Wilhelm II

British  

noun

1. the German name of William II

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Wilhelm II Cultural  

1. A German emperor, or kaiser, of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After disagreements with Kaiser Wilhelm in the late nineteenth century, Otto von Bismarck resigned as head of the German government. Wilhelm then made aggressive moves abroad that increased instability throughout Europe. He ruled Germany in World War I and abdicated after his country's defeat. He lived the rest of his life in obscurity in The Netherlands.

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Example Sentences

His book, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, published in 1890, found disciples in Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the Japanese imperial naval ministry, and shaped 20th-century history.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

On the related but perhaps irrelevant question of individual character, the evidence is clear: Wilhelm II was an unstable and vainglorious idiot who wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

More recently members were simply removed, such as the leaders of Britain's opponents in the First World War, Wilhelm II of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary.

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025

The Hughes’s were related to German royalty, and when Thomas was 13, he traded letters with the deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II, as part of his research for a book about that side of his family.

From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2023

Kaiser Wilhelm II had built a sprawling summer pavilion in Griinau so the imperial family could reside in splendor while watching the competitions or taking to the water themselves.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown