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 early July 1900, "Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm" and the other three "Brandenburg"-class battleships, which were assigned to the I Division of the I Squadron, were ordered to East Asian waters to assist in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion. As a result, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" and the other ships of the II Division were transferred to the I Division on 8 July, under the command of "Konteradmiral" Paul Hoffmann. On 15 August the annual autumn maneuvers began; initially, the fleet practiced tactical maneuvers in the German Bight. A cruise in battle formation through the Kattegat followed, and the maneuvers concluded in