biography
| name: |
William II (of Germany),
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Ger Wilhelm, known as Kaiser Wilhelm
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1859–1941)
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| biography:
| German emperor and king of Prussia (1888–1918), born in Potsdam, EC Germany, the eldest son of Frederick III (1831–88) and Victoria (the daughter of Britain's Queen Victoria), and grandson of Emperor William I. He dismissed Bismarck (1890), and began a long period of personal rule, displaying a bellicose attitude in international affairs. He pledged full support to Austria–Hungary after the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo (1914), but then made apparent efforts to prevent the escalation of the resulting international crisis. During the war he became a mere figurehead, and when the German armies collapsed, and US President Wilson refused to negotiate while he remained in power, he abdicated and fled the country. He settled at Doorn, in The Netherlands, living as a country gentleman. He lived to see the resurgence of German military might in the Nazi period, dying in June 1941. Hitler admired him greatly (as much for his anti-semitism as for his militarism), and had him buried with full military honours. |
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