November 9, 1918: Abdication of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

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Abdication, Friedrich Ebert, Friedrich III of Germany, German Chancellor, German Empire, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Prince Maximilian of Baden, Victoria Princess Royal, Wilhelm II of Germany, World War I

Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from June 15, 1888 to his abdication November 9, 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe, most notably King George V of the United Kingdom and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.

Wilhelm was born at the Crown Prince’s Palace, Berlin, to Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm of Prussia (the future Friedrich III) and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Friedrich-Wilhelm IV was king of Prussia, and his grandfather and namesake Wilhelm was acting as Regent. He was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, but more important, as the first son of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Wilhelm was second in the line of succession to Prussia, from 1861 onwards and also, after 1871, to the newly created German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the King of Prussia. 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.

 

Accession and Reign

Kaiser Wilhelm I died in Berlin on 9 March 1888, and Prince Wilhelm’s father ascended the throne as Friedrich III. He was already suffering from an incurable throat cancer and spent all 99 days of his reign fighting the disease before dying. On June 15 of that same year, his 29-year-old son succeeded him as German Emperor and King of Prussia.

His reign would last to November 9, 1918. Despite strengthening Germany’s position as a great power by building a blue-water navy and promoting scientific innovation, his tactless public statements and reckless foreign policy greatly antagonized the international community and ultimately plunged his country into World War I. 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 Hohenzollern dynasty’s three hundred year rule.

Abdication

Wilhelm was at the Imperial Army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, when the uprisings in Berlin and other centres took him by surprise in late 1918. Mutiny among the ranks of his beloved Kaiserliche Marine, the imperial navy, profoundly shocked him. After the outbreak of the German Revolution, Wilhelm could not make up his mind whether or not to abdicate. Up to that point, he accepted that he would likely have to give up the imperial crown, but still hoped to retain the Prussian kingship.

However, this was impossible under the imperial constitution. Wilhelm thought he ruled as emperor in a personal union with Prussia. In truth, the constitution defined the empire as a confederation of states under the permanent presidency of Prussia. The imperial crown was thus tied to the Prussian crown, meaning that Wilhelm could not renounce one crown without renouncing the other.

Wilhelm’s hope of retaining at least one of his crowns was revealed as unrealistic when, in the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, Chancellor Prince Max of Baden announced Wilhelm’s abdication of both titles on 9 November 1918. Prince Max himself was forced to resign later the same day, when it became clear that only Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD, could effectively exert control. Later that day, one of Ebert’s secretaries of state (ministers), Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann, proclaimed Germany a republic.

Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff’s replacement, General Wilhelm Groener, had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Paul von Hindenburg’s command, but would certainly not fight for Wilhelm’s throne on the home front. The monarchy’s last and strongest support had been broken, and finally even Hindenburg, himself a lifelong royalist, was obliged, with some embarrassment, to advise the Emperor to give up the crown.

On 10 November, Wilhelm crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral throughout the war. Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919, Article 227 expressly provided for the prosecution of Wilhelm “for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties”, but the Dutch government refused to extradite him, despite appeals from the Allies. King George V wrote that he looked on his cousin as “the greatest criminal in history”, but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George’s proposal to “hang the Kaiser”.

It was reported, however, that there was little zeal in Britain to prosecute. On January 1, 1920, it was stated in official circles in London that Great Britain would “welcome refusal by Holland to deliver the former kaiser for trial,” and it was hinted that this had been conveyed to the Dutch government through diplomatic channels.

Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on November 28, 1918 he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns’ 500-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he gave up his rights to “the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith.”

He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oath of loyalty to him. He purchased a country house in the municipality of Doorn, known as Huis Doorn, and moved in on May 15, 1920. This was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The Weimar Republic allowed Wilhelm to remove twenty-three railway wagons of furniture, twenty-seven containing packages of all sorts, one bearing a car and another a boat, from the New Palace at Potsdam.

Wilhelm died of a pulmonary embolus in Doorn, Netherlands, on June 4, 1941, at the age of 82, just weeks before the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union.

March 9, 1888: Death of German Emperor Wilhelm I, King of Prussia. Part II.

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Frederick III of Germany, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Emperor and King of Prussia, German Empire, German titles, Imperial Germany, Otto von Bismark, Wilhelm I of Germany

Part II

Wilhelm I, German Emperor

Against his convictions but out of loyalty towards his brother, Wilhelm signed the bill setting up a Prussian parliament (Vereinigter Landtag) in 1847 and took a seat in the upper chamber, the Herrenhaus.

During the Revolutions of 1848 that swept across Europe, including Germany, Wilhelm successfully crushed a revolt in Berlin that was aimed at Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The use of cannons made him unpopular at the time and earned him the nickname Kartätschenprinz (Prince of Grapeshot). Indeed, he became so unpopular had to flee to England for a while, disguised as a merchant. In a year he returned and helped to put down an uprising in Baden, where he commanded the Prussian army. In October 1849, he became governor-general of Rhineland and Westfalia, with a seat at the Electoral Palace in Koblenz.

During their time at Koblenz, Wilhelm and his wife entertained liberal scholars such as the historian Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker, August von Bethmann-Hollweg and Clemens Theodor Perthes. Wilhelm’s opposition to liberal ideas gradually softened a little.

In 1857 Friedrich Wilhelm IV suffered a stroke and became mentally disabled for the rest of his life. In January 1858, Wilhelm became Prince Regent for his brother, initially only temporarily but after October it became permanent and he swore an oath of office on the Prussian constitution and promised to preserve it “solid and inviolable”. Wilhelm appointed a liberal, Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, as Minister President and thus initiated what became known as the “New Era” in Prussia, although there were conflicts between William and the liberal majority in the Landtag on matters of reforming the armed forces.

On January 2, 1861, Friedrich Wilhelm IV died and Wilhelm ascended the throne as Wilhelm I of Prussia. In July, a student from Leipzig attempted to assassinate William, but he was only lightly injured. Like Friedrich I of Prussia (1701-) Wilhelm travelled to Königsberg and there crowned himself at the Schlosskirche. Wilhelm chose the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, October 18, for this event, which was the first Prussian crowning ceremony since 1701 and the only crowning of a German king in the 19th century.

Wilhelm refused to comply with his brother Friedrich Wilhelm IV’s wish, expressed in His last will, that he should abrogate the constitution. Wilhelm inherited a conflict between Friedrich Wilhelm IV and the liberal Landtag. He was considered to be politically neutral as he intervened less in politics than his brother. In 1862 the Landtag refused an increase in the military budget needed to pay for the already implemented reform of the army, which involved raising the members of the peacetime army and to keep the length of military service (raised in 1856 from two years) at three years.

Otto Von Bismarck

When his request, backed by his Minister of War Albrecht von Roon was refused, Wilhelm first considered abdicating, but his son, the Crown Prince Friedrich, advised strongly against it. Then, on the advice of Roon, Wilhelm appointed Otto von Bismarck to the office of Minister President in order to force through the proposals. According to the Prussian constitution, the Minister President was responsible solely to the king, not to the Landtag. Bismarck, a ultra-conservative Prussian Junker and loyal friend of the king, liked to see his working relationship with Wilhelm as that of a vassal to his feudal superior. Nonetheless, it was Bismarck who effectively directed the politics, domestic as well as foreign; on several occasions he gained William’s assent by threatening to resign.

The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on June 8, 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris. The German Confederation replaced the ancient Holy Roman Empire that had been dissolved by Emperor Franz II under the pressure of the rise of Napoleon.

Creating a unified German State was the goal of many German statesman. The Bourgeois revolutions of 1848, which tired to give the Imperial Crown to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV was associated with highly educated and middle class subjects but this attempt was crushed in favor of peasants, artisans and Otto von Bismarck’s pragmatic Realpolitik.

Bismarck sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states. Bismarck knew that to do so meant the unification of the German states and the exclusion of Prussia’s main German rival, Austria, from the subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative Germany dominated by Prussia with Wilhelm as its Emperor. Three wars led to military successes and helped to persuade German people to do this: the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War against France in 1870–71.

Wilhelm is proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, France flanked by his only son, Crown Prince Friedrich and son in law – Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden. Painting by Anton von Werner

Wilhelm was the commander-in-chief of the Prussian forces in the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864 and the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. After the latter was won by Prussia, Wilhelm wanted to march on to Vienna and annex Austria, but was dissuaded from doing so by Bismarck and Crown Prince Friedrich. These actions were not part of Bismarck’s plan.

Bismarck wanted to end the war quickly, so as to allow Prussia to ally with Austria if it needed to at a later date; Crown Prince Friedrich was also appalled by the casualties and wanted a speedy end to hostilities. During a heated discussion, Bismarck threatened to resign if Wilhelm continued to Vienna. In the end Bismarck got his way. Wilhelm had to content himself with becoming the de facto ruler of the northern two-thirds of Germany. Prussia annexed several of Austria’s allies north of the Main, as well as Schleswig-Holstein. It also forced Saxe-Lauenburg into a personal union with Prussia (which became a full union in 1878).

In 1867, the North German Confederation was created as a federation (federally organised state) of the North German and Central German states under the permanent presidency of Prussia. Wilhelm assumed the Bundespräsidium, the presidium of the Confederation; the post was a hereditary office of the Prussian crown. Not expressis verbis, but in function he was the head of state. Bismarck intentionally avoided a title such as Präsident as it sounded too republican. Wilhelm also became the constitutional Bundesfeldherr, the commander of all federal armed forces. Via treaties with the South German states, he also became commander of their armies in times of war. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Wilhelm was in command of all the German forces at the crucial Battle of Sedan.

During the Franco-Prussian War, the South German states joined the North German Confederation. The country was renamed Deutsches Reich (the German Empire), and the title of Bundespräsidium was amended with the title Deutscher Kaiser (German Emperor). This was decided on by the legislative organs, the Reichstag and Bundesrat, and Wilhelm agreed to this on December 18, in the presence of a Reichstag delegation. The new constitution and the title of Emperor came into effect on January 1, 1871.

The German Emperor (German: Deutscher Kaiser) became the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. The title German Emperor was in direct contrast to both Emperor of the Germans or even Emperor of Germany (German: Kaiser von Deutschland).

Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Bismarck and Wilhelm continually discussed the imperial title even up until the proclamation of Wilhelm as emperor at the Palace of Versailles during the Siege of Paris. The title “German Emperor” was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck, Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly having preferred “Emperor of Germany.” However, that would have signaled a territorial sovereignty and superiority over all German monarchs and this was particularly unacceptable to the South German monarchs, as well as a claim to lands outside his reign (Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc.).

Even the title “Emperor of the Germans”, which initially 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.
T

January 18, 1871: Proclamation of the German Empire.

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Emperor of Germany, Emperor of the Germans, Frankfurt Parliament, Frederick III of Germany, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Empire, Great Hall of Mirrors, Otto von Bismark, Palace of Versailles, Revolutions of 1848, Wilhelm I of Germany, Wilhelm II of Germany

The future king and emperor was born Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia in the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin on March 22, 1797. As the second son of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and King Friedrich Wilhelm III, himself son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II, Wilhelm was not expected to ascend to the throne. His grandfather died the year he was born, at age 53, in 1797, and his father Became the King of Prussia.

Ever since the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806 uniting the German lands into a modern Nation State, a new empire, was the goal of many statesman as well as the populace of the multi German states that had made up the Holy Roman Empire.

The first attempt to create the Second German Reich occurred in 1848. In the wake of the revolutions of 1848 that swept across Europe, where the people of the many autocratic monarchies demanded that their governments be ruled by laws granted in a Constitution, the liberal Frankfurt Parliament offered the title “Emperor of the Germans” (German: Kaiser der Deutschen) to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia in 1849 but he declined it citing that it was “not the Parliament’s to give.” Friedrich Wilhelm further stated he would not “stoop down in the gutter to pick up a crown” for he strongly believed that only the German princes had the right to make such an offer, in accordance with the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire.

German Emperor Wilhelm I

Despite this false start creating a German Empire was still the ultimate goal. After a series of wars orchestrated by the ultra conservative Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia and Chancellor of the North German Confederation; which culminated in uniting the North and South German Confederations at the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor in the Great Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles on January18, 1871. However, creating the title of Emperor and convincing the King of Prussia to take the crown proved almost as difficult as forging the Empire itself.

The German Emperor (German: Deutscher Kaiser [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈkaɪzɐ]) became the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. The title German Emperor was in direct contrast to both Emperor of the Germans or even Emperor of Germany (German: Kaiser von Deutschland).

The title was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck, after a discussion which continued until the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as emperor at the Palace of Versailles during the Siege of Paris. Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly on January 18 having preferred “Emperor of Germany.” However, that would have signaled a territorial sovereignty and superiority over all German monarchs and this was particularly unacceptable to the South German monarchs, as well as a claim to lands outside his reign (Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc.).

“Emperor of 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. This was an identical stance held by his brother, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. 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 the Prussian crown.

Since 1867, the presidency of the North German Confederation had been a hereditary office of the kings of Prussia. The new constitution of January 1, 1871, following Reichstag and Bundesrat decisions on December 9/10, legally transformed the North German Confederation into the German Empire. This empire 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).

German Emperor Friedrich III

Under the imperial constitution, the empire was a federation of states under 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 was legally impossible, and announced Wilhelm II’s abdication of both thrones on November 9, 1918, two days before the Armistice. Realizing his situation was untenable, Wilhelm II went into exile in the Netherlands later that night. It was not until November 28 that Wilhelm II formally gave up all claim to “the throne of Prussia and to the German imperial throne connected therewith.”

German Emperor Wilhelm II

Full titles of the German Emperor

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 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 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.

