The Chancellor as Courtier: Bernhard von Bülow and the Governance of Germany, 1900-1909

by Katharine Anne Lerman

Bernhard von Bülow was the longest-serving Reich Chancellor of Imperial Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II. Appointed State Secretary of the Foreign Office in 1897 and Chancellor in 1900, he played a crucial role in the political history of the German Empire for twelve important years before the First World War. Bülow was chosen by Wilhelm II to be 'his Bismarck' and he was widely regarded as the most talented and intelligent of Bismarck's successors. Nevertheless his Chancellorship failed to fulfil its political promise, and when he resigned in 1909 he left a bitter legacy of domestic polarisation and diplomatic isolation for his successor, Bethmann Hollweg. This book explores B low's political role and position within the German government system between 1900 and 1909. Focusing primarily on the power structure in Berlin, it analyses the Chancellor's relations with Kaiser Wilhelm II and his ministerial colleagues, the nature of his authority within the Reich executive and the Prussian government, and his relations with the political parties and the federal states.

Genres: World War I

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 27, 1990

About the author

Katharine Lerman is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and History course leader at London Metropolitan University. She studied at the University of Sussex and previously taught at the universities of Exeter and Wales (Lampeter).