Wilhelm II, German Emperor after his consent had been gained that major changes to the high command could be effected. Wilhelm was in favour of the dismissal of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September 1914 and his replacement by Erich von Falkenhayn. In 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided that Bethman-Hollweg was no longer acceptable to them as Chancellor and called upon the Kaiser to appoint somebody else. When asked whom they would accept, Ludendorff recommended Georg Michaelis, a nonentity whom he barely knew. The Kaiser did not know Michaelis, but accepted the suggestion. Upon hearing in July 1917 that his cousin George V
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II for the last time on 10 September 1920. The naval clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the war, limited the capital ship strength of the re-formed "Reichsmarine" to eight pre-dreadnought battleships of the and es, of which only six could be operational at any given time. As a result, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" was stricken from the navy list on 17 March 1921 and sold to shipbreakers. By 1922, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" and her sisters had been broken up for scrap metal. The ship's bow ornament ("bugzier") is preserved at the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden.