Frederick William IV had been left permanently incapacitated by a series of strokes, and his younger brother Wilhelm was acting as regent. At the time of his birth, his granduncle, Frederick William IV, was king of Prussia. Wilhelm was born in Berlin on 27 January 1859-at the Crown Prince's Palace-to Victoria, Princess Royal "Vicky", the eldest daughter of Britain's Queen Victoria, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia ("Fritz" - the future Frederick III).
8.1.3 Anti-England, anti-Semitic, and anti-Freemason views. 6.1 Political visits to the Ottoman Empire. 5.1 Relationships with foreign relatives. Wilhelm fled to exile in the Netherlands where he remained during its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1940. It converted Germany from a monarchy into a democratic state known as the Weimar Republic. Losing the support of his country's military and many of his subjects, Wilhelm was forced to abdicate during the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Despite emerging victorious over Russia and obtaining significant territorial gains in Eastern Europe, Germany was forced to relinquish all its conquests after its forces' decisive defeat on the Western Front in the fall of 1918. By August 1916, a military dictatorship set national policy for the rest of the conflict. Indeed all civilian officials were losing power to the Army's General Staff. By this time Wilhelm had lost virtually all decision-making power. Wilhelm's turbulent reign culminated in Germany's guarantee of military support to Austria-Hungary during the crisis of July 1914, one of the immediate causes for World War I. By 1910 Germany had two allies left: the weak Austria-Hungary and the declining Ottoman Empire. Britain sought friendship but was rebuffed and became Germany's main enemy when the Kaiser launched a massive naval build-up. However, Wilhelm often undermined such progress by voicing outlandish views and making threatening statements towards other countries without consulting his ministers. Over the course of his reign, Germany acquired territories in China and the Pacific (such as Kiautschou Bay, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Caroline Islands) and became Europe's largest manufacturer. Wilhelm II assumed direct control over his nation's policies and embarked on a bellicose "New Course" to cement its status as a leading world power. In March 1890, he dismissed the German Empire's powerful longtime chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. His father became Frederick III, but died of cancer in just 99 days. Wilhelm's grandfather died in March 1888. His father was the son of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, and his mother was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Wilhelm II was the son of Prince Frederick William of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal. When the German war effort collapsed after a series of crushing defeats on the Western Front in 1918, he was forced to abdicate, thereby bringing an end to the House of Hohenzollern's 300-year reign. Despite strengthening the German Empire's position as a great power by building a powerful navy, his tactless public statements and erratic foreign policy greatly antagonized the international community and are considered by many to be one of the underlying causes for World War I. Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941), anglicised as William II, was the last German Emperor ( German: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918.
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