The early life of kaiser wilhelm II
early life
Kaiser Wilhelm was born in 1859 and from birth he was predestined to become King. Due to complications at birth, he was born handicap in his left arm. Wilhelm’s mother looked down on her son because of his defect. She showed her disappointment in her son, which caused her and Wilhelm’s relationship to suffer[1]. Wilhelm found a place like home when he joined the military. The military was a place where he felt wanted and important; where as with his mother he felt like a disappointment. Wilhelm tried to maintain a normal life and wanted to be treated as an equal when he joined the military, but many officers looked down on him and considered him weak because of his defective arm. He was found unimpressive in diplomatic affairs and in the military[2]. Although many considered Wilhelm weak, when we became Kaiser he knew he would have to prove to Europe that he was a force to be reckoned with.
rise to power
Wilhelm rose to power in 1888, after the death of his grandfather, Wilhelm I, and his father, Fredrick II [1]. Wilhelm blamed his father’s death on the British doctors, whom he also blamed for his own defective arm[2]. This resentment carried on when he became Kaiser. His reign began in a critical time when Germany was beginning to modernize and industrialize. The Kaiser’s main goal was to make Germany an excellent military and naval power. His personal desire to be better than Britain would play a role in his diplomatic decisions. “John Van der Kiste's biography of Wilhelm II, published in 2001, suggests that some degree of mental instability, as well as personal animosity, fed Wilhelm's dislike for England and fueled his grand political strategies to dominate Europe”[3]. Germany was becoming a force to be reckoned with, but it was through there chancellor that they were succeeding. Wilhelm and chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, rarely saw eye to and so Wilhelm dismissed him in 1890. Wilhelm tried to do all he could to become the greatest power in Europe and he thought he could do it better alone. In 1890, his alliance with Russia ended, forcing Britain, France, and Russia to form an alliance during the 1900s, which would end up bringing disaster to Europe because alliances were being created and Europe was in turmoil.
The years before world war I
The critical years prior to the First World War, Kaiser Wilhelm II took the role of becoming the most controlling and notorious ruler in Europe. In 1914, when the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, animosity was created between the European countries. Wilhelm sided with Austria-Hungary in the July crisis that ultimately led to World War I. Wilhelm had a chance to create peace in Europe, but he failed to step up and prevent war. “Historians believe that he could have convinced Austria-Hungary not to start the war with Serbia, or that he could have withheld full German support and avoided drawing all of Europe into the war[1].”
[1] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
[2] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
[1] Stearns, Peter N., ed. "William II (1859–1941)." Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Last modified 2001. Accessed October 11, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CCX3460500556&v=2.1&u=lom_liggett&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
&authCount=1.
[2] Pendergast, Sara, Christine Slovey, and Tom Pendergast, eds. "Wilhelm II."
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Accessed October 12, 2012.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R2&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=2&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3411700055&&docId
=GALE|CX3411700055&doc.
[3] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
[1] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
[2] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
[1] Stearns, Peter N., ed. "William II (1859–1941)." Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Last modified 2001. Accessed October 11, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CCX3460500556&v=2.1&u=lom_liggett&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
&authCount=1.
[2] Pendergast, Sara, Christine Slovey, and Tom Pendergast, eds. "Wilhelm II."
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Accessed October 12, 2012.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R2&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=2&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3411700055&&docId
=GALE|CX3411700055&doc.
[3] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.
[1] Merriman, John, and Jay Winter, eds.." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Last modified
2006. Accessed October 12, 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/
retrieve.do?sgHitCount&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNam
e=lom_liggett&tabID=T003&searchId=R5&resultList&contentSegment=&s
earch¤tPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3446900887&&docId
=GALE|CX3446900887&doc.