Why Wilhelm II abandoned Bismarck's diplomacy

Why did Kaiser Wilhelm II diverge from Bismarck's foreign policy?

Wilhelm overestimated his own judgment, surrounded himself with agreeable advisers, and presided over institutions that did too little to reward candid correction.

Age alone does not explain Wilhelm II's choices. The Kaiser believed flattering accounts of his own judgment and treated royal position as a substitute for expertise. Advisers who contradicted him lost influence, while Chancellor Bülow benefited from telling him what he wanted to hear. Because the chancellor served at the Kaiser's pleasure rather than through public confidence, the system rewarded access to the monarch more than corrective political judgment.