In one line: From 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918 Wilhelm II reigned over a federal empire with an elected Reichstag but a chancellor answerable to the emperor, and in the war of 1914 to 1918 the army's deputy commands ran censorship under the state of siege while the Supreme Army Command, the Foreign Office and the Reich sold war loans and answered Allied charges over the killing of civilians in Belgium and the sinking of the Lusitania.
The leader and the people under the leader
Photo: E. Bieber, CC BY-SA 3.0 de Wilhelm II
German Emperor and King of Prussia · 1888 to 1918
Wilhelm II: Read more
Head of state who under the 1871 constitution appointed and dismissed the chancellor and commanded the army and navy; he declared the state of war on 31 July 1914 and, after his abdication was announced on 9 November 1918, went into exile in the Netherlands.
In their words
“No lust of conquest drives us on; we are inspired by the unalterable will to protect the place in which God has set us for ourselves and all coming generations.”
“a great movement must be engineered among the people, among the "general public," indifferent as yet, to arouse its interest and enthusiasm for the navy, in order that pressure from the people itself might be brought to bear upon the Reichstag members.”
“I cannot bring myself to dismiss this propaganda by branding it with catchwords such as "a piece of rascality," etc., since it constitutes an achievement which, in spite of its repugnant nature, cannot be ignored; it did us more harm than the arms in the hands of our opponents.”
“Recruits! You have now sworn loyalty to me before this consecrated servant of God and in front of this altar. You are still too young to understand the true meaning of what has just been spoken, but for now strive to always follow the rules and teachings you have been given. You have sworn loyalty to me, which – children of my Guards – means you are now my soldiers, you have committed yourselves to me body and soul; there is for you only one enemy, and that is my enemy. Given the current subversive activities of the socialists, it could happen that I order you to shoot down your own kin, brothers, indeed, parents – God forbid it should come to pass – but even then you must follow my orders without grumbling.”
“I express my sincere congratulations that you and your people, without appealing to friendly powers for help, by dint of your own vigor, have been able to restore the peace against the armed hordes that invaded your country as disturbers of the peace, and to preserve the independence of the country against outside attacks.”
“When you encounter him, know this: no quarter will be given. Prisoners will not be taken. Exercise your arms such that for a thousand years no Chinese will dare to look cross-eyed at a German.”
All 19 quotes from Wilhelm II, and 3 often attributed but not verified
In the archive: Germany answers back: the Manifesto of the 93 and the Lusitania medal (1914-1916), German South West Africa, 1904-1908: the war on the Herero and Nama and the contest over its record
Chancellors and ministers
Photo: Unknown (Bundesarchiv), CC BY-SA 3.0 de Bernhard von Bülow
Reich Chancellor · 1900 to 1909
Bernhard von Bülow: Read more
Led the government through the Herero and Nama war of 1904 to 1908, the dissolution of the Reichstag in December 1906 and the Daily Telegraph affair of October 1908, and resigned on 14 July 1909 after his finance bill failed in the Reichstag.
In their words
“In short, we do not want to put anyone in our shadow, but we also demand our place in the sun.”
“But we will only be able to maintain a leading position if we recognize that there is no welfare for us without power, without a strong army, without a strong fleet ( “That’s right!” from right; protest from the left ). Gentlemen, for a nation that will soon number sixty million, a nation that inhabits the center of Europe and is sending its economic feelers out in all directions, the means have not yet been devised to win the struggle for survival in this world without a strong navy and army ( “Very true!” from the right ). In the coming century the German people will be either a hammer or an anvil.”
“Gentlemen, think of the colonial wars other nations have fought without batting an eyelash, the English, the French, the Dutch. Should the German people not stand as tall as the others? Should they be more humble? It is this question to which the allied governments demand an answer, a clear and unequivocal answer (“So true!” from the right). We may feel regret, Gentlemen, that a revolt has broken out that has cost us so many lives and such large amounts of money. We may feel regret about this, but we cannot go back. We must see this matter through!”
In the archive: German South West Africa, 1904-1908: the war on the Herero and Nama and the contest over its record
Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Public domain (PD-old-auto-expired) Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
Reich Chancellor and Prussian Minister-President · 1909 to 1917
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg: Read more
Chancellor when the war began, he told the Reichstag on 4 August 1914 that the entry into Belgium broke international law, and he resigned on 13 July 1917 after Hindenburg and Ludendorff asked the emperor to replace him.
In their words
“We are now acting in self-defense, and necessity knows no law. Our troops have occupied Luxemburg and perhaps have already been obliged to cross the Belgian frontier. This action violates international law. [...] Thus we have been forced to disregard the protests of the governments of Luxemburg and Belgium. The wrong which we thus commit we shall try to make good as soon as our military aim is attained. Whoever, like us, is fighting a supreme fight, must think only of forcing his way through.”
“Whatever the case, Belgium must in all events – even should it continue to exist as a state – sink to the status of a vassal state; it must cede occupation rights in militarily significant ports; place its coasts at our disposal; become economically a German province.”
“4. A central European economic association is to be constructed through common customs agreements, to comprise France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Austria-Hungary, Poland (!) and possibly Italy, Sweden, and Norway. This association will probably have no common constitutional head and will provide for ostensible equality among its members, although it will in fact be under German leadership; it must stabilize Germany’s economic predominance in central Europe.”
In the archive: Wellington House and the Bryce Report: atrocity evidence, confirmed and unconfirmed (1914-1915)
Photo: Elly Lisser (1883 to 1943), Public domain (PD-old-auto-1923) Georg Michaelis
Reich Chancellor and Prussian Minister-President · 1917
Georg Michaelis: Read more
A Prussian civil servant and state food commissioner who became chancellor on 14 July 1917 and resigned on 1 November 1917; the Reichstag's Peace Resolution of 19 July 1917 was passed during his term.
In their words
“These ends are attainable within the framework of your resolution, as I interpret it.”
“I define our war aims in light of this situation. In the first place, the territory of the Fatherland is inviolable. We cannot negotiate with an enemy who demands territory from us. When we make peace, we must above all secure the frontiers of the German Empire for all time.”
“We cannot offer peace again. (Quite right! on the right.) The hand that we sincerely extended met with no response.”
Photo: Photograph credited on the page to a Munich court photographer (Hofphotograph Müller), Public domain (PD-old-auto-1923) Georg von Hertling
Reich Chancellor and Prussian Minister-President · 1917 to 1918
Georg von Hertling: Read more
Bavarian Centre Party politician and former Bavarian minister-president who was chancellor from 1 November 1917 to 30 September 1918, a term that included the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 3 March 1918 and the spring offensive.
In their words
“Our war aims from the beginning were the defense of the Fatherland, the maintenance of our territorial integrity, and the freedom of our economic development. Our warfare, even where it must be aggressive in action, is defensive in aim.”
“We do not intend to establish ourselves, for example, in Esthonia or Livonia. In Courland and Lithuania our chief object is to create organs of self-determination and self-administration.”
“Hypocrisy has become second nature to the enemy, whose untruthfulness is made worse by its brutality. Every attempt at calm explanation and every real deliberation must fail, when the enemy, at the very moment he is laying a heavy hand on a neutral country, dares to speak of a policy guided by complete unselfishness.”
Photo: Unknown (Bundesarchiv), CC BY-SA 3.0 de Max von Baden
Reich Chancellor · 1918
Max von Baden: Read more
Became chancellor on 3 October 1918 at the head of a cabinet that included Social Democrats, sent the request for an armistice to President Wilson, announced Wilhelm II's abdication on 9 November 1918 and handed the chancellorship to Friedrich Ebert the same day.
In their words
“The German Government requests the President of the United States of America to take steps for the restoration of peace, to notify all belligerents of this request, and to invite them to delegate plenipotentiaries for the purpose of taking up negotiations. The German Government accepts, as a basis for the peace negotiations, the program laid down by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of January 8, 1918, and in his subsequent pronouncements, particularly in his address of September 27, 1918. In order to avoid further bloodshed the German Government requests to bring about the immediate conclusion of a general armistice on land, on water, and in the air.”
