Wilhelm II

## Wilhelm II, German Emperor

### Spouse

Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (Married 1881-died 1921)
Hermine Reuss of Greiz (married 1922)

### Children

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince
Prince Eitel Friedrich
Adalbert I, Emir of England
Prince August Wilhelm
Prince Oskar
Prince Joachim
Viktoria Luise, Duchess of Brunswick

### Relatives

Wilhelm I of Germany (Paternal Grandfather)
Victoria (Maternal Grandmother)

## Military Fighter

### Wars

World War I

Kaiser Wilhelm II is the current German Emperor and King of Prussia. Son of the short-lived Kaiser Friedrich III, Wilhelm has been reigning since 15 June 1888, and therefore is currently the oldest and longest-reigning prince of the German Empire. Head of the House of Hohenzollern, he is the father of the Kronprinz Wilhelm, Prince Eitel Friedrich, Emir Adalbert of England, Prince August William, Prince Oskar, Prince Joachim, and Princess Viktoria Luise, Duchess of Brunswick.

Wilhelm is considered a kind of "Male Victoria", in reference to his famous grandmother, and as the "Father of Mitteleuropa". The now old Kaiser is seen as the key symbol of German hegemony over the world and of his nation's dreams of finally creating the Empire of Eternal Spring.

## History

### Early Life

Wilhelm II was born in Berlin, then capital of kingdom of Prussia, to prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, on January 27th, 1859. He was Queen Victoria's first grandchild. Due to a complicated breech birth, the young Hohenzollern had to live with a shorter left arm, which he has tried to hide his whole life, taking measures like carrying a pair of white gloves to make his arm seeming longer. Educated at Friedrichgymansium Kassel and at the University of Bonn, the second in the line to the throne of Prussia was noticed for his quick intelligence and interests in science and technology, unfortunately overshadowed by a cantankerous temper and a suspected megalomania, as he believed the monarchy ruled by the grace of God. His immersion from a young age in Prussia's militaristic and aristocratic society also made a deep impression on the young man.

His grandfather, Wilhelm I, the first German Emperor, died on March 9th, 1888, and was replaced by Wilhelm's father, the Kronprinz, ruling under the name of Friedrich III. Unfortunately, the Kaiser was already fighting against an incurable throat cancer, and he died on June 15th, after only 99 days of reign. He became Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and German Emperor, with one of his heroes as Reichskanzler, Otto von Bismarck himself.

### New Course

The new Kaiser soon began conflicting with the old "Iron Chancellor". The young man was impatient and dreamed of vigorous and rapid expansion for the German Empire, plus a rivalry with the almighty British Empire, while von Bismarck had taken every step possible to put Germany on friendly terms with all of Europe's major powers. Taking advantage of a parliamentary dispute about social laws and with the support of von Bismarck's rivals, the Kaiser forced the father of the German Empire to resign in 1890.

Appointing some puppet chancellors (Count Leo von Caprivi 1890-1894, Prince Chlodwig von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst 1894-1900) to avoid dealing with a Reichskanzler powerful and popular as von Bismarck again, Wilhelm began ruling directly, promoting the development of the Kaiserliche Marine under the authority of Grand Admiral **Alfred von Tirpitz** and began a rivalry with the United Kingdom, mostly of a colonial nature. For instance, he sent a telegram to President Kruger of the Transvaal congratulating his victory against the British Army (1896), and made several pompous visits in Ottoman Emire. Despite appointing stronger Reichskanzlers like Prince Bernhard von Bülow (1900-1909) and Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1909-1917) to carry out his policies, his efforts were without success.

Asserting German rights in Morocco in 1906 and 1911 nearly provoked an earlier Weltkrieg, and his speech to the German colonial troops sent to put down the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, encouraging them to act as the Huns and commit atrocities, branded him a monarch of gaffes. His inconsistent foreign policy only encouraged Britain, upset by his declarations, to ally with France in the Entente Cordiale, and destroyed any efforts for German-Russian friendship. Germany became soon isolated, its only allies being the weak Austria-Hungary and unreliable Italy.

### Shadow Kaiser/Figurehead

The Kaiser's diplomacy put Germany in a risky position, being surrounded by both France and Russia, and facing the Royal Navy at sea. When the Weltkrieg began after the July Crisis, his hope of the Schlieffen Plan delivering a knockout blow to France was dashed. With the conflict entering a stalemate and the Royal Navy blockade intensifying, Wilhelm soon proved that he was not the best man for military matters.

Wilhelm was best for Diplomatic matters as he met with leaders of native proxies of the Military and accepted their allegiance to help the Military. He let Hindenburg and Luddendorff handle the Military matters as he puppeted diplomat units of his proxies to fund rebellions in the colonies of France and Britain. He met with Emperor Tashio and told him to invade the British and French colonies in Asia and in return he annexes them with the Marshall, Carolina and Solomon Islands. Tashio agrees to the operation as he met with his Prime Minister, Terauchi Masatake to discuss the plan.

Wilhelm helped Teddy Roosevelt and Terauchi Masatake get Reza Shah to rebel against the Qajar Dynasty and overthrow them as Reza becomes Shahanshah of Persia. The rebellion was successful as the Qajars were overthrown and Reza becomes Shahanshah of Persia as he then conquers Afghanistan, The Persian Gulf States, Khanate of Khiva, Sultanate of Zanzibar and the Emirate of Bukhara and he blocked the Suez Canal. Wilhelm helped Reza get a successful invasion of India due to the mass protests against British rule. Germany then invades the rest of the African colonies with aid of Italy and Spain

The Colonial operations for Germany were successful and Germany then finished invasions of France and Britain which made them surrender. The Treaty of Tokyo was signed and Wilhelm then celebrated German victory.

