William ii germany biography of nancy

Toggle the table of contents. Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Wilhelm II in Frederick III. Monarchy abolished Friedrich Ebert as President. Full name Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert. Victoria, Princess Royal. Lutheranism Prussian United. March Massie, Dreadnought p. Cambridge University Press. The New York Times. ISSN Retrieved 21 June Retrieved 20 June The London Gazette.

He Wants Their Treasures Back". Archived from the original on 28 December Retrieved 2 October ISBN Archived from the original on 18 November British Pathe News. The Economist. Retrieved 2 September The Literary Digest. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 August Archived from the original on 15 October Retrieved 4 November Retrieved 23 December Retrieved 17 March Braunschweig Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender in Danish.

Copenhagen: J. Schultz A. Bergroth ISBN X. Calendario generale del Regno d'Italia. Unione tipografico-editrice. Retrieved 10 August Retrieved 17 October Retrieved 21 March The Second World War. Berghahn, Volker R. Boyd, Carl L. Royal United Services Institution. Carter, Miranda Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Cecil, Lamar UNC Press Books.

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American Heritage Publishing Company. Dreadnought : Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War 1st ed. Random House. Motadel, David, ed. Islam and the European Empires illustrated ed. Nipperdey, Thomas Deutsche Geschichte — An Uncommon Woman. Simon and Schuster. Palmer, Alan Warwick Palmer, Alan The Kaiser: Warlord of the Second Reich.

Petropoulos, Jonathan New York: Oxford University Press. Putnam, William L. Flagstaff, Arizona: Light Technology Publishing. Reinermann, Lothar October German History. Cole reprint, illustrated ed. The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, — Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Shaw, Wm. The Knights of England. London: Sherratt and Hughes. Snyder, Louis Leo, ed.

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Unknown to the Emperor, Austro-Hungarian ministers and generals had already convinced the year-old Francis Joseph I of Austria to sign a declaration of war against Serbia. On the night of July 30—31, when handed a document stating that Russia would not cancel its mobilization, Wilhelm wrote a lengthy commentary containing the startling observations:.

When it had become clear that the United Kingdom would enter the war if Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium, the panic-stricken Wilhelm attempted to redirect the main attack against Russia. When Helmuth von Moltke the younger told him that this was impossible, Wilhelm said: "Your uncle would have given me a different answer!!. Wilhelm is a controversial issue in historical scholarship and this period of German history.

Until the late s he was seen as an important figure in German history during this period. For many years after that, the dominant view was that he had little or no influence on German policy. This has been challenged since the late s, particularly by Professor John C. It is difficult to argue that Wilhelm actively sought to unleash the First World War.

Though he had ambitions for the German Empire to be a world power, it was never Wilhelm's intention to conjure a large-scale conflict to achieve such ends. As soon as his better judgment dictated that a world war was imminent, he made strenuous williams ii germany biography of nancy to preserve the peace—such as The Willy-Nicky Correspondence mentioned earlier, and his optimistic interpretation of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum that Austro-Hungarian troops should go no further than Belgradethus limiting the conflict.

But by then it was far too late, for the eager military officials of Germany and the German Foreign Office were successful in persuading him to sign the mobilization order and initiate the Schlieffen Plan. The contemporary British reference to the First World War as "the Kaiser's War" in the same way that the Second was "Hitler's War" is not wholly accurate in its suggestion that Wilhelm was deliberately responsible for unleashing the conflict.

His own love of the culture and trappings of militarism and push to endorse the German military establishment and industry most notably the Krupp corporationwhich were the key support which enabled his dynasty to rule helped push his empire into an armaments race with competing European powers. Similarly, though on signing the mobilization order, William is reported as having said "You will regret this, gentlemen," [15] he had encouraged Austria to pursue a hard line with Serbia, was an enthusiastic supporter of the subsequent German actions during the war and reveled in the title of "Supreme War Lord.

The role of ultimate arbiter of wartime national affairs proved too heavy a burden for Wilhelm to sustain. As the war progressed, his influence receded and inevitably his lack of ability in military matters led to an ever-increasing reliance upon his generals, so much that after the Empire had effectively become a military dictatorship under the control of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff.

Increasingly cut-off from reality and the political decision-making process, Wilhelm vacillated between defeatism and dreams of victory, depending upon the fortunes of "his" armies. He remained a useful figurehead, and he toured the lines and munitions plants, awarded medals and gave encouraging speeches. Nevertheless, Wilhelm still retained the ultimate authority in matters of political appointment, and it was only after his consent had been gained that major changes to the high command could be effected.

William was in favor of the dismissal of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September and his replacement by Erich von Falkenhayn. Similarly, Wilhelm was instrumental in the policy of inactivity adopted by the High Seas Fleet after the Battle of Jutland in Likewise, it was largely owing to his sense of grievance at having been pushed into the shadows that Wilhelm attempted to take a leading role in the crisis of At least in the end he realized the necessity of capitulation and did not insist that the German nation should bleed to death for a dying cause.

Wilhelm hoped that Lenin would create political unrest back in Russia, which would help to end the war on the Eastern front, allowing Germany to concentrate on defeating the Western allies. The Swiss communist Fritz Platten managed to negotiate with the German government for Lenin and his company to travel through Germany by railon the so-called "sealed train.

Wilhelm's strategy paid off when the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3,marking the end of hostilities with Russia. On Lenin's orders, Nicholas II, William's first cousin Empress Alexandra, their five children, and their few servants were executed by firing squad in Yekaterinburg on July 17, Wilhelm was at the Imperial Army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, when the uprisings in Berlin and other centers took him by surprise in late Mutiny among the ranks of his beloved Kaiserliche Marine, the imperial navy, profoundly shocked him.

