[Declaration of war] [1870] and 1938 on French territories / Kaiser Wilhelm.

Kaiser Wilhelm's manuscript declaring war on the French territories in Prussia (in both French and German) has been bound and presented to Adolf Hitler by Rudolf Hess "for Christmas 1938 in which year he twice crossed the Border in order to bring back German territory to the Reich." Hess was a longtime follower of Hitler, taking dictation of his _Mein Kampf_ ("My Struggle") while they were both in prison after an unsuccessful 1923 coup against the German government in Bavaria. When Hitler rose to power, Hess served as his personal secretary, bodyguard, cabinet minister, and deputy leader of the Nazi party. In 1941 he flew to Great Britain for reasons which have been debated by historians; he states it was to negotiate a peace between the two countries, while others feel it may have been to secure cooperation to invade the Soviet Union. He was imprisoned in Britain at this point, held until the end of the war, tried as a war criminal at Nuremburg, and then sentenced to life in prison; he committed suicide in 1987 after several unsuccessful attempts. Wilhelm I was the king of Prussia and Emperor of Germany.