'A pettish little emperor': Images of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 'Punch', 1888-1901

Abstract

This chapter deals with one of the perennial favourite characters of British cartooning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century: 'Kaiser Bill'. Despite the work of W.A. Coupe and Jost Rebentisch, there remains a common misconception that Wilhelm II was characterised in a highly negative fashion in Britain from as early the late 1880s, akin to the 'Horrible Hun' image which British cartoonists actually adopted much later, during the First World War. In fact, the Kaiser was presented in a much more complex form (displaying both positive and negative attributes), and this complexity of feeling towards Wilhelm can best be gauged by referring to his portrayal in Punch in the last years of the nineteenth century. The chapter argues that Wilhelm's family relationships (with Queen Victoria, King Edward VII etc) and political/diplomatic position need to be taken into account when exploring the basis for such a complex and often contradictory series of cartoon images.