Chapter Summaries

Oscar introduced the advanced U-100-class submarine and his wolfpack tactic to Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz, persuading him of submarines’ potential. The Naval Ministry decided to buy fifty submarines initially, with the possibility of ordering fifty more improved vessels.

• Oscar presented the U-100-class submarine to Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz and asked John Holland to explain its capabilities.
• John Holland described the submarine’s performance, range, torpedo armament, and deck gun.
• Oscar argued that submarines could threaten Britain’s sea lanes and support the German surface fleet.
• Oscar proposed wolfpack tactics, in which groups of submarines ambushed enemy fleets or convoys.
• Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz and other Naval Ministry officials approved an initial purchase of fifty U-100-class submarines.
• Oscar stayed at German Shipyard to discuss improved submarine variants with John Holland.

Oscar visited Germany’s Aircraft R&D Center in Oranienburg to witness the successful development of its first combat-capable aircraft. After the test pilot took off and began a series of maneuvers, Oscar applauded and looked ahead to further German fighter development.

• Karl von Jonath told Oscar that Gustav Lilienthal had come to see him, and Oscar agreed to meet him immediately.
• Gustav Lilienthal told Oscar that the first aircraft had passed its initial test flight and invited him to observe the next one, scheduled for three days later.
• Oscar arrived at the Oranienburg Aircraft R&D Center and inspected the biplane developed by Gustav Lilienthal’s team.
• Wilbur Wright described the aircraft’s specifications and weapons, and Oscar judged it barely combat-capable.
• A test pilot took off and performed maneuvers while Oscar applauded the flight.

Oscar praised the successful F1 test flight but pushed Germany’s aviation researchers to develop faster monoplanes and land- and carrier-based bombers. He then planned to train pilots secretly within the 8th Army Corps, laying groundwork for a future Imperial Air Force.

• The F1 completed a safe test flight, and Oscar congratulated the pilot and research team.
• Oscar urged Gustav Lilienthal and the other researchers to develop monoplanes capable of exceeding two hundred kilometers per hour and traveling more than five hundred kilometers.
• Oscar called for research into land-based and carrier-based bombers, including aircraft suited to naval use.
• Oscar decided to establish a secret Air Corps within the 8th Army Corps and train its personnel as pilots.

Oscar’s designs for the Kaiser-class Battleships and Derfflinger-class Battlecruisers were approved, as Germany and other powers prepared for an increasingly unavoidable war. King Edward VII’s death at Buckingham Palace shocked Europe and the wider world.

• Oscar’s new battleship and battlecruiser designs won approval from Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz and Wilhelm II, and construction began in April 1910.
• The Kaiser-class Battleships were planned with 380mm guns, heavy armor, and five ships, while the Derfflinger-class Battlecruisers combined similar firepower with greater speed.
• Germany and the other major powers continued building their strength as their financial troubles and competing ambitions made war seem inevitable by 1914.
• Edward VII died of pneumonia at Buckingham Palace on May 6, shocking nations around the world.
• The chapter described Edward VII’s royal standing and turbulent private life, noting that he had shown more restraint after becoming King.

After Edward VII's death, Wilhelm II and his ministers assessed the danger of Britain's changing foreign policy and concluded that Germany should prepare for war. Wilhelm II sent Oscar to Britain to represent the Empire at Edward VII's funeral and Prince George's coronation, giving him a chance to observe Britain's condition.

• Wilhelm II convened an Imperial Council to discuss Britain's policies under Prince George and Germany's representation at the funeral and coronation.
• Bülow, Tirpitz, Moltke the Younger, and Falkenhayn debated whether Britain would join a future war against Germany.
• Oscar argued that war was unavoidable unless Germany abandoned its navy, colonial expansion, and challenge to British hegemony.
• Wilhelm II rejected abandoning Germany's ambitions and ordered the Empire to prepare for war.
• Wilhelm II appointed Oscar to represent Germany at Edward VII's funeral and Prince George's coronation in Britain.

Oscar traveled from Berlin to Wilhelmshaven with Foreign Minister von Kiderlen-Wächter and sailed for Britain aboard the battleship Nassau. During the voyage, von Kiderlen-Wächter praised Oscar as the right heir to the Empire, hinting that the civilian faction might support him.

