Kaiser Wilhelm II was de facto head of Germany during World War
One. When World War One broke out in August 1914 Wilhelm was
emperor with great power. When the war ended it ended for
Wilhelm with a self-imposed exile in the Netherlands and little
if any influence in Weimar Germany. Wilhelm was born in 1859. He
was born with a withered left arm and some historians believe
that it was this physical handicap that helped to shape his
personality as an adult. Wilhelm constantly saw himself as
having to prove himself – whether it was mastering the art of
horse riding or by his constant habit of wearing a military
uniform when in public as a statement of his manliness. Wilhelm
was related to the British Royal Family as his mother, ‘Vicky’,
was the Princess Royal of Great Britain, the eldest child of
Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. She was highly
intelligent and read journals not normally associated with
royalty such as the “Journal of Mining and Mineralogy”. She also
read “Das Kapital” by Karl Marx. However,