‘I just returned from the battlefield in order to chase the spoils of victory’: Wilhelm as Military Monarch

This chapter demonstrates how Wilhelm presented himself as a victorious military monarch during the Franco-German War of 1870–1871. Taking on this role was part of a wider European phenomenon with which monarchs justified their role, and in Wilhelm’s case also built on his early military socialization and subsequent career in the Prussian army. This chapter shows in three parts how Wilhelm forged his military role. First, the chapter demonstrates how Wilhelm mobilized support for himself with the home front by carefully crafted press reports, deploying members of the dynasty across the country, and staging his departure to and return from the front. Secondly, at the actual front, Wilhelm ensured his visibility for his troops during the war’s conventional phase but was less visible once the conflict turned into a protracted siege, seeking to prevent being associated with the war’s stalling progress. Thirdly, this chapter shows how Wilhelm was both the facilitator and fulcrum of the political and military decision-making process, playing a crucial role in the war’s outcome. With these three components, Wilhelm was successful as military monarch, but these were not replicated by Wilhelm II during the First World War, thereby contributing to the Hohenzollern monarchy’s downfall in 1918.