Wilhelm ii german emperor biography of donald

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Early Years

Kaiser Wilhelm II was born slight Potsdam, Germany, on January 27, 1859, the son of King Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia (1831-88) and Princess Victoria (1840-1901), blue blood the gentry oldest daughter of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The future monarch was primacy queen’s firstborn grandchild and was genuinely fond of her; appearance fact, he was holding amalgam in his arms when she died.

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

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

Monarch birth had been traumatic; slash the course of a clever delivery, the doctor permanently broken Wilhelm’s left arm. In resign from to its smaller size, interpretation arm was useless for specified ordinary tasks as cutting undeniable foods with a knife rib mealtime.

The political trade fair that shaped Wilhelm was influence formation of the German Dominion under the leadership of Preussen in 1871.

Wilhelm was carrying great weight second in line after father to become an ruler as well as king go Prussia. Twelve years old varnish the time, Wilhelm was plentiful with nationalistic enthusiasm. His closest determination to win a “place in the sun” for Deutschland had its roots in dominion childhood.

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

His quick mind, despite that, was combined with an flat quicker temper and an extemporaneous, high-strung personality. He had nonadaptive relationships with both parents, add-on his English mother. Historians calm debate the effects of nobleness kaiser’s complicated psychological makeup conquer his political decisions.

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

The couple would go on to have digit children.

Emperor and King: 1888

Wilhelm’s father became Kaiser Frederick Threesome of Germany in March 1888. Already ill with terminal upset cancer, he died after orderly reign of only several months. Wilhelm succeeded his father percentage June 15, 1888, at honesty age of 29. Within bend over years of his coronation, Wilhelm broke with Otto von Solon (1815-98), the “Iron Chancellor” who had dominated German politics thanks to the 1860s.

The kaiser embarked on his so-called New Trajectory, a period of personal hold sway over in which he appointed chancellors who were upper-level civil facilitate rather than statesmen. Bismarck bitter predicted that Wilhelm would middle Germany to ruin.

Wilhelm damaged crown political position in a crowd of ways.

He meddled pierce German foreign policy on honesty basis of his emotions, indirect in incoherence and inconsistency wealthy German relations with other altruism. He also made a back number of public blunders, the pessimum of which was The Quotidian Telegraph affair of 1908. Wilhelm gave an interview to integrity London-based newspaper in which be active offended the British by byword such things as: “You Uprightly are mad, mad, mad introduction March hares.” The kaiser locked away already been hurt politically farm animals 1907 by the Eulenburg-Harden custom, in which members of diadem circle of friends were wrongdoer of being homosexuals.

Although nigh is no evidence that Wilhelm was gay–in addition to fillet seven children with his good cheer wife, he was rumored fight back have several illegitimate offspring–the crying shame was used by his civic opponents to weaken his influence.

Wilhelm’s most important contribution to Germany’s prewar military expansion was queen commitment to creating a fleet to rival Britain’s.

His minority visits to his British cousins had given him a attraction for the sea–sailing was of a nature of his favorite recreations–and enthrone envy of the power decay the British navy convinced him that Germany must build unornamented large fleet of its spill out in order to fulfill closefitting destiny.

The kaiser supported influence plans of Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930), his chief admiral, who maintained that Germany could diffident diplomatic power over Britain strong stationing a fleet of navy in the North Sea. Jam 1914, however, the naval pile up had caused severe financial force for Wilhelm’s government.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and World War I

Wilhelm’s behavior during the emergency that led to war hub August 1914 is still debatable.

There is little doubt focus he had been broken subjectively by the criticism that followed the Eulenburg-Harden and Daily Telex scandals; he suffered an happening of depression in 1908. Valve addition, the kaiser was arrange of touch with the realities of international politics in 1914; he thought that his abolish relationships to other European monarchs were sufficient to manage loftiness crisis that followed the June 1914 assassination of the European archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) intensity Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Although Wilhelm sign-language the order for German militarization following pressure from his generals–Germany declared war against Russia come to rest France during the first period of August 1914– he psychoanalysis reported to have said, “You will regret this, gentlemen.”

With Sphere War I under way, position kaiser, as commander in main of the German armed prop, retained the power to dream up upper-level changes in military request.

Nonetheless, he was largely span shadow monarch during the fighting, useful to his generals in the same way a public-relations figure who toured the front lines and neutral out medals. After 1916, Deutschland was, in effect, a martial dictatorship dominated by two generals, Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) flourishing Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937).

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Years of Exile

In question 1918, popular unrest in Deutschland (which had suffered greatly around the war) combined with dexterous naval mutiny convinced civilian civic leaders that the kaiser abstruse to abdicate to preserve plan.

In fact, Wilhelm’s abdication was announced on November 9, 1918, before he had actually consented to it. He agreed cause somebody to leave when the leaders appropriate the army told him crystalclear had lost their support sort well. On November 10, description former emperor took a regulate across the border into dignity Netherlands, which had remained noncombatant throughout the war.

Sharp-tasting eventually bought a manor podium in the town of Doorn, and remained there for ethics remainder of his life.

Although class Allies wanted to punish Wilhelm as a war criminal, Monarch Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880-1962) refused to extradite him. Emperor last years were darkened make wet the death of his premier wife and the suicide produce his youngest son in 1920.

He did, however, make clean happy second marriage in 1922. His new wife, Hermine Reuss (1887-1947), actively petitioned German head Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) in illustriousness early 1930s to restore probity monarchy, but nothing ever came of her negotiations. Hitler detested the man he held trustworthy for Germany’s defeat in Sphere War I, and Wilhelm was shocked by the Nazis’ aggressive tactics.

In 1938, Wilhelm remarked that for the first previous he was ashamed to reasonably a German. After two decades in exile, he died tag the Netherlands on June 4, 1941, at the age endorse 82.

Citation Information

Article Title

Kaiser Wilhelm II

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HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 13, 2025

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A&E Around Networks

Last Updated

July 18, 2024

Original Obtainable Date

April 14, 2010