“And here I do not advise the acceptance of the Social Democratic Ultimatum, but the upholding of the Monarchical principle by means of a solution still more democratic than that of the Ultimatum : His Majesty would at once declare his firm determination to abdicate as soon as the armistice negotiations have reached a point which permits of the issue of writs for the election of a Constituent National Assembly.”
“I was well aware that I was not formally entitled to make the publication without having the express consent of the Kaiser. But I considered it my duty to make known the Kaiser’s decision—now that, according to my information, it had been finally taken—while some good might still come of such publication.”
Armed forces and the Supreme Army Command
Photo: Nicola Perscheid, CC BY-SA 3.0 de Alfred von Tirpitz
State Secretary of the Imperial Naval Office · 1897 to 1916
Alfred von Tirpitz: Read more
Directed the fleet-building programme of the Navy Laws of 1898 and 1900, ran a publicity bureau in his office to win press and Reichstag support, resigned on 15 March 1916 in a dispute over submarine warfare, and helped found the Fatherland Party in September 1917.
In their words
“We did not want to put railings round ourselves, but wanted to have the fleet as a thing belonging to the German people. We instituted tours to the water-side and exhibited the ships and the wharves; we applied to the schools, and we called upon novelists to write for us: stacks of novels and pamphlets were the result.”
“On the other hand, what we aimed at was to be so strong that it would mean a certain risk even for the English fleet, with its enormous superiority, to pick a quarrel with us. Herein lay the political defensive as well as the tactical will to fight in a war of defence.”
“The Entente’s guilt is also established in its deeds. The Entente, which tore Alsace-Lorraine from the German motherland; which made the German people the hirelings of Anglo-Saxon capitalism, and wanted to dissolve the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and annihilate the Turkish Empire; which fought with sword, hunger, internment, theft of trade, and moral poison, until the death of our nation was sealed; which translated immediately into fact the enmity that it had shown for decades, as soon as the negotiations of July, 1914, offered a particularly favourable opportunity,—this Entente will not be able, by hypocritically turning to advantage our unhappy policy, to avoid for ever the judgment of the history of the world upon the crime that it has committed on the spirit of humanity.”
“American citizens who in wanton recklessness, and in spite of the warnings of our ambassador, had embarked in this armed cruiser, heavily laden with munitions, lost their lives in the sinking of the vessel.”
Photo: Unknown (Bundesarchiv), CC BY-SA 3.0 de Erich von Falkenhayn
Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army · 1914 to 1916
Erich von Falkenhayn: Read more
Replaced Moltke on 14 September 1914 after the Marne, directed the army under Wilhelm II, launched the attack on Verdun in February 1916 and was replaced by Hindenburg on 29 August 1916; Prussian war minister from 1913 to January 1915.
In their words
“If we succeeded in opening the eyes of her people to the fact that in a military sense they have nothing more to hope for, that breaking-point would be reached and England's best sword knocked out of her hand.”
“Within our reach behind the French sector of the Western front there are objectives for the retention of which the French General Staff would be compelled to throw in every man they have. If they do so the forces of France will bleed to death — as there can be no question of a voluntary withdrawal — whether we reach our goal or not”
“It is all the more necessary that we should ruthlessly employ every weapon that is suitable for striking at England on her own ground. Such weapons are the submarine war and the conclusion of a political and economic union between Germany and not her allies only, but all States which are not yet entirely under England's spell. This review is not concerned with the formation of such a union. The solution of that problem is the exclusive sphere of the political leaders.”
Photo: Bain News Service, Public domain (PD-Bain, PD-old-70-1923) Paul von Hindenburg
Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army (Third Supreme Army Command) · 1916 to 1919
Paul von Hindenburg: Read more
Named with Ludendorff to lead the Supreme Army Command on 29 August 1916, when the pair also took charge of the war economy and pressed for unrestricted submarine warfare; his name and signature appeared on war-loan posters, and he remained in post until 3 July 1919.
In their words
“But then, with renewed strength, we will press forward with God for the Emperor, the King, and the Fatherland until the last Russian has left our dear, sorely tried home province and we have carried our victorious flags into enemy territory. Long live His Majesty the Emperor and King, hurrah!”
“Since weapons and hunger could not break Germany's will to win, the enemy resorted to treachery. It sought to sow discord and divide the people from their emperor.”
