HIM German Emperor Wilhelm II: Part 3

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Crown Prince Wilhelm, Field Marshall, Friedrich Ebert, General Erich Ludendorff, German Empire, Grand Duchy of Baden, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Prussia, Morocco, Otto von Bismark, Paul von Hindenburg, Philipp Scheidemann, Prince Maximilian of Baden, Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Social Democrats, Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco, Tangier, The First Moroccan Crisis, Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, Wilhelm Groener, Woodrow Wilson, World War I

This is the final part of my feature on Germany’s Kaiser. Today I will look at his abdication and then look more on the personal side of the Kaiser along with his life in exile and his legacy.

As World War I raged on the Kaiser lost most of his political power and influence. By 1916 Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff were the virtual military dictators of the German Empire. Toward the end of the war it was evident how much power the Kaiser had lost and how much power Hindenburg and Ludendorff wielded. Throughout the spring and summer of 1918 the German staff could no longer deny that the war was lost and that peace should be sought after.

Georg von Hertling was the Chancellor of the German Empire and seen as a puppet of Hindenburg and Ludendorff and when it was realized he could no longer control the splintering empire on the verge of collapse he was forced to resign. The Kaiser, whose responsibility it was to appoint the Chancellor had no say in selecting von Hertling’s replacement. Prince Maximilian of Baden, heir to the Grand Duchy of Baden. Prince Max was seen as a liberal and by amending the constitution to where it would favor a Parliamentary system instead of the authoritarian system constructed by Bismark. Prince Max also included the Social Democrats, Friedrich Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann in the formation of the government. These were steps that were thought would make it easier for the allies to sue for peace. It was well known that US President Wilson would not deal with a Germany with the Kaiser at its head.

By November the German Empire was on the verge of collapse. There were socialist uprisings as well as rumblings in the military of mutiny. There were calls for the Kaiser to abdicate but that he refused to do so. In 1918 the German Staff had moved its headquarters to Spa, Belgium and it was there that Wilhelm spent his last days as emperor. All attempts to save the monarchy were lost but Wilhelm was not convinced. On November 9, 1918 Prince Max was in Berlin and the only thing he could do to stave off complete collapse and revolution was to announce the abdication of the Kaiser himself. When word reached Wilhelm that his abdication had been announced in Berlin he was outraged and never forgave Prince Max. Prince Max knew that he himself also had to go as it was seen that only Friedrich Ebert could restore order so the very same day the Kaiser’s abdication was announced Prince Max turned over the Chancellorship to Ebert.

Wilhelm was still not convinced all was lost. Ever the Prussian militarist Wilhelm had a delusional idea that he would lead the German Army, who was ever loyal to him, back into Berlin to crush any rebellion and restore his power. It took General Wilhelm Groener, Ludendorff’s replacement, to convince the emperor that the Army would not support him. It was only then that he agreed to seek exile and leave. The night of July 10th the Kaiser left Spa by train to seek asylum in the Netherlands. He was granted asylum by Queen Wilhelmina () and eventually settled in Doorn where he stayed for the rest of his life. His cousin, George V of the United Kingdom, called him the worst criminal in history. Many nations called for his extradition and wanted the Kaiser hung for war crimes. Eventually even president Wilson agreed that to extradite the Kaiser would destabilize the tentative peace.

Bismark mention in how he saw the Kaiser: 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, 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.

Reading one of the leading biographers of the Kaiser, John C. G. Röhl, found he blamed many others for his downfall and he had a streak of antisemitism in him as well.

Kaiserin August Victoria of Germany

He had married for the first time in 1881, HSH Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1858-1921). There have not been many kind words written about her. She was devoted to her husband in an almost hero-worshiping fashion and was seen as rather plain and unintelligent. Her devout Christian conservative views also created more negative images of her. She bore the Kaiser 6 sons and one daughter to whom he was devoted to. His eldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, was a womanizing playboy and this did not sit well with the emperor. The two strong willed men had many conflicts. One son, Prince Joachim, who was divorced shortly after the war never recovered from his loss of position and life as a royal and committed suicide in 1920. A year later his wife, Empress Augusta Victoria, died at the age of 62.

The Kaiser remarried in 1922. On his birthday in January of that same year Wilhelm received a birthday card from a son of the late Prince Johann George of Schönaich-Carolath. Wilhelm invited the boy and his mother, born Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, to Doorn. While meeting the former kaiser Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive and the two got on well. They were wed November 9, 1922 in spite of very vocal objections his children, who were about the same age as their new stepmother, and also from Wilhelm’s monarchist supporters who were eager for the restoration of the monarchy. Hermine, who was called the empress within the corridors of Huis Doorn was similarly devoted to her husband as was his first wife.

The Kaiser passed away on June 4, 1941. He saw the first few years of World War II. He eventually distance himself from Hitler and would not allow himself to be used for Nazi Propaganda and would not allow himself to be buried in Germany unless the monarchy was restored. To this day his remains lie in a mausoleum on the grounds of Huis Doorn.

