William II, German Emperor (Kaiser Wilhelm II)

The number to the left of each child (e.g. "+4") indicates the total number of children for that person.

Family Name:	Hohenzollern	Given Names:	Frederick William Victor Albert
Known As:	Willy
Titles:	Knight of the Garter
	King of Prussia (1888 - 1918)
	German Emperor (1888 - 1918)
Born:	27 Jan 1859 Berlin, Germany	Died:	4 Jun 1941 Doorn, Netherlands (Age 82, Natural Causes)
	English/Scottish Royal Blood: 53.5156726%   [?]	Buried:	Doorn, Netherlands
Father:	Frederick III, German Emperor		15 Oct 1831 - 15 Jun 1888
Mother:	Victoria, Princess Royal (daughter of Queen Victoria)		21 Nov 1840 - 5 Aug 1901
Marriage:	Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein (1st w of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		22 Oct 1858 - 11 Apr 1921
	Date: 27 Feb 1881	His Age: 22	Her Age: 22
	Place:  Berlin, Germany
	Offspring:
+6	William Hohenzollern (Crown Prince of Prussia)		6 May 1882 - 20 Jul 1951
+0	Eitel Friedrich of Prussia (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		7 Jul 1883 - 8 Dec 1942
+3	Adalbert of Prussia (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		14 Jul 1884 - 22 Sep 1948
+1	Augustus William (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		29 Jan 1887 - 25 Mar 1949
+4	Oskar of Prussia (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		27 Jul 1888 - 27 Jan 1958
+1	Joachim of Prussia (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		17 Dec 1890 - 18 Jul 1920
+5	Victoria-Louise of Prussia (daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		13 Sep 1892 - 11 Dec 1980
Marriage:	Hermine of Reuss (2nd wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II)		17 Sep 1887 - 7 Aug 1947
	Date: 5 Nov 1922	His Age: 64	Her Age: 35
	Place:  Doorn, Netherlands
	Offspring:
	None listed
Events:	Abdication from throne	28 Nov 1918	Unknown place
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Notes:
William's left arm was injured at birth and his mother is thought to have bullied him on this account throughout his childhood, which may help to explain his later behaviour towards her.
The older William got, the more he dismissed his parents as liberals, with the encouragement of his grandfather William I. Because his father died just three months after his grandfather, William became emperor sooner than anybody expected. The first thing he did was dismiss Bismarck, his grandfather's brilliant foreign minister.
As soon as William's father, Emperor Frederick, died, he had his mother's quarters searched for state secrets. He publicly blamed her for his father's death, and generally acted so bizarrely that his grandmother Queen Victoria expressed concerns for his sanity.
It is difficult to describe how obnoxious William's personality could be. Fortunately, however, his relatives did a splendid job in their conversation and in their correspondence with each other. After insisting on an autopsy of his father's body against his mother's wishes, she wrote, "He had no heart. He cannot understand how insulting it is to have all the details...officially dragged before the public." The way William treated his mother angered family members. "His conduct towards you is simply revolting," his uncle the Prince of Wales wrote to William's mother. "But alas! he lacks the feelings and usages of a gentleman." William's insistence on taking precedence over his uncle, the Prince of Wales, upset Queen Victoria, who wrote on one occasion when William had caused diplomatic trouble: "The idea of the Prince's not treating his nephew as Emperor is too vulgar and too absurd to be believed...to pretend that he is to be treated in private as well as in public as "His Imperial Majesty" is perfect madness." When William's behaviour caused the Prince of Wales to give up yacht racing, he wrote: "The Regatta at Cowes was once a pleasant holiday for me, but now that the Kaiser has taken command there, it is nothing but a nuisance."
As a guest at the Golden Jubilee banquet of his grandmother Queen Victoria, Crown Prince William complained bitterly that his wife Augusta had been seated behind the Queen of Hawaii (then an independent kingdom).
William sat at the deathbed of his grandmother Queen Victoria, supporting her with his good arm. For once William was sensitive and tactful. After her death, he was left in charge of Osborn for the next day and a half while the new king went to London. Because Victoria had left instructions forbidding undertakers, William measured her for the coffin himself.
William was extremely fond of uniforms and military paraphernalia, and especially delighted in his honorary English rank.
William's personality has been the subject of much study on the part of historians, and virtually all histories of World War I give William's character defects at least some of the blame for the situation that started the war.
After the Armistice, William sought refuge in Doorn, Holland, where, despite some demands that he be deported as a war criminal, he lived the rest of his life. When he died he was buried in a small mausoleum at Huis Doorn, his will stipulating that his body remain there until the monarchy should be restored in Germany.
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