Wilhelm helped Bahadur Bonaparte overthrow the Third French Republic and after the rebellion was successful, he recognized Bahadur Bonaparte as Emperor.

### Aftermath

Wilhelm's first wife died and he later on married again. in 1922 Erich Ludendorff had overthrown the Chancellory and became President of the Privy Council as Adolf Hitler became Prime Minister in 1922.

## Personal Life

### Parents

Wilhelm was the eldest child of then Prussian Kronprinz Friedrich von Hohenzollern, later Kaiser **Friedrich III**, son of Wilhelm I of Prussia, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Thus, Wilhelm II was related to many dynasties throughout Europe. Raised in Prussia's militarized society, Wilhelm was called William by his mother, who insisted on talking to her children in her birth language. Some say it was determinant in his feelings of animosity towards England. Wilhelm had also a lot of admiration for his father, seeing him as a hero of the unification wars, but his feelings became more ambivalent when he came into contact with his father's political opponents. The Kaiser also tried to foster a cult of his namesake grandfather, calling him "Wilhelm the Great".

### Marriages

In February, 27 1881, Wilhelm II married the eldest daughter of Duke Friedrich VIII of Schleswig-Holstein, the *Princess Auguste Viktoria Friederike Luise Feodora Jenny of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg*, who was known as Empress Augusta-Viktoria (born October 22nd, 1858). They had seven children together, but the Empress died on April 11th, 1921, from complications of influenza.

#### **Empress Augusta-Viktoria children.**

* Kronprinz Wilhelm (born 1882) married Married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had six children.
* Prince Eitel Friedrich (b. 1883). Married Duchess Sophie Charlotte Holstein-Gottorp of Oldenburg, they had no children.
* Emir Adalbert of England (b. 1884) Married Adelheid Arna Karoline Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen, had two living children. As monarch of another country, he renounced to his rights to the German and Prussian thrones as he became Emir of England.
* Prince August William (b. 1887) Married Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, had a son named Prince Alexander of Prussia. He later on divorced Alexandria and won custody of Alexander. Married Mary Fuller a Silent Film Actress from America.
* Prince Oskar (b. 1888) - married morganically Countess Ina-Marie Helene Adele Elise von Bassewitz.
* Prince Joachim (b. 1890) - Married Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt, had one son.
* Princess Viktoria Luise, Duchess of Brunswick (b. 1892) - is the Duchess of Braunschweig. Married Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick, had five children.

Taking advantage of the Kaiser's birthday in 1922, the recently widowed Princess Hermine of Reuss-Greiz (born on December, 17 1887), was invited with her son to the Imperial Palace. The old Kaiser found the widow very attractive, despite the fact she was 30 years younger than him and had already five children. Despite the grumblings of his personal advisors and his children, the Kaiser married the woman on November, 9 1922, now known as Empress Hermine.

### Free Time

The Kaiser lives, like all his predecessors, in the Stadtschloss Palace in Berlin. In the summer, he is used to spend his vacations near the Norwegian coasts on one of his private yachts. He has also some a certain appeal about wearing uniforms in several occasions (like wearing an admiral's uniform while visiting an aquarium), and also loves to hunt the stag in Prussian forests in company of his advisors. Despite his arm malformation, he also loves the horse ridings and always keeps a saddle in his office.

## Titles

* **27 January 1859 – 9 March 1888:** *His Royal Highness* Prince Wilhelm of Prussia
* **9 March 1888 – 15 June 1888**: *His Imperial and Royal Highness* The German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia
* **15 June 1888 – present:** *His Imperial and Royal Majesty* The German Emperor, King of Prussia

### Full Title

*His Imperial and Royal Majesty Wilhelm the Second, by the Grace of God, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern, Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz, Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen, Duke in Saxony, of Angria, of Westphalia, of Pomerania and of Lüneburg, Duke of Schleswig, of Holstein and of Crossen, Duke of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelderland, of Limburg and of Jülich, Cleves and Berg, Duke of the Wends and the Kashubians, of Lauenburg and of Mecklenburg, Landgrave of Hesse and in Thuringia, Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Prince of Orange, of Rugen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and of Pyrmont, Prince of Halberstadt, of Münster, of Minden, of Osnabrück, of Hildesheim, of Verden, of Kammin, of Fulda, of Nassau and of Moers, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, of Tecklenburg and of Lingen, Count of Mansfeld, of Sigmaringen and of Veringen, Lord of Frankfurt*

## Leaders

### Chancellors

* Otto von Bismarck (1888-1890), non-partisan
* Leo von Caprivi (1890-1894), non-partisan
* Chlodwig von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1894-1900), non-partisan
* Bernhard von Bülow (1900-1909), non-partisan
* Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1909-1917), non-partisan
* Georg Michaelis (1917-1917), non-partisan
* Georg von Hertling (1917-1918), Zentrum
* Paul von Hindenburg (1918-1922), non-partisan
* Alfred von Tirpitz (1922-1922), DVLP

### President of the Privy Council

* Erich Ludendorff (1922-Present), Nationalist Military Party

### Prime Minister

* Adolf Hitler (1922-Present), Nationalist Military Party