Although I didn’t have a lot of positive things to say about the last Kaiser yet I do find him fascinating. He was a complex character that was steering the ship when the German Empire ran aground. Historians say that World War I changed a way of life for the aristocracy that had existed in Europe for centuries. There are also some historians who say that the 20th century didn’t actually begin until the end of the First World War. As a monarchist it presents an opportunity to understand why the monarchy ended. I am of the belief that if the kaiser had been more open to change and willing to go the way of constitutionalism that the other monarchies had gone, there is a strong chance that Germany would still be a monarchy today.

HI&RH Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia (1882-1951)

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Allied Control Council., Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Doorn, First Guard Regiment, Kaiser Friedrich III, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Order of the Black Eagle, Paul von Hindenburg, Prince Louis Ferdinand, Prussia, Queen Victoria, Wieringen

Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia 

Today begins my Thursday segment where I focus on a prince or princess from either the present or the past. Today I will look at the life of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia a person I find interesting for the times in which he lived and ultimately the unfulfilled destiny which remained beyond his grasp.

He was christened HRH Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst of Prussia and was the eldest son of future German Emperor Wilhelm II and his first wife, Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein (1858–1921). At the time of his birth he was third in line to the Imperial and Royal thrones of Germany and Prussia. His great-grandfather, German Emperor Wilhelm I, occupied the throne. His grandfather, Crown Prince Friedrich, was next in line followed by his own father, Wilhelm. Like his father, he was christened Friedrich Wilhelm but went by his second name. Wilhelm was also the great-grandson of Britain’s Queen Victoria through his grandmother, Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, who was his father’s mother. By the time he was 6 in 1888 he went from being third in line to the throne to being the heir to the throne with the death of his great-grandfather, his grandfather and the accession of his father in the span of a few months.

He was raised in the traditional manner of a Prussian prince; schooled by tutors and on his tenth birthday in 1892 he entered the First Guard Regiment and was given the Order of the Black Eagle by his father. As he grew older Wilhelm enjoyed the life of a Prussian military officer who was devoted to military life. Another aspect of growing older and being heir to the throne Wilhelm became quite the ladies man and being involved with women would be a passion of his even to his detriment. One of his great loves was an American singer Geraldine Farrar but she was not of the stature for him to be allowed to marry her. As a future Emperor-King Wilhelm needed to follow the strict protocol of marrying a princess of equal rank to his.

On this date, July 5, 1904, 108 years ago Crown Prince Wilhelm met his future bride, Princess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1886-1954). At this time her brother, Friedrich Franz IV was the reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and had recently married Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland. Upon their return to Schwerin Crown Prince Wilhelm arrived in the capitol of the Grand Duchy to deliver the couple a wedding present on behalf of his parents. This is where he met the Grand Duke’s 17 year old sister, Princess Cecilie. He immediately fell in love with her and much to the relief of his parents he had found someone of equal rank. On June 5, 1905 the couple were married in pomp and splendor in Potsdam. Wilhelm and Cecilie had 6 children (4 sons and 2 daughter).

In 1914 Crown Prince Wilhelm’s life changed forever as the First World War broke out. Despite being in the military for the majority of his life he did not have much leadership experience but was given the command of the Vth Army. He oversaw the Verdun Offensive and was forever known by the French as the ‘Butcher of Verdun.” Crown Prince Wilhelm is on record as not being supportive of the war. When Germany lost the war the Crown Prince went into exile on the island of Wieringen, in the Netherlands and was not popular in Germany. His father, Wilhelm II, also sought asylum in the Netherlands settling on an estate in Doorn.

In 1923 after reassuring the German Government that he would not enter into politics Wilhelm was allowed to return to Germany. However, at one point he did have political aspirations and desired to run for Reichspräsident against Paul von Hindenburg in 1932. This ambition was curtailed when his father threatened to disinherit him if he chose this path. The former Kaiser was never supportive of the democratic process and the thought of a Hohenzollern prince running for an election was an anathema to him. From 1919 until 1934 a great aspirtation for the former Crown prince was a restoration of the monarchy.

The Crown Prince supported the rise of Hitler for a short time as did many German princes as Hitler used the promise of a restoration of the monarchy as a means to court their support. With the death of his friend, the former Chancellor, Kurt von Schleicher, in the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 enabled him to see Hitlers true colors. From that period on Crown Prince Wilhelm ceased his political activities and his pursuit for the Restoration of the monarchy. In the 1930s Wilhelm lived the life of a playboy enjoying fast cars and fast women, his relationship with his wife had long been over in everything but name.

The 40s saw the outbreak of World War II. In 1941 his father died at the age of 82 and for his supporters he was now the head of the Imperial Family and if the monarchy had survived he would have become Kaiser Wilhelm III. During the war he kept a low profile. His eldest son died in battle during the war. He was living in a lodge in Austria at the end of the war and even though he had not participated in it he was arrested by the French army for a brief period. He lived alone in a small five room house and fell into a depression. The world he grew up in was gone. Prussia, the sate that brought the Hohenzollerns to prominence, was formally dissolved on February 25, 1947 the Allied Control Council. From the end of the war to the end of his life Wilhelm lived as a private citizen with a small group of friends. On July 20, 1951 the chain smoking former heir to the glorious German Empire suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 69. He was succeeded by his second son, Prince Louis Ferdinand, as head of the Imperial house and claimer to the vacant thrones of Germany and Prussia.

Crown Princess Cecilie.