... Kaiser at the top and his court, down to the Chancellor and then finally to the Reichstag. This theory also suggests that the policy of 'Personal Rule' by Kaiser was clearly apparent; Personal Rule was a policy stating that every issue should be decided or resolved by the Kaiser in person, meaning that in theory he had complete control over everything. This is to an extent true as the Kaiser did have complete authority over foreign policy, the ability to declare war or conclude peace talks between Germany and other nations, complete control of the military forces, authority to appoint or dismiss any government official including ministers and the Chancellor, and lastly the ability to dissolve the Reichstag if he thought it was necessary. This policy demonstrates the obvious lack of power that ministers and even the Chancellor had within the government, as neither would even consider disagreeing with the ...

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