Why was wilhelm ii important

Determined to have his own way, he forced Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to resign in , and took charge of domestic and foreign policy himself. A series of inept political moves and Kaiser Wilhelm's fear of being encircled by enemy states strained Germany's relations with Britain, France and Russia—moves that helped lead to World War I.

Not long after, Wilhelm rallied German soldiers to fight in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion , nicknaming the soldiers "Huns" and encouraging them to fight like Attila 's troops. After realizing that Germany would lose the war, Wilhelm abdicated the throne on November 9, , and fled to the Netherlands. He resided there as a country gentleman until his death, on June 4, , in Doorn. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.

Charles II was the monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland during much of the latter half of the 17th century, marking the Restoration era.

In certain key areas, however, notably in appointments to top positions and in the conduct of naval warfare he continued to have the decisive say. He ultimately lost touch with his people, coming to be seen as an impediment to peace. He abdicated in November He established a system of personal monarchy in which he, his courtiers and military entourage determined policy and he alone held responsibility for the appointment and dismissal of civilian statesmen.

The meeting, to which the Reich Chancellor was not invited, decided to avoid war for at least one to two years, by which time Germany would have a larger army and further naval preparations would be completed. By spring the Kaiser was urging the Austrians to subjugate Serbia or eliminate it altogether. The Serbs must be swept away and that right soon! Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg took this as a signal to set in motion the steps that led to war.

On 6 July he left for his annual cruise to avert suspicion of German war planning. At this juncture Wilhelm II seemed ready to support a major war with the aim of establishing German control over the European continent. He knew that Germany had only one military plan — the revised Schlieffen plan — and he understood that its realisation would result in a two front war.

This must have been his expectation if not indeed his hope. Instead of sailing into the Arctic Circle as usual, the imperial yacht Hohenzollern anchored just north of Bergen, from where it could return to Germany within a day or two to allow the Kaiser to sign the mobilisation order.

In Norway he engaged in feverish activity to secure the support of Italy , Greece , Romania , Bulgaria , Sweden , and — most important of all — the Ottoman Empire. On leaving for home on 25 July, Wilhelm ordered the bombardment of the Russian naval bases of Reval Tallinn and Libau Liepaja together with a blockade of the eastern Baltic Sea.

His orders were ignored — an early sign of his marginalisation during the war. On 28 July, after his return to Potsdam, Wilhelm was suddenly alarmed at the prospect that Britain would enter the war in support of France and Russia.

Briefly, he tried to avert the wider conflict by proposing a halt to the Austrian invasion of Serbia at Belgrade. His, albeit momentary, change of heart was scorned by the Prussian War Minister General Erich von Falkenhayn and ignored by the Chancellor.

He was reassured that Britain would stay neutral following a meeting between his brother Heinrich, Prince of Prussia and their cousin George V, King of Great Britain at Buckingham Palace on 26 July. Immediately after the hoped-for news of Russian mobilisation reached Berlin, Wilhelm, his brother, and his six sons left Potsdam for Berlin, where he signed the orders initiating the attack on France through Luxembourg and Belgium.

Germany had only become a unified country in , too late for the imperial scrambles of the 19th century which helped expand other empires. Some see in this animosity one of the causes of the First World War.

Certainly naval and military arms races escalated feelings of an impending war which would become increasingly difficult to win. After more than two decades of Wilhelmine rule, Germany found itself encircled by potentially hostile powers Russia in the East, France and Britain in the West , and allied to Austria-Hungary and Italy. Once war had broken out, Wilhelm II soon found himself marginalised by the military leaders who quickly took over decision-making.

From , he increasingly became a mere 'shadow' Kaiser. Wilhelm II fled via Belgium to the Netherlands and thus narrowly escaped being tried as a war criminal by the victorious Allies. Famously, he crossed the border in a train which, in 7 carriages, contained many of his possessions. Another 63 carriages were sent to him the following year, and the new German Republic, which he so despised, made generous financial settlements.

He lived the rest of his life comfortably off, and tended to by some forty servants, in a country house in Doorn in Holland, and never returned to Germany. During the Second World War, when the German army was once again engaged in a bloody battle against its neighbours, he hoped that Adolf Hitler would finish the job that had been started in He did not live to see how the Second World War ended in even more destruction than the first.

He died in June , aged Find out what happened when with July Crisis: A chronology. We invite you to discuss this subject, but remember this is a public forum. Please be polite, and avoid your passions turning into contempt for others.

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