Wilhelm II , German Emperor Wilhelm II or William II ( ; " Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia " ; 27 January 18594 June 1941 ) was the last German Emperor ( " Kaiser " ) and King of Prussia , ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918 . He was the eldest grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe , two notable contemporary relations being his first cousin King George V of the United Kingdom , founder of the House of Windsor , and his second cousin Tsar Nicholas II of the House of Romanov , the last ruler of the Russian Empire before the Russian Revolution of 1917 which deposed the monarchy . Crowned in 1888 , he dismissed the Chancellor , Otto von Bismarck , in 1890 and launched Germany on a bellicose " New Course " in foreign affairs that culminated in his support for Austria - Hungary in the crisis of July 1914 that led to World War I . Bombastic and impetuous , he sometimes made tactless pronouncements on sensitive topics without consulting his ministers , culminating in a disastrous " Daily Telegraph " interview that cost him most of his power in 1908 . His top generals , Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff , dictated policy during World War I with little regard for the civilian government . An ineffective war leader , he lost the support of the army , abdicated in November 1918 , and fled to exile in the Netherlands . Biography . Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 at the Crown Prince ' s Palace in Berlin to Prince Frederick William of Prussia ( the future Frederick III ) and his wife , Victoria , Princess Royal of the United Kingdom . At the time of his birth , his great - uncle , Frederick William IV was king of Prussia , and his grandfather and namesake , Wilhelm , was acting as regent . He was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert , but more importantly , as the first son of the Crown Prince of Prussia , Wilhelm was ( from 1861 ) the second in the line of succession to Prussia , and also , after 1871 , to the German Empire , which , according to the constitution of the German Empire , was ruled by the Prussian King . A traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erb ' s palsy , making his left arm about 6 inches ( 15 centimeters ) shorter than his right arm , which he tried with some success to conceal . In many photos he carries a pair of white gloves in his left hand to make the arm seem longer , holds his left hand with his right , or has his crippled arm on the hilt of a sword or holding a cane to give the effect of a useful limb posed at a dignified angle . Historians have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development . Early years . In 1863 Wilhelm was taken to England to be present at the wedding of his Uncle Bertie , ( later King Edward VII ) , and Princess Alexandra of Denmark . William attended the ceremony in a Highland costume , complete with a small toy dirk . During the ceremony the four year old became restless . His eighteen year old Uncle Alfred , Duke of Edinburgh , charged with keeping an eye on him , told him to be quiet , but Wilhelm drew his dirk and threatened Alfred . When Alfred attempted to subdue the rebel by force , Wilhelm bit him on the leg . His Grandmother , Queen Victoria , missed seeing the fracas ; to her Wilhelm remained " a clever , dear , good little child , the great favorite of my beloved Vicky . His mother , Vicky , was obsessed by his damaged arm . She blamed herself for the child ' s handicap and insisted that he become a good rider . The thought that he , as Heir to the Throne , should not be able to ride was intolerable to her . Riding lesson began when Wilhelm was eight and was a matter of endurance for Wilhelm . Over and over , the weeping prince was set on his horse and compelled to go through the paces . He fell off time after time but despite his tears was set on its back again . After weeks of torture he finally got it right and was able to maintain his balance . Wilhelm , from six years of age , was tutored and heavily influenced by the 39 - year - old teacher Georg Hinzpeter . " Hinzpeter , " he later wrote , " was really a good fellow . Whether he was the right tutor for me , I dare not decide . The torments inflicted on me , in this pony riding , must be attributed to my mother . " As a teenager he was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium . In January 1877 Wilhelm finished high school and on his eighteenth birthday received as a present from his grandmother , Queen Victoria , the Order of the Garter . After Kassel he spent four terms at the University of Bonn , studying law and politics . He became a member of the exclusive " Corps Borussia Bonn " . Wilhelm possessed a quick intelligence , but unfortunately this was often overshadowed by a cantankerous temper . As a scion of the Royal house of Hohenzollern , Wilhelm was exposed from an early age to the military society of the Prussian aristocracy . This had a major impact on him and , in maturity , Wilhelm was seldom seen out of uniform . The hyper - masculine military culture of Prussia in this period did much to frame his political ideals and personal relationships . Crown Prince Frederick was viewed by his son with a deeply felt love and respect . His father ' s status as a hero of the wars of unification was largely responsible for the young Wilhelm ' s attitude , as in the circumstances in which he was raised ; close emotional contact between father and son was not encouraged . Later , as he came into contact with the Crown Prince ' s political opponents , Wilhelm came to adopt more ambivalent feelings toward his father , given the perceived influence of Wilhelm ' s mother over a figure who should have been possessed of masculine independence and strength . Wilhelm also idolised his grandfather , Wilhelm I , and he was instrumental in later attempts to foster a cult of the first German Emperor as " Wilhelm the Great " . However , he had a distant relationship with his mother . Despite his parents , ( especially his mother ' s ) , efforts to educate their son in British attitudes of democracy . He favoured his German tutors in aspiring to autocratic rule and thus became alienated from his parents , suspecting them of putting Britain ' s interests first . The German Emperor , Wilhelm I , watched as his grandson , guided principally by the Crown Princess Victoria , grew to manhood . When Wilhelm was nearing twenty - one the Emperor decided it was time his grandson should begin the military phase of his preparation for the throne . He was assigned as a lieutenant to the First Regiment of Foot Guards , stationed at Potsdam . " In the Guards , " Wilhelm said , " I really found my family , my friends , my interests - - everything of which I had up to that time had to do without . " As a boy and a student , his manner had been polite and agreeable ; as an officer , he began to strut and speak brusquely in the tone he deemed appropriate for a Prussian officer . In many ways , Wilhelm was a victim of his inheritance and of Otto von Bismarck ' s machinations . Both sides of his family had suffered from mental illness , and this may explain his emotional instability . When Wilhelm was in his early twenties , Bismarck tried to separate him from his parents ( who opposed Bismarck and his policies ) with some success . Bismarck planned to use the young prince as a weapon against his parents in order to retain his own political dominance . Wilhelm thus developed a dysfunctional relationship with his parents , but especially with his English mother . In an outburst in April 1889 , Wilhelm angrily implied that " an English doctor killed my father , and an English doctor crippled my arm – which is the fault of my mother " , who allowed no German physicians to attend to herself or her immediate family . As a young man , Wilhelm fell in love with one of his maternal first cousins , Princess Elisabeth of Hesse - Darmstadt . She , however , turned him down , and would , in time , marry into the Russian imperial family . In 1880 , however , Wilhelm became engaged to Augusta Victoria of Schleswig - Holstein , known as " Dona " . The couple married on 27 February 1881 , and would remain married for forty years , until her death in 1921 . In a period of ten years , between 1882 and 1892 , Augusta Victoria would bear Wilhelm seven children , six sons and a daughter . Beginning in 1884 , Bismarck began advocating that Kaiser Wilhelm send his grandson on various diplomatic missions , a privilege denied to the Crown Prince . That year , Prince Wilhelm was sent to the court of Tsar Alexander III in St . Petersburg to attend the coming of age ceremony of the sixteen - year - old Tsarevich Nicholas . However Wilhelm ' s behavior did little to ingratiate himself to the tsar . Two years later , Kaiser Wilhelm I took Prince Wilhelm on trip to meet with the Austro - Hungarian emperor , Franz Joseph . In 1886 , also , thanks to Herbert von Bismarck , the son of the Chancellor , Prince Wilhelm began to be trained twice a week at the Foreign Ministry . One privilege was denied to Prince Wilhelm : to represent Germany at his maternal grandmother , Queen Victoria ' s , Golden Jubilee Celebrations in London in 1887 . Next to the throne . The German Emperor Wilhelm I died in Berlin on 9 March 1888 , and Prince Wilhelm ' s father was proclaimed Emperor as Frederick III . He was already suffering from an incurable throat cancer and spent all 99 days of his reign fighting the disease before dying . On 15 June of that same year , his 29 - year - old son succeeded him as German Emperor and King of Prussia . Although in his youth he had been a great admirer of Otto von Bismarck , Wilhelm ' s characteristic impatience soon brought him into conflict with the " Iron Chancellor " , the dominant figure in the foundation of his empire . The new Emperor opposed Bismarck ' s careful foreign policy , preferring vigorous and rapid expansion to protect Germany ' s " place in the sun . " Furthermore , the young Emperor had come to the throne with the determination that he was going to rule as well as reign , unlike his grandfather , who had largely been content to leave day - to - day administration to Bismarck . Early conflicts between Wilhelm II and his chancellor soon poisoned the relationship between the two men . Bismarck believed that Wilhelm was a lightweight who could be dominated , and he showed scant respect for Wilhelm ' s policies in the late 1880s . The final split between monarch and statesman occurred soon after an attempt by Bismarck to implement a far - reaching anti - Socialist law in early 1890 . Break with Bismarck on labour policy . It was during this time that Bismarck , after gaining an absolute majority in favour of his policies in the Reichstag , decided to make the anti - Socialist laws permanent . His " Kartell " , the majority of the amalgamated Conservative Party and the National Liberal Party , favoured making the laws permanent , with one exception : the police power to expel Socialist agitators from their homes . This power had been used excessively at times against political opponents , and the National Liberal Party was unwilling to pass the expulsion clause in the first place . Bismarck would not give his assent to a modified bill , so the " Kartell " split over this issue . The Conservatives would support the bill only in its entirety and threatened to and eventually did veto the entire bill . As the debate continued , Wilhelm became more and more interested in social problems , especially the treatment of mine workers who went on strike in 1889 . Following his policy of active participation in government , he routinely interrupted Bismarck in Council to make clear where he stood on social policy . Bismarck sharply disagreed with Wilhelm ' s policy and worked to circumvent it . Even if Wilhelm supported the altered anti - Socialist bill , Bismarck pushed for his support to veto the bill in its entirety , but when Bismarck ' s arguments failed to convince Wilhelm , the Chancellor ( uncharacteristically ) blurted out his motive for having the bill fail : he wanted the Socialists to agitate until a violent clash occurred , which could be used as a