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 der Grosse SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse SMS "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" ("HMS Emperor William the Great") was a German pre-dreadnought battleship of the , built around the turn of the 20th century. The ship was one of the first battleships built by the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) as part of a program of naval expansion under Kaiser Wilhelm II. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" was built in Kiel at the Germaniawerft shipyard. She was laid down in January 1898, launched in June 1899, and completed in May 1901. The ship was armed with a main battery of four guns in two