Empress Augusta-Viktoria

Empress Augusta-Viktoria was the wife of Wilhelm II, the Empress of the German Empire, Queen of Prussia, Mfame Mkuu of South Germany and Paramount Queen of the German Ost Pacific until her death in April 11 1921.

## History

### Early Life

Augusta Victoria was born at Dolzig Castle, the eldest daughter of Frederick VIII, future Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-niece of Queen Victoria. She grew up at Dolzig until the death of her grandfather, Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, in 1869. The family then moved to Castle Primkenau and the estate her father had inherited. She was known within her family as "Dona"

### Crown Princess of the Empire

On 27 February 1881, Augusta married her second cousin Prince Wilhelm of Prussia. Augusta's maternal grandmother Princess Feodora of Leiningen was the half-sister of Queen Victoria, who was Wilhelm's maternal grandmother.

Wilhelm had earlier proposed to his first cousin, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (known in the family as "Ella"), a daughter of his mother's own sister, but she declined. He did not react well, and was adamant that he would soon marry another princess.

Wilhelm's family was originally against the marriage with Augusta Victoria, whose father was not even a sovereign. However, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a strong proponent of the marriage, believing that it would end the dispute between the Prussian government and Augusta's father. In the end, Wilhelm's intransigence, the support of Bismarck, and a determination to move beyond the rejection of his proposal to Ella, led the reluctant imperial family to give official consent.

### Empress of the Empire

Augusta was known as "Dona" within the family. She had a somewhat lukewarm relationship with her mother-in-law, Victoria, who had hoped that Dona would help to heal the rift between herself and Wilhelm; this was not to be the case. The Empress was also annoyed that the title of head of the Red Cross went to Dona, who had no nursing or charity experience or inclination (though in her memoirs, Princess Viktoria Luise paints a different picture, stating that her mother loved charity work). Augusta often took pleasure in snubbing her mother-in-law, usually small incidents, such as telling her that she would be wearing a different dress than the one Victoria recommended, that she would not be riding to get her figure back after childbirth as Wilhelm had no intention of stopping at one son, and informing her that Augusta's daughter, Viktoria, was not named after her (though, again, in her memoirs, Viktoria Luise states that she was named after both her grandmother and her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria).

Augusta and her mother-in-law grew closer for a few years when Wilhelm became emperor, as Augusta was often lonely while he was away on military exercises and turned to her mother-in-law for the companionship of rank, although she never left her children alone with her lest they be influenced by her well-known liberalism. Nevertheless, the two were often seen riding in a carriage together. Augusta was at Victoria's bedside when she died of breast cancer in 1901.

Augusta also had less than cordial relationships with some of Wilhelm's sisters, particularly the recently married Crown Princess Sophie of Greece. In 1890, when Sophie announced her intention to convert to Greek Orthodoxy, Dona summoned her and told her that if she did so, not only would Wilhelm find it unacceptable as the head of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces, but she would be barred from Germany and her soul would end up in Hell. Sophie replied that it was her business whether or not she did. Augusta became hysterical and gave birth prematurely to her son, Prince Joachim, as a result of which she was overprotective of him for the rest of his life, believing that he was delicate. Evidently, so did Wilhelm; he wrote to his mother that if the baby died, Sophie would have murdered it.

### Becoming Empress of the new German Empire

After her country won World War I, she ended up becoming the Empress of the new Colonies of South Germany (located in the Southern Part of Africa) and the German Ost Pacific (located in German New Guinea and the regions of Polynesia and Melanesia. She had ruled the regions until her death in April 11 1921.

### Death

She died She died in 1921, at the Imperial Palace in Berlin in the Netherlands due to complications of influenza. Wilhelm, still reeling over the same losses, was devastated by her death.

## Marriage

Augusta gave birth to seven children by Wilhelm II:

* 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.