Kaiser Wilhelm II was one of the most controversial figures in German history. During his reign, the German Empire experienced its greatest prosperity. But he also suffered a painful defeat, which led the country to ruin.
William was born on January 27, 1859 in Berlin, the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. His parents were Prince Frederick William of Prussia and Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. At the time of his birth, the king of Prussia was Frederick William IV. However, as he was seriously ill, having suffered a series of strokes in the past, the regency was exercised by his younger brother and namesake grandfather of little William. When Frederick William finally died in 1861, William I ascended the Prussian throne.
Being a scion of the royal House of Hohenzollern, William was largely obliged to follow the ancient Prussian military tradition. After he came of age, he was rarely seen in public without wearing his military uniform. When he turned 21, the emperor of the now unified German Empire William I decided to have his namesake grandson serve in the German army, with the idea that it would benefit him when he ascended the throne in the future. The young prince served in the 1st Infantry Regiment in Potsdam, an experience he never forgot. “In the Foot Guards”, he said later, “I found a family, friends and an interest in subjects that had not previously concerned me”.
Growing up, William developed a dysfunctional relationship with his parents, which was largely due to the machinations of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The “iron chancellor” believed that the young prince should have his namesake grandfather as a role model and not his parents, who were steeped in the ideas of British liberalism, especially his British mother. After completing his military service, Prince William was sent several times on diplomatic missions, something his father and heir to the throne Frederick William was never allowed to do.
In June 1888 the twenty-nine-year-old William II ascended the throne, still unprepared to assume the duties of emperor of the strongest power in continental Europe. He soon fell out with Chancellor Bismarck, who resigned in 1890. William emerged as the dominant figure in the country’s politics until the end of World War I. At the dawn of the 20th century, he set out to transform the German Empire into a global superpower by entering the game of claiming colonies and building a powerful navy.
Kaiser Wilhelm II’s policy soon provoked a reaction from the world’s largest naval power, the United Kingdom, which restored relations with both France and Russia, countries with rival relations to Germany. By implementing a policy of megalomania, the Kaiser managed to disintegrate the network of alliances that Bismarck had masterfully cultivated, thereby allowing Germany’s rivals in Europe to form alliances. Around 1907 the two coalitions were formed, which were to face each other on the battlefields of the Great War.
After the end of World War I and the defeat of the Central Powers, William abdicated the throne and went to the Netherlands, where he lived the remaining years of his life in exile. He breathed his last on June 4, 1941.
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigone-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis