“Arise, to arms! All hesitation, all delay is treason to the country. It is a question of the life or death of our Empire, of the life or death of German Might. We shall defend ourselves to the last breath and to the last man. Though a world of enemies come, we shall fight notwithstanding. When Germany has remained united, she has never been vanquished. Forward with God, for God will be with us as He was with our fathers.”

— Wilhelm II, German Emperor

Proclamation to his People (7 August 1914), quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941), p. 7
1910s

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Wilhelm II, German Emperor 64

German Emperor and King of Prussia 1859–1941

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Wir wollen sein ein einzig Volk von Brüdern,
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Variant translation: We shall be a single People of brethren,
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We shall be free, just as our fathers were,
And rather die than live in slavery.
We shall trust in the one highest God
And never be afraid of human power.
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