ABSTRACT
A closer rapprochement with England is the first idea of the Kaiser when he took over the reins of power in 1888, during the ten years that follows British sympathies is actually drawn towards Germany and alienated from France. The telegram of the Kaiser to Kruger in 1895 with no doubt left as an unpleasant impression in England and German feeling at the time of the Boer War ran strongly against England, but so did feeling in France and America indeed throughout the civilized world. It is certainly the determination of Germany to build a great navy that led to the tension between Germany and England finally to the formation of the Triple Entente, as a counterpoise to the Triple Alliance. It is 1900, not 1888, still less 1870, that marks the period at which German policy begins as the disturbing element in Europe. A cordial understanding cannot exist between England and its nearest neighbour.
