Cited:

“At the end of July 1914, Wilhelm II wrote defamatorily that Serbia was not a state in the European sense, but a band of robbers,” and that one had to “tread firmly on the feet of the rabble.”

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Scathing Verdict on Serbia, July 1914

At the end of July 1914, as Europe teetered on the brink of the First World War, German Emperor Wilhelm II made one of his most inflammatory private remarks about Serbia. In handwritten marginal notes on diplomatic dispatches, he declared that Serbia was “not a state in the European sense, but a band of robbers” (or “gang of criminals” / “band of brigands”) and that one had “only to deal firmly with this rabble.”

Context

The comment was written during the height of the July Crisis, in the days immediately following Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum to Serbia (23 July) and Serbia’s reply (25 July). Although Serbia had accepted most of the humiliating demands, Austria-Hungary still broke off relations and prepared for war. Wilhelm, who had initially been shocked by the Serbian murder of his friend Archduke Franz Ferdinand, quickly aligned himself with the Austrians.

In his annotations, the Kaiser expressed clear support for decisive military action against Belgrade. He viewed Serbia not as a legitimate sovereign state but as a dangerous haven for Slavic terrorists and pan-Slav agitators who threatened the stability of Austria-Hungary — and by extension, the European order.

Full quote

“A state that accepts such terms [the Austrian ultimatum] really ceases to count as an independent state… It is not a state in the European sense, but a gang of robbers! … How hollow is the whole so-called great Serbian state; it is the same with all the Slav states! One has only to deal firmly with this rabble!”

Source

Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft. Volume 23, Edition 1–6. 1975. p. 35