Abdication of Wilhelm II and the Dutch government, however, refused the Allies' requests to extradite him. King George V wrote that his cousin was "the greatest criminal in history", but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George's proposal to "hang the Kaiser". U.S. President Woodrow Wilson also opposed extradition, arguing that punishing 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 of both the Prussian and imperial thrones. He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oaths of loyalty to him. Wilhelm
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II first to Norwegian waters and then to Kiel in early September, and finally a mock attack on Kiel. The exercises concluded on 12 September. "Kaiser Wilhelm II" finished the year's training schedule with a cruise into the eastern Baltic that started on 23 November and a cruise into the Skagerrak that began on 1 December. During the latter, the ship stopped in the Danish port of Frederikshavn. "Kaiser Wilhelm II" participated in an exercise in the Skagerrak from 11 to 21 January 1904, after which she returned to Kiel. She then went to the Norwegian city of Ålesund to assist