167-599: Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty's 300-year rule of Prussia. Born during the reign of his granduncle Frederick William IV of Prussia , Wilhelm was the son of Prince Frederick William and Victoria, Princess Royal . Through his mother, he
334-544: A Husband ! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before—was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life! Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion, replacing Melbourne as the dominant influential figure in the first half of her life. Victoria's mother was evicted from the palace, to Ingestre House in Belgrave Square . After
501-401: A civil list allowance of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts. At the start of her reign Victoria was popular, but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings , developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy. Victoria believed
668-470: A massive naval build-up , contesting French control of Morocco , and building a railway through Baghdad that challenged Britain's dominion in the Persian Gulf . By the second decade of the 20th century, Germany could rely only on significantly weaker nations such as Austria-Hungary and the declining Ottoman Empire as allies. Despite strengthening Germany's position as a great power by building
835-567: A Life in the Highlands , a sequel to her earlier book, which she dedicated to her "devoted personal attendant and faithful friend John Brown". On the day after the first anniversary of Brown's death, Victoria was informed by telegram that her youngest son, Leopold, had died in Cannes . He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented. The following month, Victoria's youngest child, Beatrice, met and fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg at
1002-542: A bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel , Dash . Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin, but she spoke only English at home. In 1830, the Duchess and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the Malvern Hills , stopping at towns and great country houses along
1169-859: A bellicose "New Course" to cement Germany's status as a leading world power. Over the course of his reign, the German colonial empire acquired new territories in China and the Pacific (such as Jiaozhou Bay , the Northern Mariana Islands , and the Caroline Islands ) and became Europe's largest manufacturer. However, Wilhelm often undermined such progress by making tactless and threatening statements towards other countries without first consulting his ministers. Likewise, his regime did much to alienate itself from other great powers by initiating
1336-480: A bill granting Ireland home rule , but to Victoria's glee it was defeated. In the ensuing election , Gladstone's party lost to Salisbury's and the government switched hands again. In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee . She marked the fiftieth anniversary of her accession on 20 June with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. The following day, she participated in
1503-465: A bitter critic of Wilhelm's policies, but without gaining the support of a majority within the Reichstag there was little chance of Bismarck exerting a decisive influence on policy. In the early twentieth century, Wilhelm began to concentrate upon his real agenda: the creation of a German Navy that would rival that of Britain and enable Germany to declare itself a world power. The last Kaiser ordered
1670-549: A bomb made in England. The ensuing diplomatic crisis destabilised the government, and Palmerston resigned. Derby was reinstated as prime minister. Victoria and Albert attended the opening of a new basin at the French military port of Cherbourg on 5 August 1858, in an attempt by Napoleon III to reassure Britain that his military preparations were directed elsewhere. On her return Victoria wrote to Derby reprimanding him for
1837-488: A boy and a student, his manner had been polite and agreeable; as an officer, he began to strut and speak brusquely in the tone he deemed appropriate for a Prussian officer. When Wilhelm was in his early twenties, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck tried to separate him from his parents, who opposed Bismarck and his policies, with some success. Bismarck planned to use the young prince as a weapon against his parents in order to retain his own political dominance. Wilhelm thus developed
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#17327581395382004-717: A brief ministry led by Russell, Derby returned to power. In 1866, Victoria attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time since Albert's death. The following year she supported the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which doubled the electorate by extending the franchise to many urban working men, though she was not in favour of votes for women. Derby resigned in 1868, to be replaced by Benjamin Disraeli , who charmed Victoria. "Everyone likes flattery," he said, "and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with
2171-428: A constitutional monarchy also cannot afford to make an enemy of the monarch, who represents the only real check and balance against a Chancellor's otherwise absolute power . This is because a constitutional monarch has plenty of means at his or her disposal of quietly blocking a Chancellor's policy objectives and is one of the only people who can forcibly remove an overly ambitious Chancellor from power. For these reasons,
2338-457: A crisis involving the repeal of the Corn Laws . Many Tories—by then known also as Conservatives —were opposed to the repeal, but Peel, some Tories (the free-trade oriented liberal conservative " Peelites "), most Whigs and Victoria supported it. Peel resigned in 1846, after the repeal narrowly passed, and was replaced by Lord John Russell . Internationally, Victoria took a keen interest in
2505-554: A dysfunctional relationship with his parents, but especially with his English mother. In an outburst in April 1889, Wilhelm angrily implied that "an English doctor killed my father, and an English doctor crippled my arm—which is the fault of my mother", who allowed no German physicians to attend to herself or her immediate family. As a young man, Wilhelm fell in love with one of his maternal first cousins, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt . She turned him down, and in time, married into
2672-708: A formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time. Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and a regency was avoided. Less than a month later, on 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone , and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle,
2839-460: A further heavy dose of chloroform, so he could better manipulate the infant. Observing the infant's legs to be raised upwards, and his left arm likewise raised upwards and behind his head, Martin "carefully eased out the Prince's legs". Due to the "narrowness of the birth canal", he then forcibly pulled the left arm downwards, tearing the brachial plexus , then continued to grasp the left arm to rotate
3006-595: A good fellow. Whether he was the right tutor for me, I dare not decide. The torments inflicted on me, in this pony riding, must be attributed to my mother." As a teenager, Wilhelm was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium . In January 1877, Wilhelm finished high school and on his eighteenth birthday received as a present from his grandmother the Order of the Garter . After Kassel, he spent four terms at
3173-481: A grand service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral on 27 February 1872, and republican feeling subsided. On the last day of February 1872, two days after the thanksgiving service, 17-year-old Arthur O'Connor, a great-nephew of Irish MP Feargus O'Connor , waved an unloaded pistol at Victoria's open carriage just after she had arrived at Buckingham Palace. Brown, who was attending the Queen, grabbed him and O'Connor
3340-447: A great admirer of Otto von Bismarck, Wilhelm's characteristic impatience soon brought him into conflict with the "Iron Chancellor", the dominant figure in the foundation of his empire. The new Emperor opposed Bismarck's careful foreign policy, preferring vigorous and rapid expansion to protect Germany's "place in the sun". Furthermore, the young Emperor had come to the throne, unlike his grandfather, determined to rule as well as reign. While
3507-400: A juvenile cadet, who never took the tone of the officers' mess out of his voice, and brashly wanted to play the part of the supreme warlord, full of panicky fear of a monotonous life without any diversions, and yet aimless, pathological in his hatred against his English mother. Historian David Fromkin states that Wilhelm had a love–hate relationship with Britain. According to Fromkin, "From
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#17327581395383674-638: A kind of Shogunate and hoped to treat our family in the same way the Japanese shoguns treated the Japanese emperors isolated in Kyoto . My grandfather had no choice but to dismiss him." Bismarck was succeeded as Chancellor of Germany and Minister-President of Prussia by Leo von Caprivi . At the opening of the Reichstag on 6 May 1890, the Kaiser stated that the most pressing issue was the further enlargement of
3841-402: A memorial tablet "placed by his grateful Sovereign and Friend, Victoria R.I." On 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean , a disgruntled poet apparently offended by Victoria's refusal to accept one of his poems, shot at the Queen as her carriage left Windsor railway station . Gordon Chesney Wilson and another schoolboy from Eton College struck him with their umbrellas, until he was hustled away by
4008-475: A month after Leopold's birth Albert complained in a letter to Victoria about her "continuance of hysterics" over a "miserable trifle". In early 1855, the government of Lord Aberdeen , who had replaced Derby, fell amidst recriminations over the poor management of British troops in the Crimean War . Victoria approached both Derby and Russell to form a ministry, but neither had sufficient support, and Victoria
4175-916: A party to it." But the origin of Bismarck's dismissal lies in home affairs. After gaining an absolute majority in the Reichstag he formed the Kartell , a coalition government of the German Conservative Party and the National Liberal Party . They favoured making the anti-Socialist laws permanent, with one exception: giving the German police the power, similarly to the Tsarist Okhrana , to expel alleged Socialist agitators from their homes by decree and into internal exile . Even Old Liberal statesman Eugen Richter ,
4342-432: A pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco and had too little charge. Edward Oxford felt that the attempts were encouraged by his acquittal in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In a similar attack in 1849, unemployed Irishman William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage as it passed along Constitution Hill, London . In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she
4509-450: A policeman. Victoria was outraged when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but was so pleased by the many expressions of loyalty after the attack that she said it was "worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved". On 17 March 1883, Victoria fell down some stairs at Windsor, which left her lame until July; she never fully recovered and was plagued with rheumatism thereafter. John Brown died 10 days after her accident, and to
4676-745: A powerful navy as well as promoting scientific innovation within its borders, Wilhelm's public statements and erratic foreign policy greatly antagonized the international community and are considered by many to have substantially contributed to the fall of the German Empire . In 1914, his diplomatic brinksmanship culminated in Germany's guarantee of military support to Austria-Hungary during the July Crisis which plunged all of Europe into World War I . A lax wartime leader, Wilhelm left virtually all decision-making regarding strategy and organisation of
4843-473: A private estate on the Isle of Wight that they had purchased in 1845 and redeveloped. Demonstrations by Chartists and Irish nationalists failed to attract widespread support, and the scare died down without any major disturbances. Victoria's first visit to Ireland in 1849 was a public relations success, but it had no lasting impact or effect on the growth of Irish nationalism. Russell's ministry, though Whig,
5010-563: A privilege denied to the Crown Prince. That year, Prince Wilhelm was sent to the court of Tsar Alexander III of Russia in St. Petersburg to attend the coming-of-age ceremony of the 16-year-old Tsarevich Nicholas . Wilhelm's behaviour did little to ingratiate himself to the tsar. Two years later, Kaiser Wilhelm I took Prince Wilhelm on a trip to meet with Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary . In 1886, also, thanks to Herbert von Bismarck ,
5177-577: A procession and attended a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey . By this time, Victoria was once again extremely popular. Two days later on 23 June, she engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters, one of whom was Abdul Karim . He was soon promoted to " Munshi ": teaching her Urdu and acting as a clerk. Her family and retainers were appalled, and accused Abdul Karim of spying for the Muslim Patriotic League, and biasing
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5344-420: A relatively balanced view of the conflict, and condemned atrocities on both sides. She wrote of "her feelings of horror and regret at the result of this bloody civil war", and insisted, urged on by Albert, that an official proclamation announcing the transfer of power from the company to the state "should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence and religious toleration". At her behest, a reference threatening
5511-463: A series of strokes, and his younger brother Wilhelm , the young prince's grandfather, was acting as regent . Prince Wilhelm was the oldest of the 42 grandchildren of his maternal grandparents (Queen Victoria and Prince Albert ). Upon the death of Frederick William IV in January 1861, Wilhelm's namesake grandfather became king, and the two-year-old Wilhelm became second in the line of succession to
5678-597: A teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff. Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household. By 1836, Victoria's maternal uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry her to Prince Albert , the son of his brother Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with
5845-499: A trowel." With the phrase "we authors, Ma'am", he complimented her. Disraeli's ministry only lasted a matter of months, and at the end of the year his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone , was appointed prime minister. Victoria found Gladstone's demeanour far less appealing; he spoke to her, she is thought to have complained, as though she were "a public meeting rather than a woman". In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain, fed by
6012-503: A withered left arm about six inches (15 centimetres) shorter than his right. He tried with some success to conceal this; many photographs show him holding a pair of white gloves in his left hand to make the arm seem longer. In others, he holds his left hand with his right, has his disabled arm on the hilt of a sword, or holds a cane to give the illusion of a useful limb posed at a dignified angle. Historians have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development. In 1863, Wilhelm
6179-679: A year later, the Princess gave birth to the Queen's first grandchild, Wilhelm , who would become the last German emperor. In March 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria at her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" estranging her from her mother. To relieve his wife during her intense and deep grief, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with chronic stomach trouble. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales , who
6346-545: The British Empire during the Jameson Raid . British public opinion had been quite favourable towards the Kaiser in his first twelve years on the throne, but it turned sour in the late 1890s. During the First World War , he became the central target of British anti-German propaganda and the personification of a hated enemy. Wilhelm exploited fears of a yellow peril trying to interest other European rulers in
6513-658: The British Relief Association , more than any other individual famine relief donor, and supported the Maynooth Grant to a Roman Catholic seminary in Ireland, despite Protestant opposition. The story that she donated only £5 in aid to the Irish, and on the same day gave the same amount to Battersea Dogs Home , was a myth generated towards the end of the 19th century. By 1846, Peel's ministry faced
6680-503: The Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. When Louis Philippe made a reciprocal trip in 1844, he became the first French king to visit a British sovereign. Louis Philippe was deposed in the revolutions of 1848 , and fled to exile in England. At the height of a revolutionary scare in the United Kingdom in April 1848, Victoria and her family left London for the greater safety of Osborne House ,
6847-543: The German Empire . A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the abdication of Wilhelm II was announced on 9 November 1918. The Holy Roman Emperor is sometimes also called "German Emperor" when the historical context is clear, as derived from the Holy Roman Empire 's official name of "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" from 1512. Following
