A FICTIONAL TRIAL OF KAISER WILHELM II
During the First World War, the Allied leaders came up
with a new concept, that once victory was achieved,
defeated enemy leaders should face criminal charges
for international law violations made during the war.
On 25th January 1919, during the Paris Peace
Conference, the Allied governments set up the
Commission
of
Responsibilities
to
make
recommendations to that effect. As a result, articles
227–230 of the Treaty of Versailles stipulated the
arrest and trial of German officials defined as war
criminals by the Allied governments. Article 227 made
provision for the establishment of a special tribunal,
presided over by a judge from each one of the major
Allied powers – Britain, France, Italy, United States and
Japan. It identified the former Kaiser Wilhelm II as a
war criminal, and demanded that an extradition
request be addressed to the Dutch government, which
had given him asylum in the Netherlands since his
abdication in November 1918. Following the
conclusion of the treaty, the Allied governments began
their legal and diplomatic efforts to arrest the former
Kaiser. On 28th June 1919, the day the treaty was
signed, the President of the Paris Peace Conference
sent a diplomatic note to the Dutch government
requesting the extradition of the ex-Kaiser. On 7th July
the Dutch replied that any extradition of the Kaiser
would be a violation of Dutch neutrality.
KAISER WILHELM II
Eventually the issue of bringing the ex-Kaiser to trial was dropped, and he remained in the
Netherlands until his death on 4th June 1941.
--------------------------------------------As a debating exercise we are going to imagine that such an international tribunal was set up
in 1919 and former Kaiser Wilhelm II was arrested, extradited by the newly constituted War
Crimes Tribunal and put on trial as a war criminal.
The charges against the Kaiser:
1. That he instigated the Great War (CAUSES OF WWI)
2. That he was directly or indirectly responsible for Germany’s conduct of the war
(CONDUCT OF THE WAR)
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PARTICIPANTS IN THE TRIAL
Legal Participants:
A senior Judge (possibly the teacher)
Prosecution Barristers (3 or 4)
Defence Barristers (3 or 4)
The Jury (12 members, with the obligation to ask questions)
The Accused:
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany – the Accused
Heads of State and Other Political Leaders:
King George V of the United Kingdom
Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (he died in 1916)
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (he was executed in July 1918)
Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France
Thomas Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States
Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip (he died in 1918)
Military Chiefs:
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War (United Kingdom) (he drowned in 1916)
Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army and Marshal of France
Paul von Hindenburg, Field Marshall of the German army
(Here we could also call ordinary soldiers from the different armies to act as witnesses with
regard to the effects of modern warfare as experienced in WWI; for example, about trench
warfare, the use of toxic gas, modern weapons like the tank and the submarine, etc.)
Any other witnesses the prosecution or the defence may wish to call
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PROCEDURE
A. Pre-trial
The barristers for the prosecution and the defence have to prepare a brief exposition for or
against the first charge: that the Kaiser instigated the War – that is, they must investigate the
causes of the Great War to establish the guilt or innocence of the German Kaiser. They will
then have a conference with the witnesses they are going to call in order to agree on the
questions that will be asked during the trial.
The following are the PROSECUTION WITNESSES (in the trial, they will be called to give
evidence first):
King George V of the United Kingdom
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France
Thomas Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War (United Kingdom)
Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army and Marshal of France
Any other witnesses the Prosecution may wish to call
The following are the DEFENCE WITNESSES (in the trial, they will be called to give evidence
last):
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
Gavrilo Princip
Paul von Hindenburg, Field Marshall of the German army
Any other witnesses the Defence may wish to call
B. The Trial
A member of the Prosecution team of barristers will make a brief outline of their case against
the Kaiser for having caused WWI. Witnesses will be called to support their case and each one
will be EXAMINED (questioned) by the Prosecution team and then CROSS-EXAMINED
(questioned) by the Defence team
In addition, the Judge, the members of the Jury must ask the witnesses and the barristers any
questions they like (this is obviously not normal procedure)
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The above process is repeated for the Defence team of barristers
The Prosecution, followed by the Defence may make a FINAL SPEECH to the Jury if there is
time.
Following this, the Judge will instruct the Jury to retire TO CONSIDER THEIR VERDICT. Against
usual procedure, the Jury’s DELIBERATIONS will be held in public (no one else may participate).
The Jury’s decision will be made by MAJORITY VOTE.
The role of the Judge is to maintain proper order in the Court, decide whether questions are
admissible or not, instruct the Jury on their responsibilities and PASS SENTENCE, once the Jury
has given its VERDICT.
C. Post-Trial
The Accused will either be subject to the sentence imposed on him if he is FOUND GUILTY, or
he will be DISCHARGED an innocent man if he is FOUND NOT GUILTY.
INFORMATION ON THE CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
http://www.firstworldwar.com/index.htm
AN ENGLISH BARRISTER
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