Hello,
i have not yet finished reading the book, but ...
As it is explained in this book William (or Wilhelm) the 2nd was not crazy, nor did he draw the rest of the world into a war. The situation in Europe and parts of Asia were on the brink of war regarding a lot of nations, indeed Wilhelm as the rest of the german military did not believe England would enter a war, and he himself most probably would not have without Sarajevo. After all he was a direct descendant of the British Royal family (and i always wondered where his spleen came from hrrrm
), and had helped the British Commonwealth in China.
It was France that had declared war to Germany, because of the Russian declaration of war towards Austro-Hungary. After the Austro-hungarian declaration of war against Serbia, Russia instantly declared war to Austro-Hungary, and thus to Germany, having treaties to help in case of war.
The official reason for England to join the war was the german march/invasion through Belgium, and this violation was due to the doctrine that Germany never expected to be able to win a war even at two fronts, let alone against the "rest" of the world.
The doctrine of the german military staff was to make a hopefully quick victory against France at all costs to buy time for gathering equipment for the war against Russia. England was not expected to support France and join the war, which certainly throws some light at the awareness and intelligence of german politics of the time. It indeed seems that England only waited for a chance to join a confrontation against Germany, the plans for the channel crossing and the "far blockade" were already done in 1907. As well Asquith seems to have intentionally used the declaration of war to keep his party at power in 1914.
The Kaiser: He was certainly a flaring monarch, as the rest of the royal world was at that time. The royal family in England preferred some distance to him because they did not want to be involved in Wilhelm's failure, and lose their own position in the British society. The US had already proven there was no real need for a expensive king or Kaiser in a modern society any more.
The Reichstag and a lot of Lobbyists as well as the "classic" military staff tried to influence Wilhelm, but it was not before the german chancellor left the stage in 1917 that he would listen to some military advisors - who seem to have been wrong for the whole time of the war right from the beginning.
Greetings,
Catfish