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 training exercises and visits to foreign ports. She was replaced as flagship by the new battleship . After the new dreadnought battleships began entering service in 1908, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" was decommissioned and put into reserve. She was reactivated in 1910 for training ship duties in the Baltic, but was again taken out of service in 1912. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, "Kaiser Wilhelm II" and her sisters were brought back into active duty as coastal defense ships in the V Battle Squadron. Her age, coupled with shortages of ship crews, led to her withdrawal