born May 3, 1849, Klein-Flottbek, near Altona, Ger.
died Oct. 28, 1929, Rome, Italy
German imperial chancellor and Prussian prime minister (1900–09).
After holding a number of diplomatic posts, he was appointed state secretary for the foreign department in 1897. He quickly became a potent force and succeeded to the chancellorship in 1900. In cooperation with William II , he pursued a policy of German aggrandizement in the years preceding World War I. He was unable to prevent the formation of the English-French-Russian alliance against Germany (see Entente Cordiale ; Triple Entente ) and increased international tension with the first of the Moroccan crises .