Kaiser Wilhelm II

January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941

Last German Emperor whose aggressive policies helped start World War I.

world war 1rulergermany

Wilhelm II was born in 1859, the grandson of both the German Kaiser and Britain's Queen Victoria, which made him cousin to much of European royalty. A difficult birth left him with a withered left arm, and he grew into a proud, impulsive, and insecure man determined to prove himself. When he became German Emperor and King of Prussia in 1888, he inherited the most powerful state in continental Europe, recently unified and rapidly industrializing. Eager to rule in his own right, he soon clashed with his chancellor, the shrewd Otto von Bismarck, and forced him out in 1890, casting aside the cautious diplomacy that had kept Europe's peace. Wilhelm's leadership helped fuel the tensions that led to World War I. He pushed an ambitious foreign policy he called 'a place in the sun' for Germany, chasing colonies and, above all, building a huge battleship fleet that alarmed Britain and set off a costly naval arms race. His unpredictable, often boastful public statements unsettled other nations, and Germany's tight alliance with Austria-Hungary drew it deep into the quarrels of central Europe. This web of rival alliances, arms races, and nationalism formed the tinderbox in which a single spark could ignite a continental war. That spark came in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Wilhelm's government gave Austria-Hungary a 'blank check' of support against Serbia, and as the alliance system pulled the great powers in, Europe plunged into war. It is important to be accurate about his role: Wilhelm helped create the dangerous conditions and backed the decisions that led to war, but once fighting began, real military power in Germany shifted largely to its generals, and the Kaiser became more a figurehead than a true commander. His navy's use of submarine warfare, including attacks on ships carrying civilians, helped turn opinion in the United States against Germany and contributed to the American decision to join the war against him, a course urged by President Woodrow Wilson. As Germany collapsed toward defeat in the autumn of 1918, revolution broke out at home, and Wilhelm lost the support of his own army and people. He abdicated in November 1918, days before the armistice, and fled to the Netherlands, where he lived quietly in exile until his death in 1941. His fall ended more than four centuries of Prussian and German monarchy. Historians still debate how much personal blame he deserves for the war; most see him not as a lone villain but as a flawed, blustering ruler whose choices helped push an entire system of rival empires over the edge into catastrophe.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Further reading