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Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859, the eldest child of Prince Frederick of Prussia and Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria. A difficult birth left Wilhelm with a withered arm, which he always tried to conceal. Wilhelm’s upbringing was strict and authoritarian. He loved the military; he enjoyed his many military uniforms and surrounded himself with the elite of German military society. In 1881, after a period of military service, Wilhelm married Augusta Victoria, princess of Schleswig-Holstein, and they had seven children.
In 1888 Wilhelm's father succeeded as Frederick III. However, he died shortly afterwards and Wilhelm was Kaiser aged 29. Although he had previously admired the great German statesman Otto von Bismarck, within two years Wilhelm had forced his resignation. The elderly Bismarck proved either unable or unwilling to manipulate the new Kaiser as he had his predecessor.
Above all, Wilhelm sought “a place in the sun” for Germany. Wilhelm was an overly militaristic man and a strong believer in increasing the strength of the German armed forces, particularly the navy. He was encouraged in this by Admiral Alfred Von Tirpitz. Wilhelm’s policies towards Britain were contradictory. He alienated Britain with his naval expansion and a policy of aggressive German colonial expansion, and also supported the Boers in their fight against the British. However, he was also closely related to the British royal family and was particularly fond of Queen Victoria.
Wilhelm suffered a nervous breakdown in 1908, consequently playing a lesser role in the government of Germany during the following years. It must be noted that Wilhelm was no friend of democracy.
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, Wilhelm encouraged the Austrians to exact revenge and to take an uncompromising line against Serbia. He appeared not to realise the chain reaction towards WWI that this would trigger. France, Russia and Britain were all pulled into war. In response, Wilhelm tried to scale back the mobilisation of Germany's armed forces but was prevented by the Germany military. While theoretically Supreme Commander during the war, Wilhelm found himself excluded from military decisions. He was effectively nothing but a figurehead. Nonetheless, Wilhelm had crippled the chances of peace by encouraging the grandiose war aims of certain generals and politicians.
Despite the Great Push of spring 1918, Germany’s ability to win the war collapsed in 1918. In that year, America's full scale entry into the war, combined with severe German shortages of men and resources, led to Germany's military collapse.
Wilhelm was forced to abdicate in November 1918 and went into exile in the Netherlands. Attempts by the victorious allies to extradite and try him for war crimes came to nothing. With Hitler's rise to power Wilhelm had hopes of being restored but they came to nothing. Even so, Wilhelm supported German nationalism as personified by Hitler. He died in the Netherlands on 4 June 1941.
There are a lot of historical misconceptions about Wilhelm. He was no warmonger; he did not want the war and he cannot be blamed solely for starting it. The most that can be said is that Wilhelm did not do enough to try to control the actions of Austria-Hungary and prevent the outbreak of war.
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"Hemmed in by unfavourable frontiers, the German nation needs to display great power for as long as it is obstructed from freely pursuing its Weltpolitik. Ideally; every nation wants to grow, to expand, to rule and to subject others without end, wants to coalesce and to incorporate ever more nations, wants to become an even more powerful unit, until the universe has, under its own rule, become one organic unit."
Kurt Reizler c1906 (Chief advisor to the German Chancellor)
"Nothing must henceforth be settled in the world without the intervention of Germany and the German Emperor"
"To my Army. We belong to each other, I and the Army. We were born for each other"
"There is only one master in the Reich (Empire) and that is I. I will tolerate no other"
"There is no balance of power in Europe but me. Me and my Army Corps."
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Kaiser Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor. His policies helped to bring about WWI. He has been described in many ways, but few have been flattering: vain, arrogant, unpredictable, rash, tactless. His actions often provoked suspicion and mistrust amongst the other European powers.
Wilhelm II
The text of Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication proclamation:
I herewith renounce for all time claims to the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith. At the same time I release all officials of the German Empire and of Prussia, as well as all officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the navy and of the Prussian army, as well as the troops of the federated states of Germany, from the oath of fidelity which they tendered to me as their Emperor, King and Commander-in-Chief. I expect of them that until the re-establishment of order in the German Empire they shall render assistance to those in actual power in Germany, in protecting the German people from the threatening dangers of anarchy, famine and foreign rule.
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