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7014-543: The Great Exhibition ) and Napoleon I 's tomb at Les Invalides (to which his remains had only been returned in 1840), and were guests of honour at a 1,200-guest ball at the Palace of Versailles . This marked the first time that a reigning British monarch had been to Paris in over 400 years. On 14 January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate Napoleon III with
7181-513: The Isle of Wight , at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover , she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Victoria's father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn , the fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte . Until 1817, King George's only legitimate grandchild was Edward's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales ,
7348-617: The Order of Saint John , he offered encouragement to the Christian order's attempts to place German medicine at the forefront of modern medical practice through its system of hospitals, nursing sisterhood and nursing schools, and nursing homes throughout the German Empire. Wilhelm continued as Protector of the Order even after 1918, as the position was in essence attached to the head of the House of Hohenzollern. Historians have frequently stressed
7515-512: The Palace of Versailles during the Siege of Paris . Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly on 18 January, having preferred "Emperor of Germany" ( German : Kaiser von Deutschland ). However, that would have signaled a territorial sovereignty unacceptable to the South German monarchs, as well as a claim to lands outside his realm ( Austria , Switzerland , Luxembourg , etc.). "Emperor of
7682-534: The United Kingdom , and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire . In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India . Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III ), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she
7849-524: The University of Bonn , studying law and politics. He became a member of the exclusive Corps Borussia Bonn . Wilhelm possessed a quick intelligence, but this was often overshadowed by a cantankerous temper. As a scion of the royal house of Hohenzollern , Wilhelm was exposed from an early age to the military society of the Prussian aristocracy . This had a major impact on him, and in maturity Wilhelm
8016-706: The Wends and the Kassubes , of Crossen , Lauenburg and Mecklenburg ; Landgrave of Hesse and Thuringia ; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia ; Prince of Orange ; Prince of Rügen , of East Friesland , of Paderborn and Pyrmont , of Halberstadt , Münster , Minden , Osnabrück , Hildesheim , of Verden , Cammin , Fulda , Nassau and Moers ; Princely Count of Henneberg ; Count of Mark , of Ravensberg , of Hohenstein , Tecklenburg and Lingen , of Mansfeld , Sigmaringen and Veringen; Lord of Frankfurt . His Imperial and Royal Majesty Frederick III, By
8183-465: The abolition of slavery . The Queen commissioned a Tory, Robert Peel , to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the Royal Household , who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's ladies of the bedchamber were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as
8350-407: The morganatic marriage of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria to Countess Sophie Chotek , and helped negotiate an end to the opposition to the wedding by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. German Emperor The German Emperor ( German : Deutscher Kaiser , pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈkaɪzɐ] ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of
8517-661: The presbyterian Church of Scotland than the episcopal Church of England . Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877. On 14 December 1878, the anniversary of Albert's death, Victoria's second daughter Alice, who had married Louis of Hesse , died of diphtheria in Darmstadt . Victoria noted
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#17327581395388684-594: The revolution of 1918 , the head of state was the president of the Reich ( German : Reichspräsident ), beginning with Friedrich Ebert . In the wake of the revolutions of 1848 and during the German Empire (1848–1849) , King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia was offered the title "Emperor of the Germans" ( German : Kaiser der Deutschen ) by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, but declined it as "not
8851-507: The " Wilhelmine Era ". These chancellors were senior civil servants and not seasoned politician-statesmen like Bismarck. Wilhelm wanted to preclude the emergence of another Iron Chancellor, whom he ultimately detested as being "a boorish old killjoy" who had not permitted any minister to see the Emperor except in his presence, keeping a stranglehold on effective political power. Upon his enforced retirement and until his dying day, Bismarck became
9018-543: The " bedchamber crisis ", Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office. Though Victoria was now queen, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother's continued reliance on Conroy. The Duchess
9185-552: The "undermining of native religions and customs" was replaced by a passage guaranteeing religious freedom. In the 1874 general election , Disraeli was returned to power. He passed the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 , which removed Catholic rituals from the Anglican liturgy and which Victoria strongly supported. She preferred short, simple services, and personally considered herself more aligned with
9352-458: The 'survival of the fittest' in domestic as well as foreign politics ... William was not lacking in intelligence, but he did lack stability, disguising his deep insecurities by swagger and tough talk. He frequently fell into depressions and hysterics ... William's personal instability was reflected in vacillations of policy. His actions, at home as well as abroad, lacked guidance, and therefore often bewildered or infuriated public opinion. He
9519-483: The 1860s, Roman Catholics in the 1870s, and Socialists in the 1880s with the highly successful and often repeated refrain, "The Reich is in danger." Therefore, in order to divide and rule , Bismarck ultimately left the German people even more divided in 1890 than they had ever been before 1871. In interviews with C.L. Sulzberger for the book The Fall of Eagles , Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia , grandson and heir of Kaiser Wilhelm II, further commented, "Bismarck
9686-485: The British Empire as civilising and benign, protecting native peoples from more aggressive powers or cruel rulers: "It is not in our custom to annexe countries", she said, "unless we are obliged & forced to do so." To Victoria's dismay, Disraeli lost the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. When Disraeli died the following year, she was blinded by "fast falling tears", and erected
9853-599: The Centre Party only after they had already begun. After a heated argument at Bismarck's estate over the latter's alleged disrespect for the Imperial Family, Wilhelm stormed out. Bismarck, forced for the first time in his career into a crisis that he could not twist to his own advantage, wrote a blistering letter of resignation, decrying the Monarchy's involvement in both foreign and domestic policy. The letter
10020-590: The Conservative Party. In most parliamentary systems , the head of government depends upon the confidence of the parliamentary majority and has the right to form coalitions to maintain a majority of supporters. In a constitutional monarchy , however, the Chancellor is required to meet regularly with the monarch to explain his or her policies and intentions within the Government. A Chancellor in
10187-622: The Crown Princess Victoria, grew to manhood. When Wilhelm was nearing 21, the Emperor decided it was time his grandson should begin the military phase of his preparation for the throne. He was assigned as a lieutenant to the First Regiment of Foot Guards , stationed at Potsdam . "In the Guards," Wilhelm said, "I really found my family, my friends, my interests—everything of which I had up to that time had to do without." As
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#173275813953810354-459: The Duchess and her ambitious and domineering comptroller , Sir John Conroy , who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover. The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them. The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William's illegitimate children. Victoria shared
