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}}'''Kaiser Wilhelm II''' (''Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen'', 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was king of [[Prussia]] and  [[Germany|German]] emperor from June 1888 to November 1918. He was the eldest child of Emperor Frederick III and Vicky, the eldest child of Britain's Queen Victoria.

}}'''Kaiser Wilhelm II''' (''Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen'', 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was king of [[Prussia]] and  [[Germany|German]] emperor from June 1888 to November 1918. He was the eldest child of Emperor Frederick III and Vicky, the eldest child of Britain's Queen Victoria.

Wilhelm was a constitutional monarch and shared power with his ministers and an elected parliament, or Reichstag. However, the kaiser had the final say on all significant matters, including appointments.<ref name=rohl18>Röhl, John C. G., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FN9GAgAAQBAJ&dq= Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941]'', Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. xxviii.</ref> His supporters boasted that he was the "mightiest ruler on earth."<ref name=rohl17>Röhl, p. xxvii.</ref> His manic depressive personality led to chaotic policymaking. As Wilhelm's chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow exercised significant authority from 1900 to 1909. But the kaiser was otherwise reluctant to delegate.

Wilhelm was a constitutional monarch and shared power with his ministers and an elected parliament, or Reichstag. However, the kaiser had the final say on all significant matters, including appointments.<ref name=rohl18>Röhl, John C. G., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FN9GAgAAQBAJ&dq= Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941]'', Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. xxviii.</ref> His supporters boasted that he was the "mightiest ruler on earth."<ref name=rohl17>Röhl, p. xxvii.</ref> As chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow exercised significant authority from 1900 to 1909. But the kaiser was otherwise reluctant to delegate. His manic depressive personality combined with his desire to supervise all aspects of the government led to chaotic policymaking.  

Wilhelm's foreign policy aimed at "Napoleanic supremacy" over France and Russia. In the kaiser's view, Napoleon's mistake was to go to war with Britain, something he hoped to avoid. Wilhelm had great enthusiasm for naval matters, and Germany began building a high seas fleet in 1900. The kaiser hoped that this fleet would intimidate Britain into severing its alliance with France. The focus of German attention shifted from the navy to the army following the Agadir Crisis of 1911. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. Treating this vote as a mandate, the army adopted the "Schlieffen Plan" to invade France by way of Belgium.

Wilhelm's foreign policy aimed at "Napoleanic supremacy" over France and Russia. In the kaiser's view, Napoleon's mistake was to go to war with Britain, something he hoped to avoid. Wilhelm had great enthusiasm for naval matters, and Germany began building a high seas fleet in 1900. The kaiser hoped that this fleet would intimidate Britain into severing its alliance with France. The focus of German attention shifted from the navy to the army following the Agadir Crisis of 1911. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. Treating this vote as a mandate, the army adopted the "Schlieffen Plan" to invade France by way of Belgium.