The role of the German emperor Wilhelm II in the occurrence of the Great War

Emphasis of this article is placed on comparison of estimations of Russian and foreign historians in defining the nature of the Kaisers regime on the eve of the Great War. The main attention is given to the revision of stereotypic approaches in interpretation of the Kisers role in home and foreign policy of Germany. Wilhelm II is presented as a prominent statesman who reflected the spirit of new times, realized national problems of the empire despite of discrepancy and inconsistency of his behavior.