Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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predisposed towards anyone warring side. He was extremely realistic in his estimation of
the possible threats to the country and did everything possible within his power to ensure
the armed forces were ready to face an invasion, whether it was to come from the east, the
west or the south.
KAISER WILHELM SEEKS A NEW HOME
On 9 November, the same day that Snijders departed as "all-highest" military
commander in the Netherlands, the advisors of Germany's "All Highest", Kaiser Wilhelm
II, persuaded him to abdicate and flee to the relative safety of neutral territory. Although
entirely reluctant to take this advice, which he had been receiving for several weeks, the
Kaiser had little choice; he faced a hopeless situation. His people were in uproar. After the
Kiel mutiny he could no longer rely on the loyalty of his navy persomlel, and the army,
which was still fighting the Allied onslaught in Belgium, was on the point of intemal
collapse. 86 Travelling by train from the Belgian town of Spa, where the royal entourage had
stationed themselves for the last few weeks, Wilhelm II travelled towards the Dutch border
post of Eijsden in the early hours of 10 November. Around 7 o'clock in the moming, the
royal convoy arrived at Eijsden where a bemused border guard refused them entry into the
country, phoned his superior in Maastricht and awaited further instructions. Once the
Commander of Maastricht reached Eijsden he allowed the Kaiser entry to the station and
thereby into the country.
News of the Kaiser's arrival created havoc in The Hague. Historians are divided
about whether some high-ranking individuals, such as the Queen and the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, van Kamebeek, knew of the Kaiser's coming well before he reached the
border. 87 The reasons behind a visit by one of Wilhelmina's adjutants, J. B. Heutsz, to Spa
on 8 and 9 November, for example, have never been adequately explained, although the
visit had been planned many months earlier and the aide-de camp involved claimed
86 Keegan, The First World War pp. 446 - 447.
87 For claims and arguments that van Karnebeek and Wilhelmina must have known about the Kaiser's coming see:
Scheffer, November 1918 pp. 6- 7, 267 - 272; Ashton et. a1., '''Hang the Kaiser!'" pp. 75 -76 (especially fn2);
Hazewinkel, "De Keizer vlucht" pp. 1654 - 1655. For claims and arguments to the contrary see: Sally Marks, "'My
Name is Ozymandias'" pp. 122 - 124; Fasseur, Wilhelmina pp. 552 - 554. For details of the Kaiser's flight,
subsequent stay in the Netherlands and problems caused for the Netherlands, see: the excellent study by Sally Marks,
("'My Name is Ozymandias"'). See also: Palmer, The Kaiser pp. 208 - 227; Giles MacDonogh, The Last Kaiser.
William the Impetllolls. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2000, pp. 414 - 445; Roodt, Oorlogsgasten pp. 353 - 369;
Weekendstroo, "De internering van Keizer" pp. 22 - 23.