pretext to crush them . Wilhelm replied that he would not open his reign with a bloody campaign against his subjects . " But it would be terrible if I had to stain the first years of my reign with the blood of my subjects . Everyone who means well by me will do his outmost to avert such a catastrophe . I intend to be " le roi des gueux " ! " ( the King of the Mob ! ) " My subjects shall know that their King is concerned for their welfare . " The next day , after realising his blunder , Bismarck attempted to reach a compromise with Wilhelm by agreeing to his social policy towards industrial workers and even suggested a European council to discuss working conditions , presided over by the German Emperor . Despite this , a turn of events eventually led to his distance from Wilhelm . Bismarck , feeling pressured and unappreciated by the Emperor and undermined by ambitious advisors , refused to sign a proclamation regarding the protection of workers along with Wilhelm , as was required by the German Constitution , to protest Wilhelm ' s ever - increasing interference with Bismarck ' s previously unquestioned authority . Bismarck also worked behind the scenes to break the council that Wilhelm held so dear . The final break came as Bismarck searched for a new parliamentary majority , with his " Kartell " voted from power due to the anti - Socialist bill fiasco . The remaining powers in the Reichstag were the Catholic Centre Party and the Conservative Party . Bismarck wished to form a new bloc with the Centre Party , and invited Ludwig Windthorst , the party ' s parliamentary leader , to discuss a coalition . Wilhelm was furious to hear about Windthorst ' s visit . In a parliamentary state , the head of government depends on the confidence of the parliamentary majority and has the right to form coalitions to ensure his policies a majority , but in Germany , the Chancellor had to depend on the confidence of the Emperor , and Wilhelm believed that the Emperor had the right to be informed before his ministers ' meeting . After a heated argument at Bismarck ' s estate over Imperial authority , Wilhelm stormed out . Bismarck , forced for the first time into a situation he could not use to his advantage , wrote a blistering letter of resignation , decrying Wilhelm ' s interference in foreign and domestic policy , which was published only after Bismarck ' s death . When Bismarck realised that his dismissal was imminent : Although Bismarck had sponsored landmark social security legislation , by 1889 – 90 , he had become disillusioned with the attitude of workers . In particular , he was opposed to wage increases , improving working conditions , and regulating labour relations . Moreover the " Kartell " , the shifting political coalition that Bismarck had been able to forge since 1867 , had lost a working majority in the Reichstag . Bismarck also attempted to sabotage the council that the Kaiser was organising . In March 1890 , the dismissal of Bismarck coincided with the Kaiser ' s opening of the Labour Conference in Berlin . Subsequently , at the opening of the Reichstag on 6 May 1890 , the Kaiser stated that the most pressing issue was " the further enlargement of the bill concerning the protection of the labourer . " In 1891 , the Reichstag passed the Workers Protection Acts , which improved working conditions , protected women and children and regulated labour relations . Wilhelm in control . Dismissal of Bismarck . Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II ' s insistence in 1890 , at the age of 75 , to be succeeded as Chancellor of Germany and Minister - President of Prussia by Leo von Caprivi , who in turn was replaced by Chlodwig , Prince of Hohenlohe - Schillingsfürst , in 1894 . Following the dismissal of Hohenlohe in 1900 , Wilhelm appointed the man whom he regarded as " his own Bismarck " , Bernhard von Bülow . In foreign policy Bismarck had achieved a fragile balance of interests between Germany , France and Russia — peace was at hand and Bismarck tried to keep it that way despite growing popular sentiment against Britain ( regarding colonies ) and especially against Russia . With Bismarck ' s dismissal the Russians now expected a reversal of policy in Berlin , so they quickly came to terms with France , beginning the process that by 1914 largely isolated Germany . In appointing Caprivi and then Hohenlohe , Wilhelm was embarking upon what is known to history as " the New Course " , in which he hoped to exert decisive influence in the government of the empire . There is debate amongst historians as to the precise degree to which Wilhelm succeeded in implementing " personal rule " in this era , but what is clear is the very different dynamic which existed between the Crown and its chief political servant ( the Chancellor ) in the " Wilhelmine Era " . These chancellors were senior civil servants and not seasoned politician - statesmen like Bismarck . Wilhelm wanted to preclude the emergence of another Iron Chancellor , whom he ultimately detested as being " a boorish old killjoy " who had not permitted any minister to see the Emperor except in his presence , keeping a stranglehold on effective political power . Upon his enforced retirement and until his dying day , Bismarck was to become a bitter critic of Wilhelm ' s policies , but without the support of the supreme arbiter of all political appointments ( the Emperor ) there was little chance of Bismarck exerting a decisive influence on policy . Something which Bismarck was able to effect was the creation of the " Bismarck myth " . This was a view — which some would argue was confirmed by subsequent events — that , with the dismissal of the Iron Chancellor , Wilhelm II effectively destroyed any chance Germany had of stable and effective government . In this view , Wilhelm ' s " New Course " was characterised far more as the German ship of state going out of control , eventually leading through a series of crises to the carnage of the First and Second World Wars . In the early twentieth century Wilhelm began to concentrate upon his real agenda ; the creation of a German navy that would rival