10521-413: The Germans", as had been proposed at the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, was ruled out by Wilhelm as he considered himself a king who ruled by divine right and chosen " By the Grace of God ", not by the people in a popular monarchy . But more in general, Wilhelm was unhappy about a crown that looked artificial (like Napoléon's), having been created by a constitution. He was afraid that it would overshadow
10688-447: The Grace of God , German Emperor and King of Prussia ; Margrave of Brandenburg , Burgrave of Nuremberg , Count of Hohenzollern ; sovereign and supreme Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz ; Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen ; Duke of Saxony , of Westphalia , of Angria , of Pomerania , Lunenburg , Holstein and Schleswig , of Magdeburg , of Bremen , of Guelders , Cleves , Jülich and Berg , Duke of
10855-417: The Grace of God, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern, Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz, Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen, Duke of Saxony, of Angria, of Westphalia, of Pomerania and of Lunenburg, Duke of Schleswig, of Holstein and of Crossen, Duke of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelderland and of Jülich, Cleves and Berg, Duke of
11022-417: The Grace of God, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern, Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz, Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen, Duke of Saxony, of Angria, of Westphalia, of Pomerania and of Lunenburg, Duke of Schleswig, of Holstein and of Crossen, Duke of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelderland and of Jülich, Cleves and Berg, Duke of
11189-489: The Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited the British throne, her father's unpopular younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland , became King of Hanover . He was Victoria's heir presumptive until she had a child. At the time of Victoria's accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne . He at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced monarch, who relied on him for advice. Charles Greville supposed that
11356-420: The Kaiser came when Bismarck initiated discussions with the opposition to form a new parliamentary majority without consulting with Wilhelm first. The Kartell , the shifting coalition government that Bismarck had been able to maintain since 1867, had finally lost its majority of seats in the Reichstag due to the Anti-Socialist Laws fiasco. The remaining powers in the Reichstag were the Catholic Centre Party and
11523-405: The King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen ." Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again. Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with Hanover in Germany, but under Salic law , women were excluded from
11690-411: The Pacific, but few became profitable and all were lost during the First World War. In South West Africa (now Namibia ), a native revolt against German rule led to the Herero and Namaqua genocide , although Wilhelm eventually ordered it to be stopped and recalled its mastermind General Lothar von Trotha . One of the few times when Wilhelm succeeded in personal diplomacy was when in 1900, he supported
11857-427: The Parliament's to give". Friedrich Wilhelm believed that only the German princes had the right to make such an offer, in accordance with the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire . The title was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck , Minister President of Prussia and Chancellor of the North German Confederation , after discussion which continued until the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as emperor at
12024-544: The Prussian crown. Since 1867, the presidency ( Bundespräsidium ) of the North German Confederation had been a hereditary office of the kings of Prussia. The new constitution of 1 January 1871, following Reichstag and Bundesrat decisions on 9/10 December, transformed the North German Confederation ( German : Norddeutscher Bund ) into the German Empire ( German : Deutsches Reich ). This empire
12191-542: The Prussian throne. After 1871, Wilhelm also became second in the line to the newly created German Empire , which, according to the constitution of the German Empire , was ruled by the Prussian king. At the time of his birth, he was also sixth in the line of succession to the British throne , after his maternal uncles and his mother. Shortly before midnight on 26 January 1859, Princess Vicky experienced labour pains, followed by her water breaking , after which August Wegner,
12358-608: The Queen against the Hindus. Equerry Frederick Ponsonby (the son of Sir Henry) discovered that the Munshi had lied about his parentage, and reported to Lord Elgin , Viceroy of India , "the Munshi occupies very much the same position as John Brown used to do." Victoria dismissed their complaints as racial prejudice. Abdul Karim remained in her service until he returned to India with a pension, on her death. Victoria's eldest daughter became empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she
12525-601: The Queen as "Mrs. Brown". The story of their relationship was the subject of the 1997 movie Mrs. Brown . A painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting the Queen with Brown was exhibited at the Royal Academy , and Victoria published a book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands , which featured Brown prominently and in which the Queen praised him highly. Palmerston died in 1865, and after
12692-559: The Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora. When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen. At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered as "Mrs. Melbourne". In 1839, Melbourne resigned after Radicals and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica . The bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with
12859-767: The Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor . They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace , London. Victoria was love-struck. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary: I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such
13026-545: The Queen's seclusion, was boosted after the establishment of the Third French Republic . A republican rally in Trafalgar Square demanded Victoria's removal, and Radical MPs spoke against her. In August and September 1871, she was seriously ill with an abscess in her arm, which Joseph Lister successfully lanced and treated with his new antiseptic carbolic acid spray. In late November 1871, at
13193-525: The Reichstag, Baron Ludwig von Windthorst , to meet with him and begin the negotiations. The Kaiser, who always had a warm relationship with Baron von Windthorst, whose decades long defence of German Catholics, Poles, Jews, and other minorities against the Iron Chancellor have since attracted comparisons to Irish nationalist statesmen Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell , was furious to hear about Bismarck's plans for coalition talks with
13360-479: The Russian imperial family. In 1880 Wilhelm became engaged to Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein , known as "Dona". The couple married on 27 February 1881, and their marriage lasted 40 years until her death in 1921. Between 1882 and 1892, Augusta bore Wilhelm seven children, six sons and a daughter. Beginning in 1884, Bismarck began advocating that Kaiser Wilhelm send his grandson on diplomatic missions,
13527-536: The Russians allegedly expected a reversal of policy in Berlin, so they quickly negotiated a military alliance with the Third French Republic , beginning a process that by 1914 largely isolated Germany. In contrast, historian Modris Eksteins has argued that Bismarck's dismissal was actually long overdue . According to Eksteins, the Iron Chancellor, in his need for a scapegoat , had demonized Classical Liberals in
13694-489: The Socialists, especially the treatment of mine workers who went on strike in 1889. He routinely disagreed with Bismarck during Cabinet meetings. Bismarck, in turn, sharply disagreed with Wilhelm's pro-labor union policies and worked to circumvent them. Bismarck, feeling unappreciated by the young Emperor and by his ambitious advisors, once refused to co-sign a proclamation regarding the protection of industrial workers, as
13861-531: The United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days—which was longer than those of any of her predecessors —constituted the Victorian era . It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within
14028-768: The Wends and the Kashubians, of Lauenburg and of Mecklenburg, Landgrave of Hesse and in Thuringia, Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Prince of Orange, of Rugen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and of Pyrmont, Prince of Halberstadt, of Münster, of Minden, of Osnabrück, of Hildesheim, of Verden, of Kammin, of Fulda, of Nassau and of Moers, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, of Tecklenburg and of Lingen, Count of Mansfeld, of Sigmaringen and of Veringen, Lord of Frankfurt. Queen Victoria of