“An English general said with justice: “The German army was stabbed in the back.” No guilt applies to the good core of the army. Its achievements are just as admirable as those of the officer corps. Where the guilt lies has clearly been demonstrated. If it needed more proof, then it would be found in the quoted statement of the English general and in the boundless astonishment of our enemies at their victory.”
All 6 quotes from Paul von Hindenburg, and 1 often attributed but not verified
Photo: Unknown (Bundesarchiv), CC BY-SA 3.0 de Erich Ludendorff
First Quartermaster General · 1916 to 1918
Erich Ludendorff: Read more
Shared command of the army with Hindenburg from 29 August 1916, wrote on 4 July 1917 asking the War Ministry to use film for propaganda, led the spring offensive of 1918, told the government on 29 September 1918 that an armistice was needed, and resigned on 26 October 1918.
In their words
“In accordance with the proposal submitted to me by Lieut.-Colonel Nicolai, General Headquarters arranged for patriotic instruction in the Field Army. But this was only a poor substitute for the work of enlightening public opinion at home, work which was done so consistently and effectively in the Entente countries.”
“At home our attempt to improve the moral of the people by means of propaganda never got beyond the initial stages. After two years of pressure from me, the Chancellor had at last, in August, 1918, decided to create a Central Bureau for Press and propaganda purposes, both at home and abroad.”
“The war has demonstrated the exceptional power of photography and film as a means of educating and influencing. Unfortunately, our enemies have thoroughly exploited their lead in this area, causing us severe damage. In the further course of the war film will retain its momentous significance as a political and military means of influence.”
“However, it must not become known that the state is the purchaser. The entire financial transaction must be carried out by way of an expert, influential, experienced, reliable private entity (banking house), above all one that is absolutely loyal to the government. In no way should the negotiators be aware who the representative’s actual client is.”
“England's defiance of the laws of nations in employing the blockade against our very flesh and blood was not met by fiery protest ; the heart of the people was not filled with strong, manly hatred ; its holy ire was not directed against the inhuman enemy.”
Foreign and colonial office
Photo: Bain News Service, Public domain (PD-US) Gottlieb von Jagow
State Secretary of the Foreign Office · 1913 to 1916
Gottlieb von Jagow: Read more
Headed the Foreign Office through the July crisis of 1914, when it sent Belgium the ultimatum of 2 August, and through the creation of its wartime Central Office for Foreign Services in October 1914; succeeded by Zimmermann on 22 November 1916.
In their words
“If we can not attain localization (of the conflict) and Russia attacks Austria, a casus foederis will then arise; we could not throw Austria over then. We stand in the midst of an isolation that can scarcely be called “proud.” I desire no preventive war, but if war should come, we cannot hide behind the fence.”
“According to all competent observation, Russia will be prepared to fight in a few years. Then she will crush us by the number of her soldiers; then she will have built her Baltic Sea fleet and her strategic railroads. Our group, in the meantime, will have become weaker right along.”
“The Imperial Government is in receipt of reliable information relating to the proposed advance of French armed forces along the Meuse, route Givet-Namur. They leave no doubt as to France’s intention to advance against Germany through Belgian territory. [...] It is for Germany a dictate of self-preservation that she anticipate the hostile attack.”
In the archive: Germany answers back: the Manifesto of the 93 and the Lusitania medal (1914-1916)
Photo: Photograph by E. Bieber, Berlin, as printed in the book, Public domain (PD-US-expired, PD-EU-no author disclosure) Arthur Zimmermann
State Secretary of the Foreign Office · 1916 to 1917
Arthur Zimmermann: Read more
Under-secretary from 1911 and head of the office from 22 November 1916 to 6 August 1917; his telegram of 16 January 1917 proposing an alliance to Mexico was intercepted, published in the United States on 1 March 1917, and confirmed by him on 3 March.
In their words
“We intend to begin on the 1st of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral.”
“In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”
“The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves.”
“Please call the President’s attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace.”
“I instructed the Minister to Mexico, in the event of war with the United States, to propose a German alliance to Mexico, and simultaneously to suggest that Japan join the alliance. I declared expressly that, despite the submarine war, we hoped that America would maintain neutrality.”
