[June 4] Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany

Full Name: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Preußen

Parents: Frederick III, emperor of Germany, and Victoria of the United Kingdom

Date of Birth: 27 January 1859

House: Hohenzollern
Spouse: (1) Augusta Victoria, daughter of Frederick VIII, duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, then (2) Hermine, daughter of Heinrich XXII, prince of Greiz, and Ida Mathilde Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe

Predecessor: Frederick III

Reign: 1888 – 1918

Summary: In the world of monarchs, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany is often viewed as one of the most vile, comparable to the likes of Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, or Napoleon I. In many ways, he is very much like them in his vision, but his status as the last monarch of the German Empire and the promoter of the First World War has left an indelible mark on his name. He was the eldest son of the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and as such held a high status among her grandchildren, many of whom ruled or sat beside rulers of monarchies in Europe. Wilhelm was raised in the military arts at a very young age and the prince was rarely seen out of uniform. This strongly effected his later development as emperor. Wilhelm watched in awe as his grandfather and father unified Germany in the 1860s, yet by the 1870s, Wilhelm had grown distant from his family, partially due to the machinations of Otto von Bismarck. When Emperor Wilhelm I died in 1888, Prince Wilhelm's father was already in the advanced stages of throat cancer. Three months later, Wilhelm II was the third and final German Emperor. 

Bismarck continued to try and administer the empire for Wilhelm, but the young emperor wanted none of it. By 1890, Bismarck was forced out of the government and Wilhelm took over control of the government directly. Wilhelm II supported the arts and sciences, promoted workers rights, and sought expansion both in Europe and abroad. Attempts to colonize areas in Asia and Africa largely failed, requiring heavy resources to support little if any profit. To support his goal of expansion, Wilhelm financed a complete overhaul of the German navy with the goal of rivaling the navy of Britain. This all led to the unfortunate events of 1914. Wilhelm was a personal friend of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his assassination on 28 June 1914 led to Wilhelm agreeing to help Austria tracked down the Black Hand leadership, which was responsible for the kill. Austria agreed to declare war on Serbia, which in turn triggered Russia to declare war on Austria. Germany had no choice but to respond and decided that attacking France would be the better first move in a war that was sure to include France and Britain. World War I thus began. Throughout the war, Wilhelm became increasingly distant from the government and military, becoming merely a ceremonial figure in the shadow of Chief Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg. When the United States joined in the war in 1917, Woodrow Wilson made it clear that those who support the German Emperor would not be privy to the peace negotiations. All support for the German Emperor failed, even though Wilhelm was hardly even an active member of the government. The German army and navy broke out in revolt against Wilhelm. With little choice, on 9 November 1918 Wilhelm II abdicated the thrones of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia with other regional sub-monarchs abdicating by the end of the year. Wilhelm boarded a train for the Netherlands and began his life in exile. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands refused to hand over the former emperor to the war crimes courts after the Treaty of Versailles, but Wilhelm remained trapped in a foreign country. During the 1920s and 1930s, he witnessed from a distance the rise of Adolf Hitler and, though he deeply disliked and distrusted the new German leader, he wrote to him regularly congratulating him for his political victories and desire to restore Germany's glory. When Germany conquered the Netherlands in 1940, Wilhelm retired completely from public life. He died at his home in Doorn, Netherlands, surrounded by a Nazi honor guard. He was buried on the grounds of his estate there, having pledged never to be buried in Germany until the monarchy is restored. His eldest son, Wilhelm Victor, succeeded him in his pretentions to the German throne.

Date of Death: 4 June 1941

Other Monarch Deaths:

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (1039)

Huizong, emperor of China (1135)

Przemysl I, duke of Poland (1257)

Dipendra, king of Nepal (2001)