• On May 15, Oscar and von Kiderlen-Wächter left Berlin for Wilhelmshaven to begin their trip to Britain.
• On May 16, Oscar and von Kiderlen-Wächter boarded the battleship Nassau, which sailed toward London.
• Oscar reflected on the Imperial Navy’s strength and his uncertain standing as acting Crown Prince.
• Von Kiderlen-Wächter credited Oscar with the Navy’s growth and said he believed Oscar was the most suitable heir to the Empire.
• Oscar replied that the decision belonged to Wilhelm II and that he would support his father’s choice.

Oscar secured the support of Wachth, Prime Minister Bülow, and the civilian faction by pledging to serve as Crown Prince and lead Germany to victory in future wars. As the Nassau-class Battleship approached London for Prince George’s naval review, it met two British battleships, and Commodore David Beatty watched it with contempt.

• Oscar told Wachth that Germany’s victory in future wars mattered more to him than whether he became Crown Prince.
• Wachth said that Bülow and the Cabinet would support Oscar, and Oscar promised to fulfill his duties and work for victory.
• Oscar and Wachth discussed international affairs, and Wachth was impressed by Oscar’s views.
• The Nassau-class Battleship reached the mouth of the River Thames, where Oscar discussed Germany’s future conflict with Britain with Major General Scheer and Wachth.
• Two British battleships appeared ahead, and Scheer said the Nassau-class had the advantage in combat.
• Commodore David Beatty observed the German battleship from HMS St. Vincent and disparaged its appearance.

Brigadier General David Beatty welcomed Oscar and the German fleet to Britain, while Oscar reflected on the naval balance between the two nations. After arriving in London, Oscar encouraged Wachth to believe that Germany could overcome the fading British Empire.

• Brigadier General David Beatty dismissed concerns about German battleships and ordered HMS St. Vincent to welcome the German Crown Prince.
• HMS Nassau sailed into Gravesend with two British battleships, and Prince Edward greeted Oscar and received his condolences for Edward VII.
• Oscar and Wachth learned that representatives from nearly every country had already arrived in Britain.
• Oscar told Wachth that Britain’s power was declining and that Germany would eventually defeat it and take its place as the world’s leading power.

Oscar attended the events surrounding George V’s accession to the British throne and observed the Royal Navy’s imposing strength at its Naval Review. The display strengthened his resolve to make Germany replace Britain as the world’s hegemon.

• Oscar attended Prince George’s welcome banquet, where Archduke Ferdinand warned him about the Italian Foreign Minister meeting with French and Russian officials.
• Oscar left the banquet while Wachth gathered information, then spent the following days touring London.
• Oscar attended Edward VII’s funeral on May 20 alongside representatives of the world’s major powers.
• Prince George was crowned King George V three days after the funeral.
• Oscar and the other dignitaries watched more than a hundred British warships, including the newest dreadnoughts, pass during the Portsmouth Naval Review.

After the Naval Review, Oscar returned to Germany while British leaders celebrated the display of naval strength. At a Cabinet meeting, Churchill warned Prime Minister Asquith that Britain risked losing its global hegemony unless it urgently strengthened its military, and Asquith asked him for suggestions.

• Oscar and Gidelen Wachth boarded the battleship Nassau and left for Germany as Prince Edward saw them off.
• Prime Minister Asquith convened his Cabinet and asked how effectively the Naval Review had impressed other nations.
• McKenna and Sir Edward Grey praised the Review’s impact, while Asquith and Lewis Vernon Harcourt expressed confidence that the Royal Navy would defeat Germany.
• Churchill warned the Cabinet that Britain’s optimism was dangerous and that a future defeat could cost it its colonies and hegemony.
• Asquith valued Churchill’s warning and asked him to offer suggestions.

Churchill warned the British Cabinet that German dreadnought construction might have overtaken the Royal Navy and urged Britain to respond. The ministers considered speeding up battleship construction and ended with Churchill proposing that Britain shut down the German Welfare Lottery Company.

• Churchill warned that Germany's Nassau-class battleships rivaled Britain's St. Vincent class and claimed the Helgoland class already carried 343mm guns.
• McKenna disputed the intelligence but promised to accelerate Orion-class construction and begin later battleship classes as soon as possible.
• Lloyd George and Haldane questioned how Germany could afford its naval expansion, and Churchill suggested the German Imperial Family was funding it.
• Asquith said King George should support naval development, and McKenna welcomed the prospect of more money for battleships.
• Churchill said Crown Prince Oskar was also funding the German navy through lottery profits earned in Britain and urged the government to shut down the German Welfare Lottery Company.