14195-570: The Wends and the Kashubians, of Lauenburg and of Mecklenburg, Landgrave of Hesse and in Thuringia, Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Prince of Orange, of Rugen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and of Pyrmont, Prince of Halberstadt, of Münster, of Minden, of Osnabrück, of Hildesheim, of Verden, of Kammin, of Fulda, of Nassau and of Moers, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, of Tecklenburg and of Lingen, Count of Mansfeld, of Sigmaringen and of Veringen, Lord of Frankfurt. His Imperial and Royal Majesty Wilhelm II, By
14362-539: The aid of the new anaesthetic, chloroform . She was so impressed by the relief it gave from the pain of childbirth that she used it again in 1857 at the birth of her ninth and final child, Beatrice, despite opposition from members of the clergy, who considered it against biblical teaching, and members of the medical profession, who thought it dangerous. Victoria may have had postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies. Letters from Albert to Victoria intermittently complain of her loss of self-control. For example, about
14529-481: The arts and sciences, as well as public education and social welfare. He sponsored the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the promotion of scientific research; it was funded by wealthy private donors and by the state and comprised a number of research institutes in both pure and applied sciences. The Prussian Academy of Sciences was unable to avoid the Kaiser's pressure and lost some of its autonomy when it
14696-550: The author of the famous 1891 dystopian novel Pictures of the Socialistic Future , opposed banning the Social Democratic Party outright and said: "I fear Social Democracy more under this law than without it". The Kartell split over this issue and the law was not passed. As the debate continued, Wilhelm became more and more interested in the social problems being exploited in the propaganda of
14863-608: The autumn of 1918. 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 which converted Germany into an unstable democratic state known as the Weimar Republic . Wilhelm subsequently fled to exile in the Netherlands, where he remained during its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1940 before dying there in 1941. Wilhelm
15030-553: The bill concerning the protection of the labourer. In 1891, the Reichstag passed the Workers Protection Acts, which improved working conditions, protected women and children and regulated labour relations. Caprivi in turn was replaced by Chlodwig von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst in 1894. Following the dismissal of Hohenlohe in 1900, Wilhelm appointed the man whom he regarded as "his own Bismarck", Bernhard von Bülow . In appointing Caprivi and then Hohenlohe, Wilhelm
15197-469: The carnage of the First and Second World Wars. According to Bismarck apologists, in foreign policy the Iron Chancellor had achieved a fragile balance of interests between Germany, France and Russia. Peace was allegedly at hand and Bismarck tried to keep it that way despite growing popular sentiment against Britain (regarding the German colonial empire ) and especially against Russia. With Bismarck's dismissal,
15364-523: The coincidence of the dates as "almost incredible and most mysterious". In May 1879, she became a great-grandmother (on the birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen ) and passed her "poor old 60th birthday". She felt "aged" by "the loss of my beloved child". Between April 1877 and February 1878, she threatened five times to abdicate while pressuring Disraeli to act against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War , but her threats had no impact on
15531-408: The consternation of her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby , Victoria began work on a eulogistic biography of Brown. Ponsonby and Randall Davidson , Dean of Windsor , who had both seen early drafts, advised Victoria against publication, on the grounds that it would stoke the rumours of a love affair. The manuscript was destroyed. In early 1884, Victoria did publish More Leaves from a Journal of
15698-426: The continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet " grandmother of Europe ". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on
15865-537: The daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV). Princess Charlotte's death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on Prince Edward and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818, the Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , a widowed German princess with two children— Carl (1804–1856) and Feodora (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen . Her brother Leopold
16032-512: The death of Victoria's aunt Princess Augusta in 1840, the Duchess was given both Clarence House and Frogmore House . Through Albert's mediation, relations between mother and daughter slowly improved. During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, in the first few months of the marriage, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her mother. Oxford fired twice, but either both bullets missed or, as he later claimed,
16199-605: The events or their conclusion with the Congress of Berlin . Disraeli's expansionist foreign policy, which Victoria endorsed, led to conflicts such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War . "If we are to maintain our position as a first-rate Power", she wrote, "we must ... be Prepared for attacks and wars , somewhere or other , CONTINUALLY." Victoria saw the expansion of
16366-419: The family's personal physician, was summoned. Upon examining Vicky, Wegner realised the infant was in the breech position ; gynaecologist Eduard Arnold Martin was then sent for, arriving at the palace at 10 am on 27 January. After administering ipecac and prescribing a mild dose of chloroform , which was administered by Vicky's personal physician Sir James Clark , Martin advised Fritz the unborn child's life
16533-582: The first German Emperor as "Wilhelm the Great". However, he had a distant relationship with his mother. Wilhelm resisted attempts by his parents, especially his mother, to educate him in a spirit of British liberalism. Instead, he agreed with his tutors' support of autocratic rule, and gradually became thoroughly 'Prussianized' under their influence. He thus became alienated from his parents, suspecting them of putting Britain's interests first. The German Emperor, Wilhelm I, watched as his grandson, guided principally by
16700-424: The following day, Victoria drove the same route, though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to bait Francis into taking a second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was seized by plainclothes policemen, and convicted of high treason. On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life , John William Bean also tried to fire
16867-418: The following seventeen years, she and Albert had a further eight children: Albert Edward , Alice , Alfred , Helena , Louise , Arthur , Leopold and Beatrice . The household was largely run by Victoria's childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover . Lehzen had been a formative influence on Victoria and had supported her against the Kensington System. Albert, however, thought that Lehzen
17034-420: The funeral. He also was present at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910. In 1913, Wilhelm hosted a lavish wedding in Berlin for his only daughter, Victoria Louise . Among the guests at the wedding were his cousins Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of the United Kingdom, and George's wife, Queen Mary . German foreign policy under Wilhelm II was faced with a number of significant problems. Perhaps
17201-646: The guns had no shot. He was tried for high treason , found not guilty by reason of insanity , committed to an insane asylum indefinitely, and later sent to live in Australia. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis . Her daughter, also named Victoria , was born on 21 November 1840. The Queen hated being pregnant, viewed breast-feeding with disgust, and thought newborn babies were ugly. Nevertheless, over
17368-414: The height of the republican movement, the Prince of Wales contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father, and Victoria was fearful her son would die. As the tenth anniversary of her husband's death approached, her son's condition grew no better, and Victoria's distress continued. To general rejoicing, he recovered. Mother and son attended a public parade through London and
