| William II (def. 2). |
| 1. | (William Rufus; “the Red” ) 1056?–1100, King of England 1087–1100 (son of William I, duke of Normandy). |
| 2. | Also, Wilhelm II. (Frederick Wilhelm Viktor Albert) 1859–1941, king of Prussia and emperor of Germany 1888–1918. |
| William II 2 also Wilhelm II 1859-1941. Emperor of Germany and king of Prussia (1888-1918). Grandson of Queen Victoria, he supported the Afrikaners in South Africa and Austria's demands on Serbia (1914). He was forced to abdicate at the end of World War I. |
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.