Britain, France, and Russia seized the German Welfare Lottery Company's operations and froze its funds, dealing Oscar's most profitable company a devastating blow. Oscar learned that the company had followed the law and concluded that the three governments were targeting him.

• Churchill persuaded Asquith's cabinet to seize the lottery company's British operations and lobby France, Russia, and the United States to do the same.
• Asquith ordered the lottery profits obtained in Britain to fund Royal Navy construction.
• In June 1910, Britain, France, and Russia declared the company's operations illegal, seized its businesses, arrested branch heads, and froze bank accounts.
• Karl von Jonath informed Oscar of the seizures and losses, then assured him that the company had not evaded taxes.
• Oscar cursed the three governments and recognized that they were coming after him.

Oscar and Wilhelm II vowed that Britain, France, and Russia would pay for seizing the German Welfare Lottery Company's operations, while Germany's protest brought no relief. With the United States market also under threat, Oscar decided to surrender part of the company's profits to its American partners to preserve its business there.

• Wilhelm II convened an Imperial Council, where Oscar reported that the seizures in Britain, France, and Russia had caused more than one hundred million marks in direct losses and cut expected profits by over one-third.
• Tirpitz worried that the losses would reduce the company's annual low-interest loans to the navy, but Oscar assured him that naval support would remain a priority.
• Oscar and Wilhelm II agreed to seek compensation from Britain, France, and Russia after a future German victory, with Wilhelm proposing one billion marks in damages.
• The German government protested the seizures, but Britain, France, and Russia offered excuses and established their own welfare lottery companies.
• Karl von Jonath told Oscar that British officials were stirring opposition to the German company in the United States, its most profitable foreign market.
• Oscar ordered the company's American partners to receive a larger profit share and manage the portion intended for welfare, hoping to retain forty percent rather than lose the market entirely.

The German Welfare Lottery Company preserved its American branch by conceding a larger share of its profits to local forces, while the great powers accelerated their naval arms race. After France occupied Fez in Morocco, Wilhelm II ordered a German warship there, and Oscar supported the decision.

• Oscar agreed to give local American forces a larger share of the German Welfare Lottery Company's profits, preserving its American branch from being sealed.
• Britain, the United States, and Germany expanded their naval programs, while Germany planned the Kaiser-class Battleships and Derfflinger-class Battlecruisers and designed the Bavaria-class Battleships and Mackensen-class Battlecruisers.
• Oscar's eldest son was born in February 1911, and Wilhelm II named him Friedrich and made him Prince of East Prussia.
• After a Moroccan uprising on May 21, 1911, France sent troops to occupy Fez, violating the agreement that had recognized Morocco's independence.
• Wilhelm II ordered Tirpitz to dispatch a warship to Morocco, and Oscar supported the order.

Wilhelm II and his ministers debated whether to confront France over Morocco, while weighing the risk of war with Britain and the state of Germany’s preparations. Germany sent the gunboat Panther to Morocco, and France threatened to send more troops, leaving the crisis dangerously tense.

• Wachth, Bülow, Tirpitz, and Moltke the Younger debated the dangers and prospects of war as Wilhelm II considered Germany’s response to France.
• Moltke the Younger proposed going to war with Britain, but Wilhelm II decided to wait and see how the situation developed.
• Oscar suggested sending a light warship to Morocco, and Wilhelm II approved the proposal.
• Tirpitz ordered the gunboat Panther to Morocco, while Oscar reflected that the crisis might follow its historical course and hoped Germany’s preparations would be completed before war began.
• France reacted angrily to Panther’s arrival and threatened to send more troops to Morocco if Germany did not withdraw it.

Britain’s Cabinet debated whether to support France in the Moroccan Crisis and chose a hard line against Germany. Britain’s backing strengthened France’s resolve, but Germany temporarily backed down after finding its allies divided.