Marriage of Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach & Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

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Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Conservative, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, German Chancellor, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Liberal, Marriage, Otto von Bismark, Wilhelm I of Germany

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Augusta Marie Luise Katharina; September 30, 1811 – January 7, 1890) was the Queen of Prussia and the first German Empress as the consort of Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

Wilhelm I (March 22, 1797 – March 9, 1888) of the House of Hohenzollern, was King of Prussia from January 2, 1861 and the first German Emperor from January 18, 1871 to his death, the first Head of State of a united Germany. He was the second son of King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia (himself son of King Friedrich-Wilhelm II) and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, circa 1838, by Carl Joseph Begas

Augusta was the second daughter of Carl-Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of Pavel I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Meeting with Wilhelm

Augusta was only fifteen years old when, in 1826, she first met her future husband, Prince Wilhelm, who was more than fourteen years older than her. Wilhelm thought the young Augusta had an “excellent personality,” yet was less attractive than her older sister Marie, whom Wilhelm’s younger brother, Karl, had already married.

It was Wilhelm’s father who pressed him to consider Augusta as a potential wife. At this time, Wilhelm was in love with the Polish Princess Elisa Radziwill. The Crown Prince at the time was Wilhelm’s elder brother, Crown Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm (later King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV). He and his wife Elisabeth Ludovika* had been married three years and had no children. Although it was not anticipated that they would remain childless (which turned out to be the case), the court did expect that Wilhelm, as heir presumptive to the throne, should make a dynastic marriage and produce further heirs.

King Friedrich-Wilhelm III was indulgent of the relationship between his son Wilhelm and Elisa, but the Prussian court had discovered that her ancestors had purchased their princely title from Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and she was not deemed noble enough to marry a potential King of Prussia. Ironically, Crown Princess Elisabeth Ludovika, who as a Bavarian princess was considered to be of correct rank, counted both Bogusław Radziwiłł and Janusz Radziwiłł among her ancestors, albeit through female descent.

Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia

It was suggested by some courtiers that if Eliza Radziwill was adopted by a family of adequate rank, then a marriage with Prince Wilhelm was possible. In 1824, the Prussians turned to the childless Alexander I of Russia to adopt Elisa, but the Russian Czar declined. The second adoption plan by Elisa’s uncle, Prince August of Prussia, likewise failed because the responsible committee considered that adoption does not change “the blood.” Another factor in the adoption falling through was the Mecklenburg relations of the deceased Queen Louise of Prussia (wife of Friedrich-Wilhelm III) influence in the German and Russian courts.

Thus, in June 1826, Wilhelm’s father felt forced to demand the renunciation of a potential marriage to Elisa. Thus, Wilhelm spent the next few months looking for a more suitable bride, but did not relinquish his emotional ties to Elisa. Eventually, Wilhelm asked for Augusta’s hand in marriage on August 25, 1826, in writing and through the intervention of his father. Augusta agreed and on October 25, 1828, they were engaged.

Wilhelm wrote to his sister Charlotte, the wife of Nikolai I of Russia, with reference to Elisa Radziwill: “One can love only once in life, really” and confessed with regard to Augusta, that “the Princess is nice and clever, but she leaves me cold.”Augusta liked her future husband and hoped for a happy marriage, in the end, it was an inwardly happy marriage despite outward appearances.

On June 11, 1829, Wilhelm and Augusta were married in the chapel of Schloss Charlottenburg.

Augusta, German Empress and Queen of Prussia

The first weeks of marriage were harmonious; Augusta was taken favorably in the Prussian King’s court, however, Augusta soon started to be bored with its military sobriety, and most courtly duties (which may have counteracted this boredom) were reserved to her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Elisabeth.

In a letter which Wilhelm wrote on 22 January 1831 to his sister Charlotte, he has mixed feelings of his wife’s “lack of femininity”.

Despite the coldness and distance between them they did conceive two children. The first was Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm (later Friedrich III, German Emperor), born on October 26, 1831. Seven years later Princess Louise, was born on December 3, 1838.

Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

Princess Louise of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Baden.

Augusta as a politician

A strong area of difference between Wilhelm and Augusta was politics. Wilhelm was a staunch Conservative while Augusta was very Liberal.

Augusta was very interested in politics. Like so many other liberally-minded people of the time, she was hopeful regarding the accession of Friedrich-Wilhelm IV, her brother-in-law, who was regarded as a potentially modern and open king. However, he refused to grant a constitution to Prussia and led a far more conservative government than was expected from his liberal ideals during his years as the crown prince.

In liberal circles, an idea was seriously discussed as to whether or not to force the King to abdicate, Prince Wilhelm renounce his rights to the throne, and instead have Augusta take up a regency for their son, Friedrich. Because the letters and diaries of that time were later destroyed by Augusta, it is not clear whether she seriously considered this option.

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Augusta, German Empress and Queen of Prussia. Their elldest children, Victoria the Princess Royal and German Emperor Friedrich III were married.

In his memoirs, Chancellor Bismarck describes Wilhelm I as an old-fashioned, courteous, infallibly polite gentleman and a genuine Prussian officer, whose good common sense was occasionally undermined by “female influences”. This was a reference to Wilhelm’s wife, who had been educated by, among others Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and was intellectually superior to her husband. She was also at times very outspoken in her opposition to official policies as she was a liberal. Wilhelm, however, had long been strongly opposed to liberal ideas.

Empress Augusta

* Here are some interesting genealogical information on Elisabeth Ludovika (November 13, 1801 – December 14, 1873) who was a Princess of Bavaria and later Queen consort of Prussia as the wife of King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia.

Elisabeth Ludovika was born in Munich, the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his Queen, Friederike of Baden, and she was the identical twin sister of Amalie of Bavaria, consort of King Johann I of Saxony. Another sister was of Sophie of Bavaria Austria, wife of Archduke Franz-Carl of Austria and she was the mother of Emperor Franz-Josef I of Austria-Hungry and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Another sister was Caroline of Bavaria the wife of Franz II, last Holy Roman Emperor and first Emperor of Austria. The youngest daughter was Ludovika of Bavaria, wife of her cousin, Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria. Ludovika of Bavaria was the mother of Emperor Franz-Josef’s consort, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi), who was Elisabeth’s godchild and namesake.

Kaiser Wilhelm II Dismisses Chancellor Bismarck: March 18, 1890.

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German Chancellor, Imperial German Chancellor, Kaiser, Kaiser Friedrich III, Kaiser Friedrich III of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Otto von Bismark, World War I

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (Born von Bismarck-Schönhausen; (April 1, 1815 – July 30, 1898), known as Otto von Bismarck he was a conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890 and was the first Chancellor of the German Empire between 1871 and 1890.

Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the German Empire.

In 1862, King Wilhelm I of Prussia appointed Bismarck as Minister President of Prussia, a position he would hold until 1890, with the exception of a short break in 1873. He provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. Following the victory against Austria, he abolished the supranational German Confederation and instead formed the North German Confederation as the first German national state in 1867, leading it as Federal Chancellor.

This aligned the smaller North German states behind Prussia. Later receiving the support of the independent South German states in the Confederation’s defeat of France, he formed the German Empire in 1871, unifying Germany with himself as Imperial Chancellor, while retaining control of Prussia at the same time. The new German nation excluded Austria, which had been Prussia’s main opponent for predominance among the German states.

Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia

With that accomplished by 1871, he skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany’s position in a Europe which, despite many disputes and war scares, remained at peace. For historian Eric Hobsbawm, it was Bismarck who “remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [and] devoted himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers”. However, his annexation of Alsace-Lorraine gave new fuel to French nationalism and promoted Germanophobia in France.This helped set the stage for the First World War.

In 1888 Kaiser Wilhelm I died, leaving the throne to his son, Friedrich III. The new monarch was already suffering from cancer of the larynx and died after reigning for only 99 days. He was succeeded by his son, Wilhelm II, who opposed Bismarck’s cautious foreign policy, preferring vigorous and rapid expansion to enlarge Germany’s “place in the sun.”

Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Bismarck was sixteen years older than Friedrich III; before the latter became terminally ill, therefore Bismarck did not expect he would live to see Wilhelm II ascend to the throne and thus had no strategy to deal with him. Conflicts between Wilhelm II and Bismarck soon poisoned their relationship. Their final split occurred after Bismarck tried to implement far-reaching anti-socialist laws in early 1890. The Kartell majority in the Reichstag, including the Conservative Party and the National Liberal Party, was willing to make most of the laws permanent. However, it was split about the law granting the police the power to expel socialist agitators from their homes, a power that had been used excessively at times against political opponents. The National Liberals refused to make this law permanent, while the Conservatives supported only the entirety of the bill, threatening to and eventually vetoing the entire bill in session because Bismarck would not agree to a modified bill.

As the debate continued, Wilhelm II became increasingly interested in social problems, especially the treatment of mine workers during their strike in 1889. Keeping with his active policy in government, he routinely interrupted Bismarck in Council to make clear his social views. Bismarck sharply disagreed with Wilhelm’s policies and worked to circumvent them. Even though Wilhelm II supported the altered anti-socialist bill, Bismarck pushed for his support to veto the bill in its entirety. When his arguments could not convince Wilhelm, Bismarck became excited and agitated until uncharacteristically blurting out his motive to see the bill fail: to have the socialists agitate until a violent clash occurred that could be used as a pretext to crush them.

Wilhelm countered that he was not willing to open his reign with a bloody campaign against his own subjects. The next day, after realizing his blunder, Bismarck attempted to reach a compromise with Wilhelm by agreeing to his social policy towards industrial workers and even suggested a European council to discuss working conditions, presided over by the Emperor.

Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Still, a turn of events eventually led to his breaking with Wilhelm. Bismarck, feeling pressured and unappreciated by the Emperor and undermined by ambitious advisers, refused to sign a proclamation regarding the protection of workers along with Wilhelm, as was required by the German constitution. His refusal to sign was apparently to protest Wilhelm’s ever increasing interference with Bismarck’s previously unquestioned authority. Bismarck also worked behind the scenes to break the Continental labour council on which Wilhelm had set his heart.

The final break came as Bismarck searched for a new parliamentary majority, as his Kartell was voted from power as a consequence of the anti-socialist bill fiasco, the remaining forces in the Reichstag were the Catholic Centre Party and the Conservative Party. Bismarck wished to form a new block with the Centre Party and invited Ludwig Windthorst, the parliamentary leader, to discuss an alliance. That would be Bismarck’s last political maneuver. Upon hearing about Windthorst’s visit, Wilhelm was furious.

In a parliamentary state, the head of government depends on the confidence of the parliamentary majority and has the right to form coalitions to ensure their policies have majority support. However, in Germany, the Chancellor depended on the confidence of the Emperor alone, and Wilhelm believed that the Emperor had the right to be informed before his minister’s meeting.

After a heated argument in Bismarck’s office, Wilhelm—to whom Bismarck had shown a letter from Tsar Alexander III describing Wilhelm as a “badly brought-up boy”—stormed out, after first ordering the rescinding of the Cabinet Order of 1851, which had forbidden Prussian Cabinet Ministers from reporting directly to the King of Prussia and required them instead to report via the Chancellor. Bismarck, forced for the first time into a situation that he could not use to his advantage, wrote a blistering letter of resignation, decrying Wilhelm’s interference in foreign and domestic policy. The letter, however, was published only after Bismarck’s death.

“Dropping the Pilot”, a famous caricature by Sir John Tenniel (1820–1914), first published in the British magazine Punch, March 29, 1890.

Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II’s insistence on March 18, 1890, at the age of seventy-five.

Abdication of the German Emperor & the end of The Great War.

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Armistace, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Empire, Germany, House of Hohenzollern, Prince Max of Baden, Spa, The Great War, Wilhelm II, World War I

With the abdication of German Emperor, his flight to the Netherlands and the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918 brought the Great War to its close.

His Imperial Majesty Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

By October, German Emperor, Wilhelm II was at the Imperial Army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, when the uprisings in Berlin and other centres took him by surprise in late 1918. Instead of obeying their orders to begin preparations to fight the British once more, German German sailors, exhausted by four years of war, led a revolt in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven on October 29, 1918, followed by the Kiel mutiny in the first days of November.

These mutinies were the first salvos in the German Revolution of 1918-1919. When a mutiny occurred among the ranks of Emperors beloved Kaiserliche Marine, this profoundly disturbed him. Wilhelm struggled between acceptance denial and could not make up his mind whether or not to abdicate. Up to that point, he accepted that he would likely have to give up the imperial crown, but still hoped to retain the Prussian kingship. However, this was impossible under the imperial constitution. While Wilhelm thought he ruled as emperor in a personal union with Prussia, the constitution actually tied the imperial crown to the Prussian crown, meaning that Wilhelm could not renounce one crown without renouncing the other.

Wilhelm II

Wilhelm’s hopes of retaining at least one of his crowns was revealed as unrealistic when, in the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, Chancellor Prince Max of Baden announced Wilhelm’s abdication of both titles on 9 November 1918. Wilhelm was furious! He had not agreed to abdicate and heard the news like anyone else when it was announced over the radio and in special additions of the news paper. For Prince Max it was a desperate last ditch to save the Monarchy and Germany itself. Prince Max believed that by announcing the abdication it would quell the mutinies and the growing rebellions.

Prince Max could also feel power was lost and he himself was forced to resign later the same day, November 9, 1918. It had become obvious that only Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD, could effectively exert control. Later that day, one of Ebert’s secretaries of state (ministers), Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann, proclaimed Germany a republic.

Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff’s replacement, General Wilhelm Groener, had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Paul von Hindenburg’s command, but would certainly not fight for Wilhelm’s throne on the home front. The monarchy’s last and strongest support had been broken, and finally even Hindenburg, himself a lifelong royalist, was obliged, with some embarrassment, to advise the Emperor to give up the crown.

On 10 November, Wilhelm crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral throughout the war. Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919, Article 227 expressly provided for the prosecution of Wilhelm “for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties”, but the Dutch government refused to extradite him, despite appeals from the Allies. King George V wrote that he looked on his cousin as “the greatest criminal in history”, but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George’s proposal to “hang the Kaiser”. President Woodrow Wilson of the United States opposed extradition, arguing that prosecuting Wilhelm would destabilize international order and lose the peace.

Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on 28 November he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns’ 400-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he gave up his rights to “the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith.” He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oath of loyalty to him.

Huis Doorn, the Netherlands.

Wilhelm purchased a country house in the municipality of Doorn, known as Huis Doorn, and moved in on 15 May 1920. This was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The Weimar Republicallowed Wilhelm to remove twenty-three railway wagons of furniture, twenty-seven containing packages of all sorts, one bearing a car and another a boat, from the New Palace at Potsdam.

Survival of Monarchies: Prussia, Part VIII

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand, German Chancellor, German Empire, Max of Baden, World War I

It is difficult to assess the fall of the German Empire. Just how much of role did Wilhelm II play in its demise? That is the issue that is debatable. By the time World War I began Bethmann-Hollweg was the German Chancellor and the Kaiser had the breaks applied to him. Had World War I not occurred it is possible that the German Empire would have evolved into a type of monarchy where the role of the monarch would have evolved into being a figurehead. The German Empire was, technically speaking, a Constitutional Monarchy. However, the Constitution for the German Emprie did grant the Emperor considerable powers. However, as we have seen, a strong Chancellorship was being developed and despite Wilhelm II’s attempt at personal rule the monarch was being held in check and a more ceremonial role was developing.

The World War I happened. At the time Wilhelm II was blamed for the war. Today historians debate on how much of a role he played in starting the war. The material I have read is mixed at best and conflicting. I think that says a great deal. For it is my position that Wilhelm II was conflicted about the War. I think he was outraged at the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of Austria-Este, who had been his personal friend, and he felt confident that Austria would punish Serbia in a short war. As noted in his many correspondences with Czar Nicholas II of Russia he did not want Russia to be drawn into the war. Although his rivalry with Britain and the arms race between the two nations did raise tensions that did contribute to the war, the Kaiser, was full of bluster but would have liked to have avoided the war. He certainly did not envision the world wide carnage that did happen. Nobody knew it would get as bad as it did.

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg also supported the war and the Austrian invasion of Serbia. Wilhelm’s role in wartime saw an ever-decreasing power and his ceremonial role grew as he handed out awards and honorific duties. By 1916 the Empire had effectively become a military dictatorship under the control of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff. Wilhelm II found himself increasingly cut off from reality and the day-to-day political decision-making process. Emotionally Wilhelm vacillated between despair and defeatism or euphoric dreams of victory, depending upon the fortunes of his armies. However, outside of Germany itself nobody realized the Emperor’s diminished role. He remained the focus of all propaganda and was the symbol of the German Empire.

What did bring down the Kaiser? In the end it was simply the war. Four long years of unimaginable carnage brought hunger and disease and just plain weariness of all the death and destruction that the war brought. It wasn’t just the Allies that brought down the German Empire, the war itself caused Germany to implode. It was made quite clear to the Kaiser at the end when Germany was having a revolution. The Kaiser wanted to return to Berlin with the troops but it was pointed out to him that the troops wanted nothing to do with him. The Army, the Navy, the German citizens were sick to death of War and the Kaiser was the symbol of all that had gone wrong so at the end there really was no saving the monarchy.

The Kaiser’s cousin Prince Maximilian of Baden was selected to the Chancellorship late in 1918. He wanted to save the monarchy and have the Kaiser abdicate in favor of his eldest grandson (the Crown Prince was not popular either). I like to think that if the Kaiser had agreed to it and peace was sought among the Allies it may have been possible to save the monarchy. But who knows?

Survival of Monarchies: Prussia Part VII

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Caprivi, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Germam Emperor, German Chancellor, King of Prissia, Moroccan Crisis

While I will not be able to do an entire analysis of the Wilhelmine empire between 1888-1918 I will include relevant information congruent with this topic.

Although both Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II were both conservative German Emperors there were a couple of major differences. Wilhelm I preferred his position as King of Prussia and was a rather reluctant emperor. Kaiser Wilhelm II reveled in his position as German Emperor. Wilhelm I was content to rule through his Chancellor and this could have been the start of the monarch evolving into a figurehead. However, Wilhelm II wanted no such role. He wanted to take the reigns of government on himself as much as possible. Wilhelm II succeeded his father, Emperor Friedrich III, in the summer of 1888 and by 1890 Wilhelm dismissed the aged old Iron Chancellor Bismark beginning a short period of personal rule.

