Wars, politics & history

Death of Wilhelm II

4 June 1941

Wilhelm II died on 4 June 1941 in Huis Doorn, aged 82. The last German Emperor and King of Prussia, Wilhelm II was the grandson of Queen Victoria and came to the throne in 1888. He dismissed Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1890 and pursued an assertive foreign policy, including a naval buildup that strained relations with Britain. His erratic public statements damaged Germany's standing. Germany's alliance system drew it into the First World War, in which the generals held increasing power. As defeat approached and revolution broke out in November 1918, he abdicated and fled to the Netherlands, which refused to extradite him. He lived in exile at Doorn until his death in 1941, and the monarchy was never restored.

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