Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II's insistence on 18 March 1890, after the failed renewal and the strengthened Social Democrats played a decisive role in his dismissal.

Bismarck's failure to pass a permanent anti-socialist law and the strengthening of social democracy in the 1890 Reichstag election played a decisive role in his dismissal by Emperor Wilhelm II, who had ascended the throne in 1888. The final split between monarch and statesman occurred soon after Bismarck's attempt to implement far-reaching anti-Socialist laws in early 1890. Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II's insistence on 18 March 1890, at the age of 75, and the Kaiser assumed direct control over his nation's policies.

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