In October 1907 Haldane was intimately involved with the negotiations at Windsor with Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Germanophile and linguist was thrilled to be summoned at 1 am to talk with the Emperor on arms reduction principles over whisky. But the import was the Berlin–Baghdad railway which Germany was hoping to construct with British approval. A fluent German-speaker, Haldane was lulled into a false sense of security believing 'like a bear with a sore head' that he had won a great deal. Another such conference took place at Balmoral in September 1909. The Kaiser arrogantly insisted that only the King was of equal rank.