Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Hohenzollern or Wilhelm II (January 27, 1859 - June 5, 1941) was the last Emperor (Kaiser) of Germany and the last King of Prussia from 1888 - 1918.
He was born in Berlin to Crown Prince Frederick and Victoria. Due to the intertwined nature of European royal families he was the cousin of Czar Nicholas II and in Britain, Edward VII was his uncle, George V his cousin and Victoria his grandmother.
He was educated at Kassel Gymnasium and the University of Bonn. On the death of Wilhelm I on March 9, 1888, his father was crowned Emperor as Frederick III, but he was dying of throat cancer and in June Wilhelm II succeeded him as Emperor.
His rule was noted for his militaristic push to assert German power. He sought to expand German colonial holdings, "a place in the sun". Under the Tirpitz Plan, through the Naval Bills of 1897 and 1900, the German navy was built up to contend with that of the United Kingdom. His personality and policies oscillated between antagonizing and amusing Britain, France, and Russia. He dismissed Otto von Bismarck in 1890 and abandoned the Chancellor's careful policies, replacing him with Prince Bernhard von Bülow and him in 1909 with Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg.
Despite his attitude it is difficult to say that he sought World War I, although he did little to halt it. He had allied with Austria-Hungary and encouraged their hard-line in the Balkans, and although he lost his nerve at the last minute it was too late, and he soon recovered to push his generals for great achievements. During the war he was Commander in Chief but he soon lost all control of German policy and his popularity plunged.
The Kaiser's abdication was announced by Max von Baden on November 9, 1918. Wilhelm went into exile in the Netherlands. The Dutch refused to extradite Wilhelm as a war criminal. He died in Doorn on June 5, 1941 with the German invaders on guard at the gates of his estate. Not long before his death he had apparently harboured hopes that the Nazi's would revive the monarchy but this did not come about.
He had married Augusta Viktoria, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, in 1881. They had seven children. Following her death he married Hermine von Schoenaich, Princess of Reuss, in 1922.