In appointing first Leo von Caprivi (1890-1894) and then Prince Chlodwig, of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1894-1900), found Wilhelm II embarking upon new course in which he hoped to exert decisive influence in the government of the empire. There is debate amongst historians as to the extent of “personal rule” Wilhelm had in this time period, but what is clear is that there was a very different dynamic that existed between the Crown and its chief political servant the Chancellor. The differences between Bismark and Wilhelm’s other chancellors was that they were civil servants and not seasoned politician-statesmen like Bismarck. Wilhelm wanted to insure that the emergence of another Iron Chancellor, whom he ultimately detested, would not come about once more. He felt that Bismark had kept a stranglehold on effective political power.

During his reign Wilhelm II slowly striped himself of his powers through missteps and outright blunders. The Abushiri Arab Revolt in East Africa of 1889, The Hun’s speech of 1900, The Moroccan Crisis of 1905, The Daily Telegraph scandal of 1908, all demonstrated Wilhelm II’s ineptness at foreign policy. The Daily Telegraph scandal, where he insulted Britain, sent him spiraling into depression for weeks where he refused to get out of bed. From that point on his ministers assured that no speech of the Kaisers would be released without their approval. From 1909-1917 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg was the German Chancellor and we begin to see a return to a period with a strong Chancellor and an Emperor who was mostly held in check by his ministers.

Next week I will examine the downfall of the Hohenzollern Monarchy.

The End of the Great War

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14 points, Austria-Hungary, Crown Prince Wilhelm, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Empire, Imperiial Chancellor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kingdom of Prussia, Max of Baden, The Great War, United States, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, World War ii

Today as I type this it is Veterans Day in the United States. We honor all those that serve in the military. The chosen date for this remembrance and gratitude to our brave men and women who sacrificed their lives was the ending of World War I. The end of the War brought not only a temporary peace to Europe, war would once again engulf Europe and the globe 21 years later, it also brought down ancient monarchies and a way of life that had existed for over one thousand years. In my interest in European royalty and history I often contemplate when was the point of no return for the down fall of monarchs? Could the down fall of Louis XVI of France and Navarre been avoided? I ask the same question today in regards to the collapse of the German Empire and the Empire of Austria-Hungary.

The war dragged on for 4 years. During the War the bombastic German Emperor, Wilhelm II, was a mere figurehead with his role being delegated to traveling throughout the empire by train giving speeches to encourage and boost the moral of the troops. Any military or political decisions had been taken out of his hands at this point and were under the control of the General Staff. Even though Wilhelm’s rule was nominal he was the symbolic head of the empire and the focal point of the propaganda against Germany. Death to the Kaiser or calls to hang the Kaiser were familiar rallying cries within the Allied forces.

By November of 1918 the war was winding down and all hope for a German victory was lost. President Wilson, not a monarchist by any stretch of the imagination, would not deal with these monarchical governments as a means of restoring peace. One of his famous 14 points for peace was that he would reduce German territory and practically dismantle the Austro-Hungarian empire. This placed great pressure on those in control in both Germany and Austria to rid themselves of the crown heads which stood at the pinnacle of symbolic power. It seems that the countries themselves were also tired of their hereditary leaders.

A year prior to the end of the War Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl tried to sue for peace using his brother-in-law, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma as a intermediary, but to no avail. In November of 1918 as the German General staff, along with Wilhelm II, gathered at headquarters at Spa in the Netherlands revolt was growing in the military and Germany itself. I think Wilhelm’s actions and attitudes at this time show the depth of his denial that things were truly over. He thought he would be able to lead the army back into Germany to crush any of the rising revolts. It came as a shock to him to learn that the army, so tied to Prussian authority for centuries, refused the emperors leadership.

Even the German Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, tried to persuade the emperor to abdicate the throne to one of his grandsons (the German Crown Prince was even more unpopular than his father) in an effort to try and save the monarchy, but the emperor refused. It was the night of November 9-10 that the emperor finally saw the writing on the wall and fled into the Netherlands seeking asylum. This came on the day when Chancellor Max of Baden announced the abdication of the emperor to the German people even though at this point the emperor still had not agreed to abdicate. It wouldn’t be until December when the emperor officially signed documents agreeing to his abdication, releasing all military and government official of their oath of allegiance to him. The monarchy may have been salvageable in 1917 but at that point the war was not lost so there was no reason for the emperor to abdicate. Sadly the reason for the emperor to abdicate came only when it was realized that any hope to win the war had been lost and by then it was too late to save the monarchy.

In 1918 the aim of the allied forces was to punish Germany and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles is an example of that. The harshness of the treaty is said to be a factor in the rise of Germany and the cause of World War II. States have learned a lesson from World War I. That lesson is to not punish a warring nation but to try and stabilize that country as soon as possible. If the monarchy could have been a stabilizing force for Germany at the end of the war, and if the allied powers would have been willing to work with these monarchies would it have been possible to avert the coming evil that proved to be much worse? One of histories unanswerable questions.