After the outbreak of the German Revolution, Wilhelm could not make up his mind whether or not to abdicate. Up to that point, he was confident that even if he were obliged to vacate the German throne, he would still retain the Prussian kingship. The unreality of this claim was revealed when, for the sake of preserving some form of government in the face of anarchy, Wilhelm's abdication both as German Emperor and King of Prussia was abruptly announced by the Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, on November 9, Prince Max himself was forced to resign later the same day, when it became clear that only Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD could effectively exert control.

Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff's replacement, General Wilhelm Groener, had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Paul von Hindenburg's command, but would certainly not fight for William's throne on the home front. The monarchy's last and strongest support had been broken, and finally even Hindenburg, himself a lifelong royalist, was obliged, with some embarrassment, to advise the Emperor to give up the crown.

For his act of telling Wilhelm the truth, Groener would not be forgiven by German Arch-conservatives. The following day, the now-former German Emperor Wilhelm II crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlandswhich had remained neutral throughout the war. Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in earlyArticle expressly provided for the prosecution of Wilhelm "for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties," but Queen Wilhelmina refused to extradite him, despite appeals from the Allies.

The erstwhile Emperor first settled in Amerongen, and then subsequently purchased a small castle in the municipality of Doorn on August 16, and moved in May 15,which was to be his home for the remainder of his life. From this residence, Huis Doorn, Wilhelm absolved his officers and servants of their oath of loyalty to him; however he himself never formally relinquished his titles, and hoped to return to Germany in the future.

The Weimar Republic allowed Wilhelm to remove 23 railway wagons of furniture, 27 containing packages of all sorts, one bearing a car and another a boat, from the New Palace at Potsdam. The following telegram was sent through the Swiss government and arrived in Washington, D. In the subsequent two exchanges, Wilson's allusions "failed to convey the idea that the Kaiser's abdication was an essential condition for peace.

The leading statesmen of the Reich were not yet ready to contemplate such a monstrous possibility. The third German telegram was sent on October Wilson's reply on October 23 contained the following:. The abdication of Wilhelm was necessitated by the popular perceptions that had been created by the Entente propaganda against him, which had been picked and further refined when the United States declared war in April A much bigger obstacle, which contributed to the five-week delay in the signing of the armistice and to the resulting social deterioration in Europe, was the fact that the Entente Powers had no desire to accept the Fourteen Points and Wilson's subsequent promises.

As Czernin points out. On December 2,Wilhelm wrote to General August von Mackensen denouncing his abdication as the "deepest, most disgusting shame ever perpetrated by a people in history, the Germans have done to themselves," "egged on and misled by the tribe of Juda…. Let no German ever forget this, nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed and exterminated from German soil!

I believe the best would be gas! In Wilhelm published the first volume of his memoirs—a disappointingly slim volume which nevertheless revealed the possession of a remarkable memory Wilhelm had no archive on which to draw. In them, he asserted his claim that he was not guilty of initiating the Great War, and defended his conduct throughout his reign, especially in matters of foreign policy.

For the remaining 20 years of his life, the aging Emperor regularly entertained guests often of some standing and kept himself updated on events in Europe. Much of his time was spent chopping wood a hobby he discovered upon his arrival at Doorn and observing the life of a country gentleman. On his arrival from Germany at Amerongen Castle in the Netherlands inthe first thing Wilhelm said to his host was, "So what do you say, now give me a nice cup of hot, william ii germany biography of nancy, real English tea.

Wilhelm even learned the Dutch language. Wilhelm developed a penchant for archaeology during his vacations on Corfu, a passion he harbored into his exile. He had bought the former Greek residence of Austrian Empress Elisabeth after her murder in He also sketched plans for grand buildings and battleships when he was bored, although experts in construction saw his ideas as grandiose and unworkable.

One of Wilhelm's greatest passions was hunting, and he bagged thousands of animals, both beast and bird. During his years in Doorn, he largely deforested his estate, the land only now beginning to recover. In the early s, Wilhelm apparently hoped that the successes of the German Nazi Party would stimulate interest in the revival of the monarchy.

His second wife, Hermine see belowactively petitioned the Nazi government on her husband's behalf, but the scorn which Adolf Hitler felt for the man whom he believed contributed to Germany's greatest defeat, and his own desire for power would prevent Wilhelm's restoration. He heard about the Night of the Long Knives of 30 June by wireless and said of it, "What would people have said if I had done such a thing?

He had the nerve to say that he agreed with the Jewish pogroms and understood why they had come about. When I told him that any decent man would describe these actions as gangsterisms, he appeared totally indifferent. He is completely lost to our family In the wake of the German victory over Poland in SeptemberWilhelm's adjutant, General von Dommes, wrote on his behalf to Hitler, stating that the House of Hohenzollern "remained loyal" and noted that nine Prussian Princes one son and eight grandchildren were stationed at the front, concluding "because of the special circumstances that require residence in a neutral foreign country, His Majesty must personally decline to make the aforementioned comment.

He died shortly afterwards, making Wilhelm kaiser at the age of Although he had previously admired the great German statesman Otto von Bismarck, within two years Wilhelm had forced his resignation. He was a strong believer in increasing the strength of the German armed forces, particularly the navy. His policies towards Britain were contradictory.

He alienated Britain with his naval expansion and a policy of aggressive German colonial expansion, and also supported the Boers in their fight against the British. But he was also closely related to the British royal family and was particularly fond of his grandmother, Queen Victoria.