wilhelm2

Kaiser Wilhelm II

      One of the last monarchs of the modern era to believe and profess the principle of Divine Right monarchy, with all power descending from God, was the German Emperor Wilhelm II, King of Prussia. Born in 1859, Wilhelm II was raised to a great extent by his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I, who had, somewhat reluctantly, taken the crown of the united Germany built by Bismarck. The old Kaiser distrusted his grandson's more liberal parents, Victoria, Princess Royal of England, and Crown Prince Friedrich III. Wilhelm II grew up to appreciate the special place of monarchs in the world and was one of the few royals of his day to recognize that republicanism posed a real danger to the monarchies of Europe. In 1888, after the 99-day reign of his father, Wilhelm was proclaimed German Emperor, King of Prussia, Grand Duke of Hohenzollern, Elector of Brandenburg and Lord of the Reich.
       As Kaiser, Wilhelm II was energetic and zealous in attaining for Germany a "place in the sun". Upon his ascension he told his jubilant people, "We are destined for great things, and I will lead you into glorious times." He encouraged a new style in Germany based on a return to the Christian heritage of the Holy Roman Empire with all of its chivalry and brotherhood of monarchs. He made Germany the dominant power in Europe and gained colonies around the world, a fact which upset the British, who had no wish for a competitor in their place as ruler of the seas. Although the Kaiser himself was a devout Lutheran, he visited Pope Leo XIII three times and allowed the Jesuits to return to Germany. He was a protector of the Benedictine monks and presented them with an elaborate new alter saying, "What I expect of you is that you support me and my efforts to maintain religion for the nation and that you increase respect for throne and alter. That way in these stormy days the thrones of Christian princes will be protected by Christ himself!" Chancellor Bismarck had been quite harsh towards the Catholic Faith which the Kaiser called, "the greatest stupidity ever committed by a Prussian statesman".
       God was never far from the Kaiser's thoughts and he was always quick to recognize that without God he was nothing and that he was responsible to God for the welfare of Germany which had been entrusted to his care. He had a concept of monarchial brotherhood that was quickly going out of style and he tended to ignore politicians, which sometimes ended badly since politicians could even then often overrule their monarch. He was greatly disturbed that his royal cousins in Britain and Russia would join in an alliance with republican France and also take such a harsh view of his own ally, the ancient House of Hapsburg. Contrary to the popular image of the Kaiser, he did not want war in 1914 and did everything he could to prevent it and then keep it from spreading. It was similar in other royal courts as almost no monarch wanted to go to war but were persuaded or tricked (as in Austria's case) by devious and manipulative politicians.
       During World War I Wilhelm II saw to it his troops behaved better than they would in the next war. He had food sent to the starving Jews of Warsaw who had been abandoned by the Poles and Russians and gave orders to his bombers flying over England to spare all churches, palaces and residential areas. While visiting the Eastern Front he went to Czestachowa and gave the monks 10,000 marks for the upkeep of the Black Madonna. After his forced abdication in 1918 he went into exile in the Netherlands and even became an amateur preacher on Sundays. He came to believe that God was punishing the nations of the world for their imperialistic policies and desire to take more than what God had given them. He spurned all offers of friendship from the Nazis and pledged never to return home until the monarchy was restored. By this time, particularly in Britain, some people began to see that his forced abdication had been a mistake. This, along with the change in attitude which came with no longer having anyone to try to awe and impress made the old Kaiser quite a popular man in his final years.
          At the start of the Second World War he all but disowned his son August Wilhelm, who had joined the S.A. and had guards posted outside his home after the invasion of Holland, as Hitler well remembered the Kaiser's rejection of his pretended friendship. However, Wilhelm soon won over his captives and the guards were clicking their heals and giving full salute whenever he passed, making his captors seem more like an honor guard. When Paris fell to the Germans he sent Hitler a note of congratulations, both to aid the position of his relatives in Germany and to point out that the army which won the victory was led by "his" officers, a fact Hitler noticed with considerable resentment. When he died in 1941, he left instructions that no Nazi insignia were to be displayed, a fact which made Hitler boycott the event and forbid others from attending, though most ignored the order. It was the last great gathering of monarchist notables and marked the passing of an older and nobler Germany.