17535-478: The heir apparent to the British throne, treated Wilhelm not as a reigning monarch, but merely as another nephew. In turn, Wilhelm often snubbed his uncle, whom he referred to as "the old peacock" and lorded his position as emperor over him. Beginning in the 1890s, Wilhelm made visits to England for Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight and often competed against his uncle in the yacht races. Bertie's wife, Alexandra, also disliked Wilhelm. Even though Wilhelm had not been on
17702-505: The high command of the armed forces to read United States Navy Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan 's book, The Influence of Sea Power upon History , and spent hours drawing sketches of the ships that he dreamed of having built. Bülow and Bethmann Hollweg , his loyal chancellors, looked after domestic affairs, while Wilhelm obliviously began to spread alarm in the chancelleries of Europe with his increasingly eccentric and ill-advised statements on foreign affairs. Wilhelm enthusiastically promoted
17869-401: The imperial constitution vested executive power in the monarch, Wilhelm I had been content to leave day-to-day administration to Bismarck. Early conflicts between Wilhelm II and his chancellor soon poisoned the relationship between the two men. Bismarck had believed that Wilhelm was a lightweight who could be dominated, and he showed escalating disrespect for Wilhelm's favored policy objectives in
18036-559: The improvement of relations between France and Britain. She made and hosted several visits between the British royal family and the House of Orleans , who were related by marriage through the Coburgs. In 1843 and 1845, she and Albert stayed with King Louis Philippe I at Château d'Eu in Normandy; she was the first British or English monarch to visit a French monarch since the meeting of Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France on
18203-473: The infant's trunk and free the right arm, likely exacerbating the injury. After completing the delivery, and despite realising the newborn prince was hypoxic , Martin turned his attention to the unconscious Vicky. Noticing after some minutes that the newborn remained silent, Martin and the midwife Fräulein Stahl worked frantically to revive the prince; finally, despite the disapproval of those present, Stahl spanked
18370-545: The instructions of the Prince Regent. At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York ; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so
18537-540: The ladies of the bedchamber most associated with the Whigs were replaced. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight . In the next four years, over a million Irish people died and another million emigrated in what became known as the Great Famine . In Ireland, Victoria was labelled "The Famine Queen". In January 1847 she personally donated £2,000 (equivalent to between £230,000 and £8.5 million in 2022) to
18704-664: The last Kaiser believed that he had every right to be informed before Bismarck began coalition talks with the Opposition. In a deeply ironic moment, a mere decade after demonizing all members of the Catholic Church in Germany as ( German : Reichsfeinde , "traitors to the Empire") during the Kulturkampf , Bismarck decided to start coalition talks with the all-Catholic Centre Party. He invited that party's leader in
18871-542: The late 1880s. The final split between monarch and statesman occurred soon after an attempt by Bismarck to implement far-reaching anti-Socialist laws in early 1890. According to adherents of the "Bismarck myth", the young Kaiser rejected the Iron Chancellor's allegedly "peaceful foreign policy" and instead plotted with senior generals to work "in favour of a war of aggression". Bismarck himself once complained to an aide, "That young man wants war with Russia, and would like to draw his sword straight away if he could. I shall not be
19038-521: The late occupant's declining business". Her uncle Leopold wrote to her advising her to appear in public. She agreed to visit the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kensington and take a drive through London in an open carriage. Through the 1860s, Victoria relied increasingly on a manservant from Scotland, John Brown . Rumours of a romantic connection and even a secret marriage appeared in print, and some referred to
19205-436: The leg. His grandmother, Queen Victoria, missed seeing the fracas; to her Wilhelm remained "a clever, dear, good little child, the great favourite of my beloved Vicky". Vicky was obsessed with her son's damaged arm, blaming herself for the child's handicap, and insisted that he become a good rider. The thought that Wilhelm, as heir to the throne, should not be able to ride was intolerable to her. Riding lessons began when Wilhelm
19372-527: The most apparent was that Wilhelm was an impatient man, subjective in his reactions and affected strongly by sentiment and impulse. He was personally ill-equipped to steer German foreign policy along a rational course. There were a number of examples, such as the Kruger telegram of 1896 in which Wilhelm congratulated President Paul Kruger for preventing the Transvaal Republic from being annexed by
19539-508: The newborn vigorously until "a weak cry escaped his pale lips". Modern medical assessments have concluded Wilhelm's hypoxic state at birth , due to the breech delivery and the heavy dosage of chloroform, left him with minimal to mild brain damage, which manifested itself in his subsequent hyperactive and erratic behaviour, limited attention span and impaired social abilities. The brachial plexus injury resulted in Erb's palsy , which left Wilhelm with
19706-435: The outset, the half-German side of him was at war with the half-English side. He was wildly jealous of the British, desiring to be British and to be better at being British than the British were, while at the same time hating them and resenting them because he never could be fully accepted by them". Langer et al. (1968) emphasise the negative international consequences of Wilhelm's erratic personality: "He believed in force, and
19873-536: The perils they faced by invading China; few other leaders paid attention. Wilhelm also used the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War to try to incite fear in the west of the yellow peril that they faced by a resurgent Imperial Japan , which Wilhelm claimed would ally with China to overrun the conventional European Powers. Wilhelm also invested in strengthening the German colonial empire in Africa and
20040-459: The permanent presidency of the king of Prussia. Thus, the imperial crown was directly tied to the Prussian crown—something Wilhelm II discovered in the aftermath of World War I. He erroneously believed that he ruled the empire in personal union with Prussia. With the war's end, he conceded that he could not remain emperor, but initially thought he could at least retain his Prussian crown. However, his last chancellor, Prince Max of Baden , knew this
20207-685: The poor state of the Royal Navy in comparison to the French Navy . Derby's ministry did not last long, and in June 1859 Victoria recalled Palmerston to office. Eleven days after Orsini's assassination attempt in France, Victoria's eldest daughter married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in London. They had been betrothed since September 1855, when Princess Victoria was 14 years old; the marriage
20374-505: The prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see." However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake
20541-555: The public diminished the popularity of the monarchy, and encouraged the growth of the republican movement. She did undertake her official government duties, yet chose to remain secluded in her royal residences— Windsor Castle , Osborne House, and the private estate in Scotland that she and Albert had acquired in 1847, Balmoral Castle . In March 1864, a protester stuck a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace that announced "these commanding premises to be let or sold in consequence of
20708-409: The purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands , second son of the Prince of Orange . Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After
20875-813: The role of Wilhelm's personality in shaping his reign. Thus, Thomas Nipperdey concludes he was: ...gifted, with a quick understanding, sometimes brilliant, with a taste for the modern,—technology, industry, science—but at the same time superficial, hasty, restless, unable to relax, without any deeper level of seriousness, without any desire for hard work or drive to see things through to the end, without any sense of sobriety, for balance and boundaries, or even for reality and real problems, uncontrollable and scarcely capable of learning from experience, desperate for applause and success,—as Bismarck said early on in his life, he wanted every day to be his birthday—romantic, sentimental and theatrical, unsure and arrogant, with an immeasurably exaggerated self-confidence and desire to show off,
