The Daily Telegraph Crisis

The Daily Telegraph affair of 1908 could easily be considered as one of Germany’s biggest political scandals. It resulted in the resignation of the Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow and destroyed Kaiser Wilhelm’s reputation beyond repair. What started off as a simple newspaper article intended to somewhat improve the sour relationship between England and Germany quickly turned into a massive domestic crisis. It questioned the Kaiser’s role in German society and his impact on the country’s foreign strategy. How could it get this far? What was the Kaiser thinking? And was the whole ordeal really his fault?

Sources: - Daily Telegraph, 28.10.1908. Digital versions can be found here (for some reason neither of these links feature it fully): https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.... https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/ - Die Zukunft, 65, 1908/1909. Literature: - Clark, Christopher: Die Schlafwandler. Wie Europa in den Ersten Weltkrieg zog, Zwölfte Auflage, München 2015. - Clark, Christopher: Kaiser Wilhelm II. A Life in Power, London 2009. - Nonn, Christoph: 12 Tage und ein halbes Jahrhundert. Eine Geschichte des deutschen Kaiserreichs 1871-1918, München 2020. - Orgill, Nathan N.: “Different Points of View?”. The Daily Telegraph Affair as a Transnational Media Event, in: The Historian 78 (2016), Nr. 2, pp. 213-257. - Otte, Thomas G.: ‘An altogether unfortunate affair’: Great Britain and the daily telegraph affair, in: Diplomacy & Statecraft 5 (1994), Nr. 2, 296-333. - Röhl, John C. G.: Wilhelm II. Band 3. Der Weg in den Abgrund 1900-1941, München 2008. - Winzen, Peter: Reichskanzler Bernhard von Bülow. Mit Weltmachtphantasien in den Ersten Weltkrieg; eine politische Biographie, Regensburg 2013. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:54 Anglo-German Diplomacy 4:53 The Daily Telegraph Crisis 12:03 Discussion in the Reichstag 13:23 The Chancellor’s Betrayal 19:37 Reactions in Britain 21:35 Outro