Here you can see a character study by Philip László depicting Emperor Wilhelm II. The painting was created shortly after the so-called Daily Telegraph Affair. This scandal triggered a nervous breakdown in Wilhelm. His daughter Viktoria Luise, who later owned the painting, said at the painting’s first public unveiling: “Finally, Dad—and not the Emperor.”
To understand the impact of this portrait, it’s worth looking at the context. On October 28, 1908, the British newspaper *Daily Telegraph* published a conversation with Wilhelm II. More precisely, Colonel Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley had compiled several private conversations with the emperor into a staged interview and submitted it to the newspaper.
Wilhelm spoke with Wortley during a vacation at Highcliffe Castle in southern England. He was a grandson of Queen Victoria, and English was his second native language. The manuscript was sent to Berlin for approval. Because Wilhelm had often ruffled feathers with his undiplomatic manner, he had left such reviews to his government.
Reich Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow should have reviewed the text. However, he was on vacation on Norderney. His press secretary, Otto Hammann, was also absent. As a result, the article ended up with a lower-level official at the Foreign Office, who approved it. Whether Bülow really did not read the interview is a matter of debate among scholars.
The outrage was not long in coming. Four statements by the Emperor in particular caused a stir. He portrayed himself as a friend of England, belonging to a pro-English minority within the German Empire. He claimed that he had opposed a Russian-French campaign against England during the Boer War and had also informed Queen Victoria of this. He also said that a battle plan he had drafted had won the Boer War. And finally, he declared that German naval expansion was not directed against England, but against the states in the Far East.
These remarks were considered presumptuous and diplomatically tactless. Many were appalled by the pandering to England, by the indiscretion, and by the apparent incompetence of the government apparatus. In the midst of the crisis, the Emperor even traveled to Donaueschingen to go hunting. This exacerbated the situation.
The scandal turned into a national crisis. The Imperial Chancellor offered his resignation. Some members of the public even called for Wilhelm’s abdication. Even circles loyal to the emperor now openly criticized his autocratic rule. They demanded that the emperor confine himself to the role of a moderate, constitutional monarch.
The affair had consequences. In the Reichstag and among the public, all political parties—even the conservatives—expressed outrage at the emperor. Bülow distanced himself from Wilhelm. This rift ultimately led to Bülow’s dismissal. Wilhelm himself also drew certain conclusions. After this scandal, he refrained significantly from making bellicose statements.
It is precisely against this backdrop that the image strikes such a powerful chord. It not only depicts the ruler in crisis; it also reveals the man behind the role.