21042-459: The rumours. She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora", because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess in the Kensington System. At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to an intimate medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually acquiesced, and was found to be a virgin. Conroy, the Hastings family, and the opposition Tories organised a press campaign implicating
21209-608: The son of the Chancellor, Prince Wilhelm began to be trained twice a week at the Foreign Ministry. Kaiser Wilhelm I died in Berlin on 9 March 1888, and Prince Wilhelm's father ascended the throne as Frederick III. He was already experiencing an incurable throat cancer and spent all 99 days of his reign fighting the disease before dying. On 15 June of that same year , his 29-year-old son succeeded him as German Emperor and King of Prussia. Although in his youth he had been
21376-423: The throne at the time, Alexandra felt anger over the Prussian seizure of Schleswig-Holstein from her native Denmark in the 1860s, and was also annoyed over Wilhelm's treatment of his mother. Despite his poor relations with his English relatives, when he received news that Queen Victoria was dying at Osborne House in January 1901, Wilhelm travelled to England and was at her bedside when she died, and he remained for
21543-446: The two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children. William married in 1818, in a joint ceremony with his brother Edward, but both of William's legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on 27 March 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria's father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather died and
21710-440: The visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain". Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her "best and kindest adviser", to thank him "for
21877-628: The war effort to the German Supreme Army Command . By August 1916, this broad delegation of power gave rise to a de facto military dictatorship that dominated the country's policies for the rest of the conflict. Despite emerging victorious over Russia and obtaining significant territorial gains in Eastern Europe, Germany was forced to relinquish all its conquests after a decisive defeat on the Western Front in
22044-492: The way. Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To the King's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops. William compared the journeys to royal progresses and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heir presumptive. Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there
22211-446: The wedding of Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine to Henry's brother Prince Louis of Battenberg . Beatrice and Henry planned to marry, but Victoria opposed the match at first, wishing to keep Beatrice at home to act as her companion. After a year, she was won around to the marriage by their promise to remain living with and attending her. Victoria was pleased when Gladstone resigned in 1885 after his budget
22378-464: The widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure. Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey . Over 400,000 visitors came to London for the celebrations. She became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace and inherited the revenues of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall as well as being granted
22545-580: Was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller , John Conroy . She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch , attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality . Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across
22712-651: Was Princess Charlotte's widower and later the first king of Belgium . The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria was born at 4:15 a.m. on Monday 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Charles Manners-Sutton , on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Tsar Alexander I of Russia , and Victoria , after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on
22879-412: Was a federal monarchy ; the emperor was head of state and president of the federated monarchs (the kings of Bavaria , Württemberg , Saxony , the grand dukes of Baden , Mecklenburg-Schwerin , Hesse , among others, as well as the principalities, duchies and of the free cities of Hamburg , Lübeck and Bremen ). Under the imperial constitution, the empire was a federation of states under
23046-445: Was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate . As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. Both Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years' transportation. Melbourne's support in the House of Commons weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the Whigs were defeated. Peel became prime minister, and
23213-481: Was attending army manoeuvres near Dublin, and spent a few days holidaying in Killarney . In November, Albert was made aware of gossip that his son had slept with an actress in Ireland. Appalled, he travelled to Cambridge, where his son was studying, to confront him. By the beginning of December, Albert was very unwell. He was diagnosed with typhoid fever by William Jenner , and died on 14 December 1861. Victoria
23380-541: Was born in Berlin on 27 January 1859—at the Crown Prince's Palace —to Victoria, Princess Royal ("Vicky") and Prince Frederick William of Prussia ("Fritz", the future Frederick III). His mother, Vicky, was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom . At the time of Wilhelm's birth, his granduncle Frederick William IV was king of Prussia . Frederick William IV had been left permanently incapacitated by
23547-479: Was certainly our greatest statesman, but he had very bad manners and he became increasingly overbearing with age. Frankly, I don't think his dismissal by my grandfather was a great tragedy. Russia was already on the other side because of the Berlin Congress of 1878. Had Bismarck stayed he would not have helped. He already wanted to abolish all the reforms that had been introduced. He was aspiring to establish
23714-729: Was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to see her. When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother's proximity promised "torment for many years", Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a "schocking [ sic ] alternative". Victoria showed interest in Albert's education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock. Victoria continued to praise Albert following his second visit in October 1839. They felt mutual affection and
23881-417: Was defeated. She thought his government was "the worst I have ever had", and blamed him for the death of General Gordon during the Siege of Khartoum . Gladstone was replaced by Lord Salisbury . Salisbury's government only lasted a few months, however, and Victoria was forced to recall Gladstone, whom she referred to as a "half crazy & really in many ways ridiculous old man". Gladstone attempted to pass
24048-506: Was delayed by the Queen and her husband Albert until the bride was 17. The Queen and Albert hoped that their daughter and son-in-law would be a liberalising influence in the enlarging Prussian state. The Queen felt "sick at heart" to see her daughter leave England for Germany; "It really makes me shudder", she wrote to Princess Victoria in one of her frequent letters, "when I look round to all your sweet, happy, unconscious sisters, and think I must give them up too – one by one." Almost exactly
24215-523: Was devastated. She blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering . He had been "killed by that dreadful business", she said. She entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London in the following years. Her seclusion earned her the nickname "widow of Windsor". Her weight increased through comfort eating, which reinforced her aversion to public appearances. Victoria's self-imposed isolation from
24382-450: Was eight and were a matter of endurance for him. Over and over, the weeping prince was set on his horse and compelled to go through the paces. He fell off time after time but, despite his tears, was set on its back again. After weeks of this, he was finally able to maintain his balance. Wilhelm, from six years of age, was tutored and heavily influenced by the 39-year-old teacher Georg Ernst Hinzpeter . "Hinzpeter", he later wrote, "was really
24549-577: Was embarking upon what is known to history as "the New Course", in which he hoped to exert decisive influence in the government of the empire. There is debate amongst historians as to the precise degree to which Wilhelm succeeded in implementing "personal rule" in this era, but what is clear is the very different dynamic which existed between the Crown and its chief political servant (the Chancellor) in
