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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. Wilhelm was emperor at the beginning of World War I and was deposed when Germany was defeated. 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. Wilhelm was emperor at the beginning of World War I and was deposed when Germany was defeated. He was the eldest child of Emperor Frederick III and Vicky, the eldest child of Britain's Queen Victoria.  

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 considerable interest in naval matters. 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 German public was wary of European war, but enthusiastic about building up a navy to acquire colonies. After Britain thwarted German colonial ambitions in Africa during the Agadir Crisis of 1911, Berlin's focus shifted to the army. The General Staff revived an old plan to invade France by way of Belgium. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. The army treated this vote as a mandate to prepare for war.

 

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 considerable interest in naval matters. 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 German public was wary of European war, but enthusiastic about building up a navy to acquire colonies.

 

After Britain thwarted German colonial ambitions in Africa during the Agadir Crisis of 1911, Berlin's focus shifted to the army. The General Staff revived an old plan to invade France by way of Belgium. The Reichstag approved army expansion in July 1913. The army treated this vote as a mandate to prepare for war.

The assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] in Sarajevo in July 1914 led to a European diplomatic crisis. The planned invasion of Belgium and France was launched in early August, triggering [[World War I]]. The British were outraged by the invasion of neutral Belgium. They responded with a declaration of war against Germany, as well as full military support for the Belgians and French. Wilhelm's desire to establish a German naval base in Antwerp was an obstacle to later proposals that aimed at a negotiated settlement.

The assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] in Sarajevo in July 1914 led to a European diplomatic crisis. The planned invasion of Belgium and France was launched in early August, triggering [[World War I]]. The British were outraged by the invasion of neutral Belgium. They responded with a declaration of war against Germany, as well as full military support for the Belgians and French. Wilhelm's desire to establish a German naval base in Antwerp was an obstacle to later proposals that aimed at a negotiated settlement.

==Foreign policy==

==Foreign policy==

Wilhelm pursued an aggressive foreign policy he called ''Weltpolitik,'' literally "world policy." The rise of the German economy inspired Germans to seek a larger "place in the sun" in terms of international affairs. ''Weltpolitik'' is to be distinguished from Bismarck's ''Realpolitik'', which emphasized the balance of power concept. Wilhelm hoped to persuade Britain to withdraw from European affairs. If he could accomplish this, he imagined that Germany's economic and military power would allow him to dominate both France and Russia and emerge with a "Napoleanic supremacy."<ref name=rohl18 />

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 from 1900 to 1909, Bernhard von Bülow exercised significant authority. 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.

The kaiser's dream of leading a continental league against Britain was sabotaged by Alsace-Lorraine, French territory annexed by Germany in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. A French-German-Russian alliance against Britain was proposed at the time of the Boer War in 1900, but failed when Wilhelm demanded that the French recognize Alsace-Lorraine as German.<ref>Röhl, p. 46.</ref> France made alliances directed against Germany with Russia in 1892 and with Britain in 1904.

The kaiser's dream of leading a continental league against Britain was sabotaged by Alsace-Lorraine, French territory annexed by Germany in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. A French-German-Russian alliance against Britain was proposed at the time of the Boer War in 1900, but failed when Wilhelm demanded that the French recognize Alsace-Lorraine as German.<ref>Röhl, p. 46.</ref> France made alliances directed against Germany with Russia in 1892 and with Britain in 1904.