| Wilhelm II | |
|---|---|
| |
| Wilhelm II, German Emperor | |
| German Emperor | |
| Reign | June 15, 1888 - September 26, 1940 |
| Predecessor | Frederick III |
| Successor | Wilhelm III |
| Born | January 27, 1859 Kronprinzenpalais, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | September 26, 1940 Neues Palais, Potsdam, Berlin, German Empire |
| Spouse | Princess Augusta Victoria |
| Issue | Wilhelm III, German Emperor Prince Eitel Friedrich Prince Adalbert Prince August Wilhelm Prince Oskar Prince Joachim Viktoria Luise, Duchess of Brunswick |
| Full name | |
| Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert | |
| House | House of Hohenzollern |
| Father | Frederick III, German Emperor |
| Mother | Victoria, Princess Royal |
Wilhelm II (January 27, 1859 - September 26, 1940) reigned as German Emperor and King of Prussia from June 15, 1888 until his death. He was the last German Emperor to rule as an absolute monarch.
Wilhelm reigned during a period of rapid industrial expansion, and Germany's emergence as a world power. He led Germany into the Great War along with Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against France, Russia and Britain, leading to three years of bloody conflict.
Following victory in The Great War the September 1917 election produced a large majority for the reformist parties - the SPD, Zentrum and Progressive Peoples Party - and made political reform inevitable.
In November 1917 he was forced by the Reichstag to adopt the more liberal November Constitution, which saw the emergence of parliamentarianism, and a weakening of the power of the Emperor and the army at the expense of the Reichstag and the Chancellor.
Wilhelm died in 1940 at the age of 81.