1. Kaiser Wilhelm II

2. Ties to other Monarchs
Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert of Prussia was born on the 27th of January 1859
He was the son of Frederick III the German Emperor and King of Prussia, and Empress Victoria the eldest child of the British Queen Victoria
The Kaiser was third cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and first cousin King George V of England, two other prominent Monarchs during the Great War
The three were also equally descended from King George II of England, making them all fifth cousins too

4. Wilhelm’s Birth
Wilhelm was born with a lifelong condition known today as Erb’s Palsy, a form of paralysis in the upper arm caused by an injury during the birthing process
Doctor Eduard Martin
Sir James Clark
The doctors present for Wilhelm's birth were forced to work underneath his mother’s skirts and it is likely that they damaged Wilhelm’s arm (which was wrapped around his neck) with their forceps
Wilhelm was born blue due to oxygen deprivation and was assumed dead until rubbed vigorously and awoken. Unfortunately this probably only made the nerve damage in his arm worse
It has been speculated that the oxygen deprivation at Wilhelm's birth left him with minor brain damage

5. Wilhelm II’s childhood
In very early infancy it became clear that Wilhelm’s arm was not growing properly
According to the British Library, his “left hand was a claw and the arm a shrunken dead weight”
Wilhelm went through many different treatments for his arm, such as having it sprayed with seawater and massaged or having ‘animal baths’ where he put his hand inside the body of a recently killed animal to allow the heat to heal the tissue
When he was just one year old Wilhelm underwent the serious medical procedure of electric shock therapy
When he was four he was placed in a body stretching machine in an attempt to fix the problems that had developed with the muscles in his neck and arm

6. Wilhelm’s family
Wilhelm II was born when his grandfather Wilhelm I had not yet even ascended to the throne
This meant that growing up he had two figures of authority in his life, his grandfather and his father Friedrich III
Wilhelm I was a strong conservative raised in a tradition of military service in contrast to his son who was liberal and often praised by both allies and enemies for his humane actions and open hatred of warfare
Wilhelm I
Friedrich III
The final authority however during Wilhelm II’s education was his grandfather and as a result Wilhelm became just as conservative as his grandfather

7. According to an article by historian John Röhl and the Independent, Wilhelm’s unusual relationship with his British mother led to his eventual hatred of the British people
Due to his harsh medical treatments as a child Wilhelm became somewhat obsessed in trying to win his mother’s affection
In letters Wilhelm II wrote to his mother he described dreams he had been having about her, specifically about kissing her hands
His mother however chose to respond by correcting her son’s grammatical errors. This was the spark that caused the relationship between them to grow sour
In 1888 the hatred Wilhelm had towards the British worsened further when a British doctor failed to successfully treat his father’s throat cancer
“An English doctor crippled my arm and an English doctor is killing my father!”

9. Wilhelm II becomes Emperor
Wilhelm I died in 1888 at 90 years of age
He was succeeded by his son Friedrich III who would only end up holding the title of Emperor for ninety nine days
Friedrich died from throat cancer on the 15th of June and at only the age of twenty nine Wilhelm II was named Kaiser of Germany
The liberal Germans’ hopes were crushed at this as they had high hopes for the liberal man
Conservative German’s were lucky to get another Emperor who seemed to emulate in grandfather in all his actions

11. The Kaiser in Power
By the March of 1890 the new Kaiser had forced the German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck into resigning
On the surface this was justifiable. Bismarck was seventy five years of age and unable to solve many of the new problems facing Germany. During his career he had also made France and enemy of Germany by favouring the Prussian upper class instead of the workers
Wilhelm II however did not have any idea on how to deal with these issues himself. He had only vague notions or thoughts
Ironically Wilhelm was good friends with Herbert Von Bismarck as a child. He often confided in him and even told him about his difficult family situations
Otto Von Bismarck
Herbert Von Bismarck

12. “You English are mad, mad, mad as March hares.”
The Kaiser allowed the succeeding chancellors to decide not to renew an 1887 “Reinsurance Treaty” with Russia. This allowed Russia and France to become allies
Wilhelm began to sour his relationship with Britain too, who had recently settled its differences with France in 1904
The British became alarmed as the Kaiser began to challenge their control over the seas with the German Naval Bills of 1897 and 1900
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 1908 Wilhelm stated that many portions of the German Population were anti-British
As a result of all this Britain wouldn’t promise neutrality in a war between Germany and France unless Germany limited its naval fleet, which the Kaiser refused to do
“You English are mad, mad, mad as March hares.”

13. Kaiser Wilhelm II at the start of WWI
For Kaiser Wilhelm the war began when he attempted to save Austria-Hungary from collapsing after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
He believed that his blood relationships to the British and Russian monarchs were good enough to deal with the crisis
When he signed the order to mobilize the German troops he realised that war was almost inevitable but made no attempt to halt his generals’ actions
Germany ended up declaring war on France and Russia in the first week of August in 1914
“You will regret this Gentlemen.”

14. During the Great War
During the war the Kaiser allowed the generals to take most matters into their own hands despite being the Supreme Commander of the German army himself
He encouraged the generals’ plans and served mostly as a figurehead for the army, carrying out duties like visiting the fronts and handing out medals
Germany’s action became decided by the military, particularly by Paul Von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff

16. Post WWI
By the Autumn of 1918 it was evident to Wilhelm that the Germans had lost the war but he refused to abdicate in the hopes of keeping his throne
On the 9th of November his abdication was announced with his consent and he left on the 10th after discovering he had lost the support of the military
He settled in the neutral Netherlands and managed to avoid the reach of the Allies, who thought of him as a war criminal, with the assistance of Dutch Queen Wilhelmina

18. Later in his life his wife died and his youngest son committed suicide, but he remarried to Hermine Ruess in 1922
Wilhelm supposedly had hopes of having the monarchy restored and in the 1930s his new wife petitioned to Adolf Hitler to have the monarchy restored
Hitler hated Wilhelm however and held him responsible for the German loss of World War One
Wilhelm was shocked by the Nazi’s cruel actions and attitudes and in 1938 Wilhelm said that for the first time he was ashamed to be German.
In 1941 Wilhelm died at the age of 82 after two decades in exile

19. Quotes from the Kaiser
“It is the soldier and the army, not parliamentary majorities and decisions, that have welded the German Empire together. I put my trust in the army.”
“Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.”
“You English are like mad bulls... you see red everywhere! What on earth has come over you, to heap on us such suspicion as is unworthy of a great nation. I regard this as a personal insult... You make it uncommonly difficult for a man to remain friendly to England.”
“Paris for lunch, dinner in St. Petersburg.”
“Woe and death to all who resist my will!”
“Germany must have her place in the sun.”
“The tsar is not treacherous but he is weak. Weakness is not treachery, but it fulfils all its functions.”

21. Wilhelm II: A Life In Footage

22. Sources and References
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Kaiser Wilhelm II – A Life in Power by Christopher Clarke