that of Britain and enable Germany to declare itself a world power . He ordered his military leaders to read Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan ' s book , " The Influence of Sea Power upon History " , and spent hours drawing sketches of the ships that he wanted built . Bülow and Bethmann Hollweg , his loyal chancellors , looked after domestic affairs and Wilhelm began to spread alarm in the chancellories of Europe with his increasingly eccentric views on foreign affairs . Promoter of arts and sciences . Wilhelm II enthusiastically promoted the arts and sciences , as well as public education and social welfare . He sponsored the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the promotion of scientific research ; it was funded by wealthy private donors and by the state and comprised a number of research institutes in both pure and applied sciences . The Prussian Academy of Sciences was unable to avoid the Kaiser ' s pressure and lost some of its autonomy when it was forced to incorporate new programs in engineering , and award new fellowships in engineering sciences as a result of a gift from the Kaiser in 1900 . Wilhelm II supported the modernisers as they tried to reform the Prussian system of secondary education , which was rigidly traditional , elitist , politically authoritarian , and unchanged by the progress in the natural sciences . As hereditary Protector of the Order of Saint John , he offered encouragement to the Christian order ' s attempts to place German medicine at the forefront of modern medical practice through its system of hospitals , nursing sisterhood and nursing schools , and nursing homes throughout the German Empire . Wilhelm continued as Protector of the Order even after 1918 , as the position was in essence attached to the head of the House of Hohenzollern . Personality . Historians have frequently stressed the role of Wilhelm ' s personality in shaping his reign . Thus , Thomas Nipperdey concludes he was : Historian David Fromkin states that Wilhelm had a love - hate relationship with Britain . According to Fromkin : Langer et al . ( 1968 ) emphasize the negative international consequences of his erratic personality : Relationships with foreign relatives . As a grandchild of Queen Victoria , Wilhelm was a first cousin of England ' s King George V , as well as Queens Marie of Romania , Maud of Norway and Victoria Eugenie of Spain , as well as Empress Alexandra of Russia . In 1889 , Wilhelm ' s younger sister , Sophia , married the future King Constantine I of Greece . Wilhelm , infuriated over his sister ' s conversion to Greek Orthodoxy upon her marriage , attempted to bar her from Germany . His most contentious relationship , however , were with his English relatives . He craved for the acceptance of his grandmother , Queen Victoria , and his English relatives . Despite the fact that his grandmother treated him with courtesy and tact , his other relatives found him arrogant and obnoxious and his acceptance was largely denied by them . He especially had a bad relationship with his Uncle Bertie , the Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII . Between 1888 and 1901 , Wilhelm resented that his Uncle , a mere heir to the throne , treated him not as emperor of Germany , but as merely as his nephew . In turn , Wilhelm often snubbed his uncle , whom he referred to as " the old peacock " and lorded his position as emperor over him . Beginning in the 1890s , Wilhelm made visits to England for Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight and often competed against his uncle in the yacht races . Edward ' s wife , the Danish - born Alexandra , first as the Princess of Wales and then Queen , also disliked Wilhelm , never forgetting the Prussian seizure of Schleswig - Holstein from Denmark in the 1860s , as well as being annoyed over Wilhelm ' s treatment of his mother . Despite his poor relations with his English relations , nevertheless , when he received news that Queen Victoria was dying at Osborne House in January 1901 , he traveled to England and was at her bedside when she died and remained for the funeral . He also was present at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910 . In 1913 , Kaiser Wilhelm hosted a lavish wedding for his only daughter , Victoria Louise , in Berlin . Amongst the guests at the wedding were Tsar Nicholas II , who also disliked Wilhelm , as did his English cousin , King George V and his wife , Queen Mary . Antisemitism . Biographer Lamar Cecil had identified Wilhelm ' s " curious but well - developed anti - Semitism . " Cecil notes that in 1888 a friend of Wilhelm , " declared that the young Kaiser ' s dislike of his Hebrew subjects , one rooted in a perception that they possessed an overweening influence in Germany , was so strong that it could not be overcome . " Cecil concludes : On 2 December 1919 , Wilhelm wrote to Field Marshal August von Mackensen , denouncing his abdication as the " deepest , most disgusting shame ever perpetrated by a person in history , the Germans have done to themselves " , " egged on and misled by the tribe of Judah . . . Let no German ever forget this , nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed and exterminated from German soil ! " He advocated a " regular international all - worlds pogrom à la Russe " as " the best cure " and further believed that Jews were a " nuisance that humanity must get rid of some way or other . I believe the best would be gas ! " Foreign affairs . German foreign policy under Wilhelm II was faced with a number of significant problems . Perhaps the most apparent was that Wilhelm was an impatient man , subjective in his reactions and affected strongly by sentiment and impulse . He was personally ill - equipped to steer German foreign policy along a rational course . It is now widely recognised that the various spectacular acts which Wilhelm undertook in the international sphere were often partially encouraged by the German foreign policy elite . There were a number of notorious examples , such as the Kruger telegram of 1896 in which Wilhelm congratulated President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal Republic on the suppression of the British Jameson Raid , thus alienating British public opinion . Wilhelm invented and spread fears of a yellow peril trying to interest other European rulers in the perils they faced by invading Chinese ; few other leaders paid attention . Under Wilhelm Germany invested in strengthening its colonies in Africa and the Pacific , but few became profitable and all were lost during World War I . In Namibia a native revolt against German rule led to the Herero and Namaqua Genocide , although Wilhelm eventually ordered it to be stopped . One of the few times Wilhelm succeeded in personal diplomacy was when he supported Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in marrying Sophie Chotek in 1900 against the wishes of Emperor Franz Joseph . One domestic triumph for Wilhelm was when his daughter Victoria Louise married the Duke of Brunswick in 1913 ; this helped heal the rift between the House of Hanover and the House of Hohenzollern after the 1866 annexation of Hanover by Prussia . Hun speech ( 1900 ) . The “ Boxer rebellion , ” an anti - western uprising in China , was put down in 1900 by an international force of British , French , Russian , American , Japanese , and German troops . The Germans , however , forfeited any " prestige " they might have gained for their participation by arriving only after British and Japanese forces had taken Peking , the site of the fiercest fighting . Moreover , the poor impression left by the German troops ' late arrival was made worse by the Kaiser ' s ill - conceived farewell address , in which he commanded them , in the spirit of the Huns , to be merciless in battle . Wilhelm II delivered this speech in Bremerhaven on 27 July 1900 . He was addressing German troops who were departing to suppress the Boxer rebellion in China . The speech was infused by Wilhelm ' s fiery and chauvinistic rhetoric and clearly expressed his vision of German imperial power . There were two versions of the speech . The Foreign Office issued an edited version , making sure to omit one particularly incendiary paragraph that they regarded as diplomatically embarrassing . The edited version read like this : The official version omitted the following passage from which the speech derives its name ( emphasis added ) : The term " Hun " later became the favored epithet of Allied anti - German war propaganda during World War I . Moroccan Crisis . One of Wilhelm II ' s diplomatic blunders sparked the Moroccan Crisis of 1905 , when Wilhelm made a spectacular visit to Tangier , in Morocco . Wilhelm ' s presence was seen as an assertion of German interests in Morocco , in opposition to France . In his speech he even made certain remarks in favour of Moroccan independence . This led to friction with France , which had expanding colonial interests in Morocco , and led to the Algeciras Conference , which served largely to further isolate Germany in Europe . " Daily Telegraph " affair . Perhaps Wilhelm ' s most damaging personal blunder cost him much of his prestige and power , and had a far greater impact in Germany than internationally . The " Daily Telegraph " Affair of 1908 involved the publication in Germany of an interview with a British daily newspaper that included wild statements and diplomatically damaging remarks . Wilhelm had seen the interview as an opportunity to promote his views and ideas on Anglo - German friendship , but his emotional outbursts during the course of the interview ended up further alienating not only the British , but also the French , Russians and Japanese . He implied , among other things , that the Germans cared nothing for the British ; that the French and Russians had attempted to incite Germany to intervene in the Second Boer War ; and that the German naval buildup was targeted against the Japanese , not Britain . One memorable quotation from the interview was , " You English are mad , mad , mad as March hares . " The effect in Germany was quite significant , with serious calls for his abdication . Wilhelm kept a very low profile for many months after the " Daily Telegraph " fiasco , but later exacted his revenge by forcing the resignation of the chancellor , Prince Bülow , who had abandoned the Emperor to public scorn by not having the transcript edited before its German publication . British public opinion had been quite favourable toward the Kaiser in his first 12 years on the throne , but turned sour in the late 1890s . During the World War , however , he became the central target of British anti - German propaganda as the personification of a hated enemy . Naval expansion . Nothing Wilhelm II did in the international arena was of more influence than his decision to pursue a policy of massive naval construction . A powerful navy was Wilhelm ' s pet project . He had inherited from his mother a love of the British Royal Navy , which was at that time the world ' s largest . He once confided to his uncle , Edward VII , that his dream was to have a " fleet of my own some day " . Wilhelm ' s frustration over his fleet ' s poor showing at the Fleet Review at his grandmother Queen Victoria ' s Diamond Jubilee celebrations , combined with his inability to exert German influence in South Africa following the dispatch of the Kruger telegram , led to Wilhelm taking definitive steps toward the construction of a fleet to rival that of his British cousins . Wilhelm was fortunate to be able to call on the services of the dynamic naval officer Alfred von Tirpitz , whom he appointed to the head of the Imperial Naval Office in 1897 . The new admiral had conceived of what came to be known as the " Risk Theory " or the Tirpitz Plan , by which Germany could force Britain to accede to German demands in the international arena through the threat posed by a powerful battlefleet concentrated in the North Sea . Tirpitz enjoyed Wilhelm ' s full support in his advocacy of successive naval bills of 1897 and 1900 , by which the German navy was built up to contend with that of the United Kingdom . Naval expansion under the Fleet Acts eventually led to severe