WILHELM II AND GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
The article examines certain aspects of the German Empire foreign policy at the end of 19 century through the prism of the personal influence of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The conclusion on the decisive role of the German Emperor in making important foreign policy decisions and their implementation in the last decade, 19 century is made. The author reveals the motives of the actions arising from the nature and characteristics of worldviews of the monarch, as well as some aspects of his diplomatic style. On the basis of numerous recollections of people who knew the monarch the author observed his autocratic methods of government, incompetence in matters of international politics, immense vanity and exaggerated self-importance of his diplomatic abilities, inconsistent behavior, xenophobia and extreme nationalism. The article emphasized characteristic feature of the diplomacy of Wilhelm II, whose own feelings and emotions often prevailed over the public interest, identified it with himself. In the work, the negative consequences for the country's international position the personal intervention of the Emperor in the work of the foreign Ministry of Germany are shown. The author analyzes the failed attempt of Wilhelm II to drive a wedge between Britain and Russia and to drag each of them on his side, which resulted in more alienation of these countries from the German Empire, its political isolation and the formation of an anti-German Alliance of European States.