,1913

The primary source is an excerpt from Crown Prince Wilhelm's book “Germany in Arms”, published in 1913. Through this manifest, Wilhelm sought to commend Germany's rise to power over the last half a century and also to caution the German people about getting too comfortable in this “apparent” period of peace. As the tension between the European nations kept rising Prince Wilhelm, heir to the throne of the German Empire, came to believe that supporting peace in these turbulent times is disadvantageous for Germany.

Prince Wilhelm, born in 1882, was the eldest son of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and his first wife Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein. The relation between Wilhelm and his father was one of mutual disdain. This dispute was fueled mainly because of Wilhelm's many affairs with women and the emperor's effort to keep him away from the Imperial Court. This lead to him being challenged often by Wilhelm who didn't approve on his father's politics.

The source highlights the “right” of the German nation to rule, to lead because of its economic and military prowess, superior culture and noble heritage. Furthermore the source emphasis the imminent danger that the German society is facing, by having a center position in Europe and frail allies the German nation is in a vulnerable position, with enemies waiting for the right opportunity to get the upper hand. Wilhelm tries to kindle the patriotic feelings and the nationalism inside every German stating that every diplomatic effort to diminish the tension among the nations only postpones the inevitable.

To understand the mentality of the German society in the years before WWI and the events which lead or constrained the nation to acquire these perceptions we need to look at the development of the German nation starting a few decades before WWI. A good starting point is the Franco-German war (1870-1871). The Germans won this short war and in return acquired Alsace and Lorraine. From this point the hatred harbored by the French only grew. The victory was hailed in Germany as a triumph of the superior moral and cultural power of the German way of life. As Bernard von Bȕlow observed in a speech in 1897: ”We do not want to put anyone in the shade, but we do demand our place in the sun.”

The principal reason which fueled the German superiority complex is the industrial development and impressive economic growth in the prewar decades. By 1913 nearly half of the world's trade in electrical products was in German hands. Into the 1880s Germany was a net importer of capital. By 1914 Germany was a net exporter of capital with investments in the Americas, the Near East and Far East.

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