preference of the last Prussian king, German Emperor Wilhelm II, prepared the end of the Prussian monarchy. The German naval buildup of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was one of the causes of World War I; and it was the mutinying sailors of the High Seas Fleet who forced the abdication of the Emperor during the German Revolution of 1918–1919. The Navy continued as the Reichsmarine (Reich Navy) and later the Kriegsmarine (War Navy), until at the end of World War II, it faced its own end. Literature Henning Krüger: Zwischen Küstenverteidigung und Weltpolitik. Die politische Geschichte der Preußischen Marine 1848 bis 1867 (Between coastal defence and world policy. The political history of the Prussian navy 1848 to 1867), Bochum 2008, . Gerhard Wiechmann: Die Königlich Preußische Marine in Lateinamerika 1851 bis 1867. Ein Versuch deutscher Kanonenbootpolitik in Übersee (The royal Prussian navy in Latin America 1851 to 1867. An attempt of German gunboat diplomacy in oversea), in: Sandra Carreras/Günther Maihold (ed.): Preußen und Lateinamerika. Im Spannungsfeld von Kommerz, Macht und Kultur, Münster 2004, p. 105-144. Cord Eberspächer: Die deutsche Yangtse-Patrouille. Deutsche Kanonenbootpolitik in China im Zeitalter des Imperialismus 1900 - 1914 (The German Yangtse Patrol. German gunboat diplomacy in China in the age of imperialism), Bochum 2004. Gerhard Wiechmann: Die preußisch-deutsche Marine in Lateinamerika 1866-1914. Eine Studie deutscher Kanonenbootpolitik (The Prussian-German Navy in Latin America 1866-1914. A study of German gunboat diplomacy 1866-1914), Bremen 2002, . See also German Navy Prussian Army References Military units and formations established in the 16th century