German Emperor William II

Born in Potsdam in 1859, Wilhelm II became German emperor and king of Prussia in 1888, the famous “Year of the Three Emperors.” A grandson of Britain’s Queen Victoria, he grew up between powerful royal traditions and personal insecurity, and he developed a forceful, unpredictable style that set him apart from earlier German rulers.

After taking the throne, he pushed Germany toward a more assertive world role and soon dismissed the veteran statesman Otto von Bismarck. His reign was marked by imperial ambition, naval expansion, and a taste for dramatic public gestures, all of which made him a major figure in European politics before 1914.

Wilhelm remained emperor through the First World War, but Germany’s defeat led to his abdication in 1918. He spent the rest of his life in exile at Huis Doorn in the Netherlands, where he died in 1941.