financial strains in Germany by 1914 , as by 1906 Wilhelm had committed his navy to construction of the much larger , more expensive dreadnought type of battleship . In 1889 Wilhelm II reorganised top level control of the navy by creating a Navy Cabinet ( Marine - Kabinett ) equivalent to the German Imperial Military Cabinet which had previously functioned in the same capacity for both the army and navy . The Head of the navy cabinet was responsible for promotions , appointments , administration and issuing orders to naval forces . Captain Gustav von Senden - Bibran was appointed as its first head and remained so until 1906 . The existing Imperial admiralty was abolished and its responsibilities divided between two organisations . A new position ( equivalent to the supreme commander of the army ) was created , chief of the high command of the admiralty ( Oberkommando der Marine ) , being responsible for ship deployments , strategy and tactics . Vice Admiral Max von der Goltz was appointed in 1889 and remained in post until 1895 . Construction and maintenance of ships and obtaining supplies was the responsibility of the State Secretary of the Imperial Navy Office ( Reichsmarineamt ) , responsible to the Chancellor and advising the Reichstag on naval matters . The first appointee was Rear Admiral Eduard Heusner , followed shortly by Rear Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann from 1890 to 1897 . Each of these three heads of department reported separately to Wilhelm II . In addition to the expansion of the fleet the Kiel Canal was opened in 1895 enabling faster movements between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea . World War I . The Sarajevo crisis . Wilhelm was a friend of Franz Ferdinand , Archduke of Austria , and he was deeply shocked by his assassination on 28 June 1914 . Wilhelm offered to support Austria - Hungary in crushing the Black Hand , the secret organization that had plotted the killing , and even sanctioned the use of force by Austria against the perceived source of the movement — Serbia ( this is often called " the blank cheque " ) . He wanted to remain in Berlin until the crisis was resolved , but his courtiers persuaded him instead to go on his annual cruise of the North Sea on 6 July 1914 . Wilhelm made erratic attempts to stay on top of the crisis via telegram , and when the Austro - Hungarian ultimatum was delivered to Serbia , he hurried back to Berlin . He reached Berlin on 28 July , read a copy of the Serbian reply , and wrote on it : Unknown to the Emperor , Austro - Hungarian ministers and generals had already convinced the 84 - year - old Franz Joseph I of Austria to sign a declaration of war against Serbia . As a direct consequence , Russia began a general mobilization to attack Austria in defense of Serbia . July 1914 . On the night of 30 July , when handed a document stating that Russia would not cancel its mobilization , Wilhelm wrote a lengthy commentary containing these observations : More recent British authors state that Wilhelm II really declared , " Ruthlessness and weakness will start the most terrifying war of the world , whose purpose is to destroy Germany . Because there can no longer be any doubts , England , France and Russia have conspired them selves together to fight an annihilation war against us " . When it became clear that Germany would experience a war on two fronts and that the United Kingdom would enter the war if Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium , the panic - stricken Wilhelm attempted to redirect the main attack against Russia . When Helmuth von Moltke ( the younger ) ( who had chosen the old plan from 1905 , made by the former German general von Schlieffen for the possibility of German war on two fronts ) told him that this was impossible , Wilhelm said : " " Your uncle would have given me a different answer ! " " Wilhelm is also reported to have said , " " To think that George and Nicky should have played me false ! If my grandmother had been alive , she would never have allowed it . " " In the original Schlieffen plan , Germany would attack the ( supposed ) weaker enemy first , meaning France . The plan supposed that it would take a long time before Russia was ready for war . Defeating France had been easy for Prussia in the Franco - Prussian War in 1870 . At the 1914 border between France and Germany , an attack at this more southern part of France could be stopped by the French fortress along the border . However , Wilhelm II got von Moltke ( the younger ) to not also invade the Netherlands . Shadow - Kaiser . Wilhelm ' s role in wartime was 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 he barely knew . The Kaiser did not know Michaelis , but 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 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 . Abdication and flight . Wilhelm was at the Imperial Army headquarters in Spa , Belgium , when the uprisings in Berlin and other centres took him by surprise in late 1918 . Mutiny among the ranks of his beloved Kaiserliche Marine , the imperial navy , profoundly shocked him . After the outbreak of the German Revolution , Wilhelm could not make up his mind whether or not to abdicate . Up to that point , he accepted that he would likely have to give up the imperial crown , but still hoped to retain the Prussian kingship . The unreality of this belief was revealed when , in the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest , Chancellor Prince Max of Baden announced Wilhelm ' s abdication of both titles on 9 November 1918 . Prince Max himself was forced to resign later the same day , when it became clear that only Friedrich Ebert , leader of the SPD , could effectively exert control . Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff ' s replacement , General Wilhelm Groener , had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Paul von Hindenburg ' s command , but would certainly not fight for Wilhelm ' s throne on the home front . The monarchy ' s last and strongest support had been broken , and finally even Hindenburg , himself a lifelong royalist , was obliged , with some embarrassment , to advise the Emperor to give up the crown . The fact that the High Command might one day abandon the Kaiser had been foreseen in December 1897 , when Wilhelm had visited Otto von Bismarck for the last time . Bismarck had again warned the Kaiser about the increasing influence of militarists , especially of the admirals who were pushing for the construction of a battle fleet . Bismarck ' s last warning had been : Subsequently , Bismarck had predicted accurately : On 10 November , Wilhelm — now Wilhelm Hohenzollern , private citizen — crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands , which had remained neutral throughout the war . Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919 , Article 227 expressly provided for the prosecution of Wilhelm " for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties " , but Queen Wilhelmina refused to extradite him , despite appeals from the Allies . King George V wrote that he looked on his cousin as " the greatest criminal in history " , but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George ' s proposal to " hang the Kaiser " . President Woodrow Wilson of the United States rejected extradition , arguing that punishing Wilhelm for waging war would destabilize international order and lose the peace . Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen , where on 28 November he issued a formal statement of abdication and released his soldiers and officials from their oath of loyalty to him , thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns ' 400 - year rule over Prussia . He subsequently purchased a country house in the municipality of Doorn , known as Huis Doorn , on 16 August 1919 and moved in on 15 May 1920 . This was to be his home for the remainder of his life . Although he had abdicated , he never formally relinquished his titles , and hoped to return to Germany in the future . The Weimar Republic allowed Wilhelm to remove twenty - three railway wagons of furniture , twenty - seven containing packages of all sorts , one bearing a car and another a boat , from the New Palace at Potsdam . Life in exile . In 1922 , Wilhelm published the first volume of his memoirs — a very slim volume that insisted he was not guilty of initiating the Great War , and defended his conduct throughout his reign , especially in matters of foreign policy . For the remaining twenty years of his life , he entertained guests ( often of some standing ) and kept himself updated on events in Europe . He grew a beard and allowed his famous moustache to droop . He also learned the Dutch language . Wilhelm developed a penchant for archaeology while residing at the Corfu Achilleion , excavating at the site of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu , a passion he retained in his exile . He had bought the former Greek residence of Empress Elisabeth after her murder in 1898 . He also sketched plans for grand buildings and battleships when he was bored . In exile , one of Wilhelm ' s greatest passions was hunting , and he bagged thousands of animals , both beast and bird . Much of his time was spent chopping wood and thousands of trees were chopped down during his stay at Doorn . In the early 1930s , Wilhelm apparently hoped that the successes of the German Nazi Party would stimulate interest in a restoration of the monarchy , with his eldest grandson as the fourth Kaiser . His second wife , Hermine ( see below ) , actively petitioned the Nazi government on her husband ' s behalf . However , Adolf Hitler ( himself a World War I veteran ) and the Nazis felt nothing but scorn for the man they blamed for Germany ' s greatest defeat , and the petitions were ignored . Though he hosted Hermann Göring at Doorn on at least one occasion , Wilhelm grew to mistrust Hitler . Hearing of the murder of the wife of former Chancellor Schleicher , " We have ceased to live under the rule of law and everyone must be prepared for the possibility that the Nazis will push their way in and put them up against the wall ! " Wilhelm was also appalled at the Kristallnacht of 9 – 10 November 1938 saying , " I have just made my views clear to Auwi [ Wilhelm ' s fourth son ] in the presence of his brothers . He had the nerve to say that he agreed with the Jewish pogroms and understood why they had come about . When I told him that any decent man would describe these actions as gangsterisms , he appeared totally indifferent . He is completely lost to our family " . He also stated , " For the first time , I am ashamed to be a German . " In the wake of the German victory over Poland in September 1939 , Wilhelm ' s adjutant , General von Dommes , wrote on his behalf to Hitler , stating that the House of Hohenzollern " remained loyal " and noted that nine Prussian Princes ( one son and eight grandchildren ) were stationed at the front , concluding " because of the special circumstances that require residence in a neutral foreign country , His Majesty must personally decline to make the aforementioned comment . The Emperor has therefore charged me with making a communication . " Wilhelm greatly admired the success which Hitler was able to achieve in the opening months of the Second World War , and personally sent a congratulatory telegram on the fall of Paris stating " Congratulations , you have won using " my " troops . " In a letter to his daughter Victoria Louise , the Duchess of Brunswick , he wrote triumphantly , " Thus is the pernicious Entente Cordiale of Uncle Edward VII brought to nought . " Nevertheless , after the Nazi conquest of the Netherlands in 1940 , the aging Wilhelm retired completely from public life . In May 1940 , when Hitler invaded the Netherlands , Wilhelm declined an offer from Churchill for asylum in the UK , preferring to die at " Huis Doorn " . During his last year at Doorn , Wilhelm believed that Germany was the land of monarchy and therefore of Christ and that England was the land of liberalism and therefore of Satan and the Anti - Christ . He argued that the English ruling classes were " Freemasons thoroughly infected by Juda " . Wilhelm asserted that the " British