Bismarck’s seemingly impregnable position had a weak spot: the emperor had to regard him as indispensible. The old emperor, William I, remained faithful until his death on March 9, 1888. He never forgot that Bismarck had saved him from “liberalism” in 1862. Frederick III, his son and successor, was bound to Bismarck by memory of the triumphs of 1870. Liberal in phrase, he was at best National Liberal and, like the other National Liberals, would have made his peace with Bismarck in exchange for a few concessions. He was already a dying man when he took the crown, however, and his reign of 99 days ended on June 15, 1888.
William II, the third and last German emperor, had no memory of past dangers or past victories to bind him to Bismarck. He represented the new Germany which knew no moderation, the self-confident Germany which recognized no limits to German power. At the same time, he was impatient with Bismarck’s social conservatism, which seemed to estrange the emperor from the mass of his subjects.
The dispute came to a head after the general election of 1890. Bismarck had failed to hit on a national cry and failed to carry the election. The Bismarckian coalition of conservatives and National Liberals fell from 220 to 135; the Radicals, Centre, and Social Democrats rose from 141 to 207. Bismarck wished to tear up the imperial constitution which he himself had made and to set up a naked military dictatorship. William II was determined to continue on the path of demagogy, appealing still more strongly to German national sentiment. There were, of course, also elements of personal conflict. Bismarck objected to the emperor’s interference on questions of policy, while William objected to Bismarck’s attempts to maneuver with the party leaders, especially with Ludwig Windthorst, the leader of the Centre. It was essentially a clash between the old Junker Germany, which tried to maintain moderation for reasons of conservatism, and the new imperialist Germany, which was without moderation. Once Bismarck had quarreled with the emperor, he had no real support, for he had always fought the parties of the German masses. He tried without success to engineer a strike of Prussian ministers. Finally he was opposed even by the leaders of the army. On March 18, 1890, he was forced to resign.
