... answer to God. Wilhelm's desire to establish this policy of 'personal rule' was made possible by his monopolistic control over appointments to the Imperial government, Chancellors for example. The initial years of Wilhelm's rule did not display factors supporting the Kaiser's policy of 'personal rule'. The chancellor, General Leo von Caprivi proved to be more astute and independent-minded than the Kaiser had bargained for; he was able to introduce a line of 'social measures' in 1891, this undermined Wilhelm's idea of 'personal rule' due to the certain degree of lost control over domestic policies the Kaiser experienced. The resignation of Caprivi and the introduction of Hohenlohe (also known as the 'straw doll') as the new chancellor marked a change in domestic and foreign policy, one pointing more towards 'personal rule'. After 1897 it appears that the government was increasingly dominated by men who were closely in tune with the direction ...

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