people must be " liberated " from " Antichrist Juda " . We must drive Juda out of England just as he has been chased out of the Continent . " He believed the Freemasons and Jews had caused the two world wars , aiming at a world Jewish empire with British and American gold , but that " Juda ' s plan has been smashed to pieces and they themselves swept out of the European Continent ! " Continental Europe was now , Wilhelm wrote , " consolidating and closing itself off from British influences after the elimination of the British and the Jews ! " The end result would be a " U . S . of Europe ! " In a letter to his sister Princess Margaret in 1940 , Wilhelm wrote : " The hand of God is creating a new world & working miracles . . . We are becoming the U . S . of Europe under German leadership , a united European Continent . " He added : " The Jews [ are ] being thrust out of their nefarious positions in all countries , whom they have driven to hostility for centuries . " Also in 1940 came what would have been his mother ' s 100th birthday , of which he ironically wrote to a friend " Today the 100th birthday of my mother ! No notice is taken of it at home ! No ' Memorial Service ' or . . . committee to remember her marvellous work for the . . . welfare of our German people . . . Nobody of the new generation knows anything about her . " This sympathy for his mother is in sharp contrast to the intense animosity he expressed for her during most of her life . Death . Wilhelm II died of a pulmonary embolus in Doorn , Netherlands on 3 June 1941 aged 82 , just weeks before the German invasion of the Soviet Union . German soldiers had been guarding his estate . Adolf Hitler , however , was reportedly angry that the former monarch had an honor guard of German troops and nearly fired the general who ordered them there when he found out . Despite his personal animosity toward Wilhelm , Hitler wanted to bring Wilhelm ' s body back to Berlin for a state funeral , as Wilhelm was a symbol of Germany and Germans during World War I . Hitler felt this would demonstrate to Germans the direct succession of the Third Reich from the old Kaiserreich . However , Wilhelm ' s wishes of never returning to Germany until the restoration of the monarchy were respected , and the Nazi occupation authorities granted a small military funeral with a few hundred people present , the mourners including August von Mackensen , fully dressed in his old imperial hussar uniform , Admiral Wilhelm Canaris , and " Reichskommissar " for the Netherlands Arthur Seyss - Inquart , along with a few other military advisers . Wilhelm ' s request that the swastika and other Nazi regalia not be displayed at the final rites was ignored , however , and they are featured in the photos of the funeral that were taken by a Dutch photographer . He was buried in a mausoleum in the grounds of Huis Doorn , which has since become a place of pilgrimage for German monarchists . Small but enthusiastic and faithful numbers of them gather at Huis Doorn every year on the anniversary of his death to pay their homage to the last German Emperor . Historiography . Three trends have characterized the writing about Wilhelm . First , the court - inspired writers who considered him a martyr and a hero . Often they uncritically accepted the justifications provided in the Kaiser ' s memoirs . Second , those who judged Wilhelm as completely unable to handle the great responsibilities of his position , a ruler who was too reckless to deal with power . Third , after 1950 , scholars sought to transcend the passions of the 1910s and attempted objective portrayal of Wilhelm II and his rule . On 8 June 1913 , a year before the Great War began , " The New York Times " published a special supplement devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Kaiser ' s coronation . The banner headline read : " " Kaiser , 25 Years a Ruler , Hailed as Chief Peacemaker " " . The accompanying story called him " the greatest factor for peace that our time can show " — and credited Wilhelm with frequently rescuing Europe from the brink of war . Until the late 1950s the Kaiser was depicted by most historians as man of considerable influence . Partly that was a deception by German officials . For example , President Theodore Roosevelt believed the Kaiser was in control of German foreign policy because Hermann Speck von Sternburg , the German ambassador in Washington and personal friend of Roosevelt , presented messages of Chancellor von Bülow to the president as messages from the Kaiser . Then historians downplayed his role , arguing senior officials learned to work around him . More recently historian John C . G . Röhl has portrayed Wilhelm II as the key figure in understanding the recklessness and downfall of Imperial Germany . Thus the argument is made that the Kaiser played a major role in promoting the policies of naval and colonial expansion that caused the sharp deterioration in Germany ' s relations with Britain before 1914 . First marriage and issue . Wilhelm and his first wife , Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig - Holstein , were married on 27 February 1881 . They had seven children : Empress Augusta , known affectionately as " Dona " , was a constant companion to Wilhelm , and her death on 11 April 1921 was a devastating blow . It also came less than a year after their son Joachim committed suicide . Remarriage . The following January , Wilhelm received a birthday greeting from a son of the late Prince Johann George Ludwig Ferdinand August Wilhelm of Schönaich - Carolath . The 63 - year - old Wilhelm invited the boy and his mother , Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz , to Doorn . Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive , and greatly enjoyed her company . The couple were wed on 9 November 1922 , despite the objections of Wilhelm ' s monarchist supporters and his children . Hermine ' s daughter , Princess Henriette , married the late Prince Joachim ' s son , Karl Franz Josef , in 1940 , but divorced in 1946 . Hermine remained a constant companion to the aging Emperor until his death .