• Asquith asked his Cabinet whether France and Germany would go to war over Morocco, and Grey warned that both sides were prepared to fight.
• Lloyd George proposed urging France to compromise, but Churchill argued that Britain had to support its ally and deter Germany.
• Asquith endorsed Churchill’s position, while McKenna assured him the Royal Navy could defeat Germany if war began.
• Britain declared France’s actions in Morocco just, demanded that Germany withdraw its warships, and sent a light cruiser and a destroyer to Morocco.
• France refused to retreat, while Italy called for restraint despite Austria-Hungary’s support for Germany.
• Germany temporarily compromised after realizing that its allies were less united than France’s.

After Germany compromised in the Second Moroccan Crisis, Wilhelm II blamed Italy for withholding support and vowed that Germany would eventually defeat Britain and France. In Rome, Giovanni Giolitti and Vittorio Emanuele III decided to put Italy’s long-prepared plan into action while Europe’s attention was fixed on Morocco.

• Wilhelm II raged at Italy for refusing to support Germany, while Oscar, Bernhard von Bülow, and Wachth urged him to be wary of Italy and seek compensation elsewhere.
• Wilhelm II vowed to remember the humiliation and defeat Britain and France in a future war.
• The Second Moroccan Crisis ended with the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French Protectorate while France ceded part of the French Congo to Germany.
• Vittorio Emanuele III worried that Italy’s refusal to back Germany would provoke resentment, but Giovanni Giolitti defended the decision as necessary to keep Italy out of war.
• Giovanni Giolitti told Vittorio Emanuele III that Italy’s long-prepared plan could proceed, and the king approved it as the start of restoring Rome’s glory.

Italy prepared to seize Tripoli and Cyrenaica from the Ottoman Turkish Empire, while seeking European support. Oscar offered German backing in exchange for oil extraction rights in the occupied territories, and the Italian Special Envoy agreed to report the proposal to his government.

• Giovanni Giolitti urged Vittorio Emanuele III to take advantage of the Moroccan Crisis and invade Tripoli and Cyrenaica, and Vittorio Emanuele III ordered an envoy to seek German support.
• Wilhelm II and Bernhard von Bülow refused to meet the Italian Special Envoy, while von Kiderlen-Wächter condemned Italy’s conduct during the Moroccan Crisis.
• Oscar summoned the Italian Special Envoy and offered German support for Italy’s North African expansion, including weapons and supplies.
• Oscar asked for the German Energy Company to receive oil extraction rights in Tripoli and Cyrenaica after Italy occupied them.
• The Italian Special Envoy, surprised to learn oil might be present, promised to report Oscar’s condition to his government.

Italy agreed to support Germany’s oil exploration in Cyrenaica in exchange for forty percent of future oil revenues, then defeated the Ottoman Empire and took control of the region. German engineers discovered a high-yield oil well in the Sirte Basin, and Oscar ordered rapid extraction, a pipeline, and expanded storage as other powers feared Germany’s growing oil supply.

• Giovanni Giolitti agreed to Oscar’s demands but required Italy to receive forty percent of future North African oil revenues.
• The Kingdom of Italy invaded Ottoman-controlled Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, beginning the Italo-Turkish War on September 28, 1911.
• Italy defeated the Ottoman Empire, and the two governments signed the Treaty of Ouchy on October 18, 1912, leaving Cyrenaica under Italian control in practice.
• Moritz led German Energy Company specialists into the Sirte Basin and discovered a high-yield oil well about a month later.
• Oscar ordered Karl von Jonath to support oil extraction, build a pipeline, and accelerate construction of German oil-storage facilities.

Germany's discovery of a large oil field in Cyrenaica strengthened its wartime fuel prospects, but officials feared Britain or Italy would seize it once war began. As tensions rose, Wilhelm II ordered full war preparations, while Britain planned to use Italy to deny Germany access to the oil.

• Tirpitz congratulated Oscar on the German Energy Company's oil discovery, and Oscar said he had ordered the company to begin shipping crude oil home within three months.
• Wilhelm II and the ministers celebrated the discovery, but Oscar warned that Britain, France, or Italy could take or destroy the distant oil field during a war.
• Tirpitz assured Wilhelm II that the Imperial Navy could defeat the British, and Wilhelm ordered Germany to make full war preparations and attack once war broke out.
• Churchill proposed that Britain encourage Italy to claim the oil field after the war began, with Britain destroying it if Italy refused to join its camp.
• Asquith ordered Britain to prepare for war and said the British Empire must defeat Germany and retain its global leadership.