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{{bio

{{Infobox person

|name=Kaiser Wilhelm II<br/>''Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen''

|name=Kaiser Wilhelm II<br/>''Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen''

|image=Kaiser Wilhelm by Strassberger.jpg

|image=Kaiser Wilhelm by Strassberger.jpg

|image-width=thumb

|birth_date=January 27, 1859

|yob=1859 <br/> Berlin, Prussia

|birth_place=Berlin, Prussia

|dob=January 27,

|death_date=June 4, 1941

|yod=1941 <br/> Huis Doorn, Nazi Netherlands

|death_place=Huis Doorn, Nazi Netherlands

|spouse=Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, m. 1881 - 1921<br>Hermine Reuss of Greiz, m. 1922 - 1941

|wife=Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, m. 1881 - 1921

}}

Hermine Reuss of Greiz, m. 1922 - 1941

'''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.