Wilhelm II

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Wilhelm II (b. 27 Jan. 1859, d. 4 June 1941). German Emperor ( Kaiser) 1888–1918 Upon his accession to the throne the young, self-confident monarch soon clashed with his Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck (b. 1815, d. 1898), whom he dismissed in 1890 to increase his own political influence. In an effort to end the increasing political polarization of German society, he proclaimed the conciliatory ‘New Course’ in 1890, but when this failed to stop the rise of socialism, he ordered his Chancellor to reintroduce measures to persecute the SPD through the Revolutions (Subversions) Bill, (Umsturzvorlage, 1894–5) and the Penitentiaries Bill (Zuchthausvorlage, 1899), measures which failed to get the necessary parliamentary support.

Subsequently his influence waned, and his political statements, such as those made in the Daily Telegraph Affair, became increasingly incoherent as well as controversial. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Tirpitz's plans for naval expansion, and he fully approved of his Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg's handling of the events following from the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo, though it is doubtful whether by 1914 his views had any bearings on political events. During the war he moved into the background. On the refusal of his generals led by Hindenburg to support him, he abdicated on 10 November 1918 and fled to Doorn in the Netherlands, where he died.

Wilhelm II (1859–1941), grandson of Wilhelm I, was the last German kaiser, 1888–1918.He dismissed Bismarck as chancellor and took a dominant role in making Germany a world power, enlarging its army, navy, and empire. His belligerent policy provoked brushes with U.S. naval forces at Samoa (1889) and Manila (1898), and he authorized naval contingency plans for blockades of the U.S. coast and assaults in the Caribbean.

Wilhelm had little accurate knowledge of the United States when he authorized the German Navy during World War I to begin unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917. By so doing, this insecure and garrulous narcissist brought America into the war against Germany, tipping the perilous balance against his country.

Although considered one of the dominant players on the world stage in 1913, from 14 August 1914—when he told the German High Command that it was their job to run the war, not his—until approximately 1967, Wilhelm II's importance in world affairs was downplayed. Recent historiography, however, has reestablished him as a key player in his era. He died in exile in the Netherlands.
[See also World War I: Causes; World War I: Military and Diplomatic Course; World War I: Changing Interpretations.]

Bibliography

Arden Bucholz , Moltke, Schlieffen and Prussian War Planning, 1991.
Thomas Kohut , Wilhelm II and the Germans, 1991.

Arden Bucholz