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'''Kaiser Wilhelm II''' (27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was king of [[Prussia]] and emperor of [[Germany]] from June 1888 to November 1918. He fled to the Netherlands at the end of the war, after his abdication due to political pressure in the midst of Germany's surrender in [[World War I]].

'''Kaiser Wilhelm II''' (27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was king of [[Prussia]] and emperor of [[Germany]] from June 1888 to November 1918. He fled to the Netherlands at the end of the war, after his abdication due to political pressure in the midst of Germany's surrender in [[World War I]].

Wilhelm's mother was Victoria, the eldest child of Britain's Queen Victoria. She was a dominating figure in his early life. She attempted to indoctrinate him with the values of Britain's nineteenth century Liberal Party. As as result, Wilhelm had strongly conflicted feelings regarding Britain. He respected British values, but used militarism to overcompensate for his mother's unGermanic influence.

Wilhelm's mother was Victoria, the eldest child of Britain's Queen Victoria. She was a dominating figure in his early life. She attempted to indoctrinate him with the values of Britain's nineteenth century Liberal Party. As as result, Wilhelm had conflicted feelings regarding Britain. He respected British values, but used militarism to overcompensate for his mother's unGermanic influence.

Wilhelm was a prominent figure in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Wilhelm pursued an aggressive foreign policy known as ''Weltpolitik,'' literally "world policy." It is to be distinguished from the ''Realpolitik'' practiced by Bismark, a form of balance of power politics. Wilhelm hoped to persuade Britain to withdraw from European affairs. If he could accomplish this, he imagined that the German army could then defeat both France and Russia, allowing him to emerge with a "Napoleanic supremacy."<ref name=rohl>Röhl, John C. G., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FN9GAgAAQBAJ&dq= Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941]'', (2014), p. xxviii</ref> Mindful of the role the British played in Napolean's defeat, he built up the German navy hoping that this would intimidate Britain. The British countered with a naval buildup of their own and by forming a "Triple Entente" (1907) with France and Russia. Thus the German buildup had an effect opposite to what was intended.

Wilhelm was a prominent figure in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Wilhelm pursued an aggressive foreign policy known as ''Weltpolitik,'' literally "world policy." It is to be distinguished from the ''Realpolitik'' practiced by Bismark, a form of balance of power politics. Wilhelm hoped to persuade Britain to withdraw from European affairs. If he could accomplish this, he imagined that the German army could then defeat both France and Russia, allowing him to emerge with a "Napoleanic supremacy."<ref name=rohl>Röhl, John C. G., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FN9GAgAAQBAJ&dq= Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941]'', (2014), p. xxviii</ref> Mindful of the role the British played in Napolean's defeat, he built up the German navy hoping that this would intimidate Britain. The British countered with a naval buildup of their own and by forming a "Triple Entente" (1907) with France and Russia. Thus the German buildup had an effect opposite to what was intended.