Wilhelm II, German Emperor despite appeals from the Allies. King George V wrote that he looked on his cousin as "the greatest criminal in history", but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George's proposal to "hang the Kaiser". President Woodrow Wilson of the United States opposed extradition, arguing that prosecuting Wilhelm would destabilize international order and lose the peace. Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on 28 November he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns' 400-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II with the major fire that devastated the largely wooden city on 23 January. Squadron exercises followed from 8 to 17 March. A major fleet exercise took place in the North Sea in May, and "Kaiser Wilhelm II" was again present at Kiel Week in June, where she was visited by Britain's King Edward VII, Lord William Palmer, and Prince Louis of Battenberg. In June, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" won the Kaiser's "Schießpreis" (Shooting Prize) for excellent gunnery. The following month, the I Squadron and the I Scouting Group visited Britain, including a stop at Plymouth on 10 July. The German fleet