All 6 quotes from Arthur Zimmermann, and 1 often attributed but not verified
Photo: Rudolf Dührkoop (died 1918), No known restrictions (Internet Archive Book Images; photographer died 1918) Bernhard Dernburg
State Secretary of the Reich Colonial Office · 1907 to 1910
Bernhard Dernburg: Read more
First head of the Colonial Office, created in 1907 after the colonial scandals and wars; in 1914 and 1915 he spoke for the German government in the United States, defending the sinking of the Lusitania (7 May 1915) in public statements before leaving on 12 June.
In their words
“I hope that my remarks will convince the commission that the government can prosper only if it adopts a cautious, slow, what some call “Negro-friendly” and I call Negro-preserving policy, and that it does not permit itself to be diverted from this path by any interests or opinions.”
“It is in the nature of the Negroes that the existing racial justice cannot be changed in the near future and that certain means of punishment that evoke horror in our homeland cannot be abolished.”
“On the coast, the many White men walking around with whips make an unpleasant impression. I found one lying on the table of the main cash office in Dar es Salaam (movement). It is still common even today, and those gentlemen who have been there will confirm this. Any White man has a certain right to beat his servants, workers etc. (shouting). They do not exercise it everywhere, as I can gladly confirm, but send their matters to court.”
In the archive: Germany answers back: the Manifesto of the 93 and the Lusitania medal (1914-1916)
War press and propaganda offices
No public-domain or openly licensed portrait found. Nearest: Wikimedia Commons category Walter Nicolai (source), not opened; searches by name returned no file. Walter Nicolai
Head of Section IIIb of the General Staff (military intelligence, counter-espionage and press) · 1913 to 1919
Walter Nicolai: Read more
Led the army's intelligence service, within which the War Press Office and the Supreme Censorship Office worked, and took part in the war-loan publicity and the founding of the Fatherland Party; not the physician Georg Friedrich Nicolai, who wrote the 1914 counter-appeal.
In their words
“Propaganda and a service of political news were lacking in Germany, and there was not a strong Government, a Government determined to fight and win, to set them up at the outbreak of war. It was an irretrievable blunder that, when war came, when there could be no more doubts and events had to take their course, this neglect was not made good and the whole news service of the country taken charge of by the Government.”
“When they demanded that the Government should undertake to instruct public opinion, the representative of the Imperial Chancellor refused, saying that von Bethmann, the Chancellor, wanted nothing to do with the Press.”
“The Russian Jews looked upon espionage in war and in peace as a matter of business first and foremost. They lacked all spiritual participation in the War. Though, from the political and religious points of view, they fared better under the German occupation than under Russian rule, their sympathies lay more on the Russian than on the German side.”
In the archive: Wartime censorship in the First World War: Britain, Germany, France and the United States
Photo: Emilie Bieber, Berlin (studio credit), Public domain (PD-old) Erhard Deutelmoser
Head of the War Press Office (Kriegspresseamt); later head of the Foreign Office news department · 1915 to 1916
Erhard Deutelmoser: Read more
An army major who led the Kriegspresseamt from its creation in October 1915 until 28 October 1916, then headed the news department of the Foreign Office and, from November 1917, served as press chief in the Reich Chancellery.
In their words
In the archive: Wartime censorship in the First World War: Britain, Germany, France and the United States
No public-domain or openly licensed portrait found. Nearest: Wikimedia Commons file Hans Bernd von Haeften.jpg shows his son, a different person; no file of Hans von Haeften was found. Hans von Haeften
Head of the Military Office of the Foreign Office and of the Picture and Film Office (Bild- und Filmamt, BUFA) · 1917 to 1918
Hans von Haeften: Read more
Army officer and liaison between the Supreme Army Command and the Foreign Office who pressed for the creation of BUFA on 30 January 1917 and led it, which produced photographs and films for propaganda at home and abroad.
In their words
“The telephone message has been correctly repeated by Mr. von Payer. General Ludendorff thought that we might be able to hold out for perhaps two weeks longer, but that the crisis might come then, and that a delay of four days would therefore be considerable. Also at General Headquarters they did not sufficiently appreciate the difficulties of forming a new government.”
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