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‘It is hard being Emperor under Bismarck’ quipped German Emperor William I once. Historians agreed and deemed him also an unwilling Imperial figurehead who preferred to remain King of Prussia. This study challenges this long-held assumption of William I’s presumed historical irrelevance. It argues that the first Hohenzollern Kaiser was in fact a conscious, astute and strong-willed political actor who drew on varying forms of representation of his persona and the new German polity to forge his Imperial role. By drawing on cultural approaches to political history, this study demonstrates how William forged his political agency. It transcends biographical and national confines, showing how William’s conduct was part of a broader European context and how William drew on the practices of political rule he perceived elsewhere and appropriated these for his own realm. It demonstrates that William’s belonging to a specific political generation of monarchs influenced the manner in which he crafted his role and related himself to German nationhood. By identifying the strategies of legitimization that William employed, this study uncovers how he addressed the fragmented German polity, projected himself as the prime political centre of gravity in the new German polity and head of the new monarchical nation. This study discusses William’s role in the political and military decision-making process, how William presented his role as a military monarch during the Franco-Prussian War, his politics of history, his conception of the German Empire and his monarchical representation in Berlin. This thesis demonstrates that William was no transitional figure, but in fact a key actor in adapting the Hohenzollern monarchy to its new Imperial role at a time when monarchical rule in Europe was fundamentally transformed.

The conventional understanding of German expansion abroad, between unification (1871) and the First World War (1914), is that Germany established colonies in Africa, the Pacific Islands, and to a lesser degree in China. This colonialism began in 1884 with the recognition of German Southwest Africa. This dissertation challenges these conventionally accepted notions about German expansion abroad. The challenge presented by this dissertation is a claim that German expansionism included imperial activity in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Germans did not develop colonies in the Ottoman Empire, German activity in the Middle East conformed closely to the established model for imperialism in the Ottoman Empire; the British established this model in the 1840s. By considering the economic, political, military, educational, and cultural activities of the Germans in the Ottoman Empire it is evident that the Ottoman Empire must be considered in the historiography of German expansionism. When expanding into the Ottoman Empire the Germans followed the model established by the British. Although deeply involved in the Ottoman Empire, German activity was not militaristic or even aggressive. Indeed, the Germans asserted themselves less successfully than the British or the French. Thus, this German expansion into the Ottoman Empire simultaneously addresses the question of German exceptionalism.

The conventional understanding of German expansion abroad, between unification (1871) and the First World War (1914), is that Germany established colonies in Africa, the Pacific Islands, and to a lesser degree in China. This colonialism began in 1884 with the recognition of German Southwest Africa. This dissertation challenges these conventionally accepted notions about German expansion abroad. The challenge presented by this dissertation is a claim that German expansionism included imperial activity in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Germans did not develop colonies in the Ottoman Empire, German activity in the Middle East conformed closely to the established model for imperialism in the Ottoman Empire; the British established this model in the 1840s. By considering the economic, political, military, educational, and cultural activities of the Germans in the Ottoman Empire it is evident that the Ottoman Empire must be considered in the historiography of German expansionism. When expanding into the Ottoman Empire the Germans followed the model established by the British. Although deeply involved in the Ottoman Empire, German activity was not militaristic or even aggressive. Indeed, the Germans asserted themselves less successfully than the British or the French. Thus, this German expansion into the Ottoman Empire simultaneously addresses the question of German exceptionalism.

Inaug.-diss.--Göttingen. / Lebenslauf. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. "Quellen und litteratur": p. 77-79.

Inaugural-dissertation--Marburg. / Lebenslauf. "Die vorliegende arbeit ist als selbständiges buch vom Verlag Konrad Triltsch, Würzburg, zu beziehen." "Quellen- und literaturangabe": p. 75-77.

Thesis--Munich. / Bibliography: p. [viii].

Diss.--Mainz, 1956.

Inaug.-diss.--Giessen. / Lebenslauf. "Quellen und Literatur": p. 207-214.