24716-462: Was endangered. As mild anaesthesia did not alleviate her extreme labour pains, resulting in her "horrible screams and wails", Clark finally administered full anaesthesia. Observing her contractions to be insufficiently strong, Martin administered a dose of ergot extract, and at 2:45 pm saw the infant's buttocks emerging from the birth canal but noticed the pulse in the umbilical cord was weak and intermittent. Despite this dangerous sign, Martin ordered
24883-532: Was forced to appoint Palmerston as prime minister. Napoleon III, Britain's closest ally as a result of the Crimean War, visited London in April 1855, and from 17 to 28 August the same year Victoria and Albert returned the visit. Napoleon III met the couple at Boulogne and accompanied them to Paris. They visited the Exposition Universelle (a successor to Albert's 1851 brainchild
25050-404: Was forced to incorporate new programs in engineering, and award new fellowships in engineering sciences as a result of a gift from the Kaiser in 1900. Wilhelm supported the modernisers as they tried to reform the Prussian system of secondary education, which was rigidly traditional, elitist, politically authoritarian, and unchanged by the progress in the natural sciences. As hereditary Protector of
25217-402: Was incompetent and that her mismanagement threatened his daughter Victoria's health. After a furious row between Victoria and Albert over the issue, Lehzen was pensioned off in 1842, and Victoria's close relationship with her ended. On 29 May 1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London , when John Francis aimed a pistol at her, but the gun did not fire. The assailant escaped;
25384-589: Was infuriated by his sister's conversion from Lutheranism to Greek Orthodoxy ; upon her marriage, he attempted to ban her from entering Germany. Wilhelm's most contentious relationships were with his British relations. He craved the acceptance of his grandmother, Queen Victoria, and of the rest of her family. Despite the fact that his grandmother treated him with courtesy and tact, his other relatives largely denied him acceptance. He had an especially bad relationship with his uncle Bertie (later Edward VII ). Between 1888 and 1901, Wilhelm resented Bertie, who despite being
25551-596: Was later sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, and a birching . As a result of the incident, Victoria's popularity recovered further. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the British East India Company , which had ruled much of India, was dissolved, and Britain's possessions and protectorates on the Indian subcontinent were formally incorporated into the British Empire . The Queen had
25718-464: Was legally impossible, and in order to keep control of the growing revolutionary movement in Berlin, unilaterally announced Wilhelm's abdication of both thrones on 9 November, two days before the Armistice. Wilhelm realized his situation was untenable when the army made clear it would not defend his throne. Accepting the fait accompli, Wilhelm went into exile in the Netherlands later that night. It
25885-441: Was little time for her to rest. She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy and forced Victoria to continue the tours. At Ramsgate in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever, which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence. While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her private secretary . As
26052-403: Was not encouraged. Later, as he came into contact with the Crown Prince's political opponents, Wilhelm came to adopt more ambivalent feelings toward his father, perceiving the influence of Wilhelm's mother over a figure who should have been possessed of masculine independence and strength. Wilhelm also idolised his grandfather, Wilhelm I, and he was instrumental in later attempts to foster a cult of
26219-612: Was not favoured by the Queen. She found particularly offensive the Foreign Secretary , Lord Palmerston , who often acted without consulting the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, or the Queen. Victoria complained to Russell that Palmerston sent official dispatches to foreign leaders without her knowledge, but Palmerston was retained in office and continued to act on his own initiative, despite her repeated remonstrances. It
26386-654: Was not so much concerned with gaining specific objectives, as had been the case with Bismarck, as with asserting his will. This trait in the ruler of the leading Continental power was one of the main causes of the uneasiness prevailing in Europe at the turn-of-the-century". As a grandchild of Queen Victoria, Wilhelm was a first cousin of King George V of the United Kingdom , as well as of queens Marie of Romania , Maud of Norway , Victoria Eugenie of Spain and Empress Alexandra of Russia . In 1889, Wilhelm's younger sister Sophia married Constantine, Crown Prince of Greece . Wilhelm
26553-424: Was not until 28 November that Wilhelm formally acknowledged he had lost both of his crowns for good and gave up all claims to "the throne of Prussia and to the German imperial throne connected therewith." The German Emperors had an extensive list of titles and claims that reflected the geographic expanse and diversity of the lands ruled by the House of Hohenzollern . His Imperial and Royal Majesty Wilhelm I, By
26720-458: Was only in 1851 that Palmerston was removed after he announced the British government's approval of President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte 's coup in France without consulting the Prime Minister. The following year, President Bonaparte was declared Emperor Napoleon III, by which time Russell's administration had been replaced by a short-lived minority government led by Lord Derby . In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold, with
26887-491: Was published only after Bismarck's death. In later years, Bismarck created the "Bismarck myth"; the view (which some historians have argued was confirmed by subsequent events) that Wilhelm II's successful demand for Bismarck's resignation destroyed any chance Imperial Germany ever had of stable government and international peace. According to this view, what Wilhelm termed "The New Course" is characterised as Germany's ship of state going dangerously off course, leading directly to
27054-469: Was required by the German Constitution , and prevented it from being made law. While Bismarck had previously sponsored landmark social security legislation, by 1889–90, he had become violently opposed to the rise of organized labor . In particular, he was opposed to wage increases, improving working conditions, and regulating labour relations. The final break between the Iron Chancellor and
27221-404: Was seldom seen out of uniform. The hyper-masculine military culture of Prussia in this period did much to frame his political ideals and personal relationships. Wilhelm was in awe of his father, whose status as a hero of the wars of unification was largely responsible for the young Wilhelm's attitude, as were the circumstances in which he was raised; close emotional contact between father and son
27388-472: Was still a minor. King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided. Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy". Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called " Kensington System ", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by
27555-558: Was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth , lived, from 10 December 1820 to 4 March 1821. Prince Frederick died in 1827, followed by George IV in 1830; their next surviving brother succeeded to the throne as William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive . The Regency Act 1830 made special provision for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William died while Victoria
27722-510: Was taken to England to be present at the wedding of his uncle Bertie and Princess Alexandra of Denmark (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra ). Wilhelm attended the ceremony in a Highland costume , complete with a small toy dirk . During the ceremony, the four-year-old became restless. His 18-year-old uncle Prince Alfred , charged with keeping an eye on him, told him to be quiet, but Wilhelm drew his dirk and threatened Alfred. When Alfred attempted to subdue him by force, Wilhelm bit him on
27889-422: Was the eldest of the 42 grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom . In March 1888, Wilhelm's father, Frederick William, ascended the German and Prussian thrones as Frederick III. Frederick died just 99 days later, and his son succeeded him as Wilhelm II. In March 1890, the young Kaiser dismissed longtime Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and assumed direct control over his nation's policies, embarking on
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