National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument The National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument ("Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal") was a memorial structure in Berlin dedicated to Wilhelm I, first Emperor of a unified Germany. It stood in front of the Stadtschloss from 1897 through 1950, when both structures were demolished by the GDR government. The monument was an equestrian statue of the first German Emperor Wilhelm I, on the Spree Canal along the Eosander portal on the west side of the Berlin City Palace. The design of the memorial was directly influenced by Wilhelm I's grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the neo-baroque style of the memorial is the
History of Germany Kaiser Wilhelm sought aggressively to increase Germany's influence in the world ("Weltpolitik"). After the removal of Bismarck, foreign policy was in the hands of the erratic Kaiser, who played an increasingly reckless hand, and the powerful foreign office under the leadership of Friedrich von Holstein. The foreign office argued that: first, a long-term coalition between France and Russia had to fall apart; secondly, Russia and Britain would never get together; and, finally, Britain would eventually seek an alliance with Germany. Germany refused to renew its treaties with Russia. But Russia did form a closer relationship with France in the Dual