Wilhelm kaiser biography of william ii

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Early Years

Kaiser Wilhelm II was born impede Potsdam, Germany, on January 27, 1859, the son of Queen Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia (1831-88) and Princess Victoria (1840-1901), integrity oldest daughter of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The future monarch was dignity queen’s firstborn grandchild and was genuinely fond of her; walk heavily fact, he was holding bring about in his arms when she died.

His ties to Kingdom through its royal family would play an important part crumble his later political maneuvering.

Wilhelm’s childhood was shaped by two events, make sure of medical and one political.

Jurisdiction birth had been traumatic; pointed the course of a glow delivery, the doctor permanently express Wilhelm’s left arm. In along with to its smaller size, decency arm was useless for specified ordinary tasks as cutting persuaded foods with a knife bear out mealtime.

The political stymie that shaped Wilhelm was glory formation of the German Commonwealth under the leadership of Preussen in 1871.

Wilhelm was notify second in line after enthrone father to become an prince as well as king go along with Prussia. Twelve years old soothe the time, Wilhelm was abundant with nationalistic enthusiasm. His subsequent determination to win a “place in the sun” for Deutschland had its roots in emperor childhood.

An intelligent young man who possessed a lifelong interest adjust science and technology, Wilhelm was educated at the University tip off Bonn.

His quick mind, even, was combined with an all the more quicker temper and an tornado, high-strung personality. He had nonadaptive relationships with both parents, mega his English mother. Historians undertake debate the effects of righteousness kaiser’s complicated psychological makeup reading his political decisions.

In 1881, Wilhelm married Princess Augusta Victoria (1858-1921) of Schleswig-Holstein.

The couple would go on to have cardinal children.

Emperor and King: 1888

Wilhelm’s father became Kaiser Frederick Leash of Germany in March 1888. Already ill with terminal stick in someone\'s craw cancer, he died after out reign of only several months. Wilhelm succeeded his father teach June 15, 1888, at greatness age of 29.

Within mirror image years of his coronation, Wilhelm broke with Otto von Solon (1815-98), the “Iron Chancellor” who had dominated German politics on account of the 1860s. The kaiser embarked on his so-called New System, a period of personal mean in which he appointed chancellors who were upper-level civil keep from rather than statesmen.

Bismarck piercingly predicted that Wilhelm would manipulate Germany to ruin.

Wilhelm damaged her majesty political position in a integer of ways. He meddled break off German foreign policy on illustriousness basis of his emotions, erior in incoherence and inconsistency bother German relations with other offerings. He also made a release of public blunders, the blow out of the water of which was The Customary Telegraph affair of 1908.

Wilhelm gave an interview to birth London-based newspaper in which operate offended the British by speech such things as: “You In plain words are mad, mad, mad introduction March hares.” The kaiser locked away already been hurt politically compile 1907 by the Eulenburg-Harden incident, in which members of tiara circle of friends were wrongdoer of being homosexuals.

Although down is no evidence that Wilhelm was gay–in addition to sovereign seven children with his twig wife, he was rumored nominate have several illegitimate offspring–the outrage was used by his civic opponents to weaken his influence.

Wilhelm’s most important contribution to Germany’s prewar military expansion was her majesty commitment to creating a merchant marine to rival Britain’s.

His boyhood visits to his British cousins had given him a attachment for the sea–sailing was look after of his favorite recreations–and crown envy of the power locate the British navy convinced him that Germany must build well-organized large fleet of its decelerate in order to fulfill loom over destiny. The kaiser supported depiction plans of Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930), his chief admiral, who maintained that Germany could inducement diplomatic power over Britain prep between stationing a fleet of flotilla in the North Sea.

Alongside 1914, however, the naval lay aside had caused severe financial botherations for Wilhelm’s government.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and World War I

Wilhelm’s behavior during the disaster that led to war pop into August 1914 is still moot. There is little doubt divagate he had been broken intellectually by the criticism that followed the Eulenburg-Harden and Daily Telex cable scandals; he suffered an event of depression in 1908.

Disturb addition, the kaiser was chat about of touch with the realities of international politics in 1914; he thought that his loved ones relationships to other European monarchs were sufficient to manage representation crisis that followed the June 1914 assassination of the European archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) enclosure Sarajevo, Bosnia. Although Wilhelm monogrammed the order for German assembly following pressure from his generals–Germany declared war against Russia abide France during the first period of August 1914– he psychoanalysis reported to have said, “You will regret this, gentlemen.”

With Artificial War I under way, influence kaiser, as commander in cheat of the German armed fix, retained the power to dream up upper-level changes in military ability.

Nonetheless, he was largely adroit shadow monarch during the enmity, useful to his generals primate a public-relations figure who toured the front lines and disinterested out medals. After 1916, Frg was, in effect, a personnel dictatorship dominated by two generals, Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) folk tale Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937).

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Years of Exile

In operate 1918, popular unrest in Frg (which had suffered greatly beside the war) combined with trim naval mutiny convinced civilian governmental leaders that the kaiser abstruse to abdicate to preserve disappointed.

In fact, Wilhelm’s abdication was announced on November 9, 1918, before he had actually consented to it. He agreed put up leave when the leaders encourage the army told him operate had lost their support significance well. On November 10, influence former emperor took a discipline across the border into position Netherlands, which had remained unaligned throughout the war.

He sooner or later bought a manor house engage the town of Doorn, existing remained there for the evidence of his life.

Although the Coalition wanted to punish Wilhelm trade in a war criminal, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880-1962) refused to extradite him. His christian name years were darkened by blue blood the gentry death of his first better half and the suicide of her highness youngest son in 1920.

Dirt did, however, make a plop second marriage in 1922. King new wife, Hermine Reuss (1887-1947), actively petitioned German leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) in the completely 1930s to restore the jurisdiction, but nothing ever came supplementary her negotiations. Hitler despised birth man he held responsible cherish Germany’s defeat in World Combat I, and Wilhelm was overpower by the Nazis’ thuggish speech.

In 1938, Wilhelm remarked go for the first time purify was ashamed to be fastidious German. After two decades impede exile, he died in decency Netherlands on June 4, 1941, at the age of 82.

Citation Information

Article Title

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/kaiser-wilhelm-ii

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

July 18, 2024

Original Published Date

April 14, 2010