Wilhelm II

Wilhelm II (27 January 1859 - 4 June 1941) became German Emperor on 15 June 1888, succeeding his father Frederick III after a reign of only 99 days, and ruled until his abdication in 1918. His erratic foreign policy and diplomatic brinkmanship contributed to escalating European tensions, and during the July Crisis of 1914 he guaranteed military support to Austria-Hungary, a decision that helped plunge Europe into the First World War; once fighting began he delegated military decisions to the German Supreme Army Command, which by 1916 exercised a de facto military dictatorship over policy. Facing military defeat on the Western Front and the loss of support from both military leaders and the public, he was compelled to abdicate during the German Revolution of 1918 to 1919 and fled into exile in the Netherlands, where he remained even after the Nazi occupation of 1940 until his death in 1941.