Loss of Control: Kaiser Wilhelm II, Mass Media, and the National Identity of the Second German Reich

Abstract

Wilhelm II, the last German emperor, was one of the most prominent European monarchs around 1900. He came to define what a media monarch looked like as he skilfully combined modern and ‘anachronistic’ features to form a new kind of monarchic persona. The relatively strong political position which the monarchy still enjoyed in Germany, contributed to this ambivalent success story. In repositioning the monarchy in the age of mass media, Wilhelm II also closely followed what his colleagues and contenders in St. Petersburg or London did to endow their rule with new mediated legitimacy. In turn, his controversial new interpretation of the monarchic office formed an important reference point throughout the dynastic world.

In stressing the media dimension, the chapter explains what could be called the comeback of the monarchy in the decades before 1900. The monarchy could build an intense media presence through its unique combination of tradition and visibility. This chapter asks how far this is translated into media-generated political expectations. It discusses whether the media intensified or levelled differences between parliamentarian monarchies and mere constitutional monarchies, and examines the extent to which a nationally defined public came to be mobilized around the monarchy.