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Wilhelm II Kaiser Wilhelm Kaiser Wilhelm II was the emperor of Germany during World War I. At the end of the war he abdicated and fled to the Netherlands. He lived until World War II, long enough for Hitler to place an honor guard at his residence. Early in his reign, he is notable for dismissing Chancellor Otto von Bismarck?, who had been a key advisor to his father and had unified Germany. Bismarck had encouraged a conciliatory attitude towards France and Great Britain, which Wilhelm II drifted away from. He antagonized Great Britain by attempting to build a large navy, and further contributed to the outbreak of World War I by failing to make peace with his cousin, Nicholas II of Russia?, despite prolonged correspondence. At the end of WWI, Kaiser Wilhelm traveled to the front, and asked the army if it would support him against the revolution at home. The army commanders told him that they would not. Kaiser rolls, a type of bread, are named after the Kaiser because they look like his characteristic mustache?.  Young Wilhelm |