page_title: Wilhelm II, German Emperor
section_title: Shadow-Kaiser
hierarchical_section_title: Wilhelm II, German Emperor / World War I / Shadow-Kaiser
context_page_description: Wilhelm II, anglicised as William II, was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. His reign lasted from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. Despite cementing Germany’s status as a global power by building a blue-water navy and promoting scientific innovation, his tactless public statements and reckless foreign policy antagonized the international community and ultimately plunged his country into the First World War. When Germany was defeated in November 1918, he was forced to abdicate, thereby bringing an end to the Hohenzollern dynasty’s three-hundred year rule.
  As the eldest grandchild of Queen Victoria, Wilhelm's first cousins included George V of the United Kingdom and many princesses who, along with Wilhelm's sister Sophia, became European consorts. For most of his life before becoming emperor, he was second in line to succeed his grandfather Wilhelm I on the German and Prussian thrones after his father, Frederick. His grandfather and father both died in 1888, the Year of Three Emperors, making Wilhelm emperor and king. He dismissed the country's longtime chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, in 1890.
context_section_description: Wilhelm's role in wartime was one of ever-decreasing power as he increasingly handled awards ceremonies and honorific duties.  The high command continued with its strategy even when it was clear that the Schlieffen plan had failed. By 1916 the Empire had effectively become a military dictatorship under the control of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff.  Increasingly cut off from reality and the political decision-making process, Wilhelm vacillated between defeatism and dreams of victory, depending upon the fortunes of his armies.  Nevertheless, Wilhelm still retained the ultimate authority in matters of political appointment, and it was only after his consent had been gained that major changes to the high command could be effected. Wilhelm was in favour of the dismissal of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September 1914 and his replacement by Erich von Falkenhayn. In 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided that Bethman-Hollweg was no longer acceptable to them as Chancellor and called upon the Kaiser to appoint somebody else. When asked whom they would accept, Ludendorff recommended Georg Michaelis, a nonentity whom he barely knew. Despite this, he accepted the suggestion. Upon hearing in July 1917 that his cousin George V had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor, Wilhelm remarked that he planned to see Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The Kaiser's support collapsed completely in October–November 1918 in the army, in the civilian government, and in German public opinion, as President Woodrow Wilson made clear that the Kaiser could no longer be a party to peace negotiations. That year also saw Wilhelm sickened during the worldwide 1918 flu pandemic, though he survived.
caption: Italian poster from 1915 showing Wilhelm II biting into the world. The text reads "The glutton – too hard."