He also made a number of public blunders, the worst of which was The Daily Telegraph affair of 1908. He meddled in German foreign policy on the basis of his emotions, resulting in incoherence and inconsistency in German relations with other nations. Wilhelm damaged his political position in a number of ways. His ties to Britain through its royal family would play an important part in his later political maneuvering. The future monarch was the queen’s firstborn grandchild and was genuinely fond of her in fact, he was holding her in his arms when she died. Kaiser Wilhelm II was born in Potsdam, Germany, on January 27, 1859, the son of Prince Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia (1831-88) and Princess Victoria (1840-1901), the oldest daughter of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). He spent the rest of his life in exile in the Netherlands, where he died at age 82. Some historians maintain that Wilhelm was controlled by his generals, while others argue that he retained considerable political power. His role in the conduct of the war as well as his responsibility for its outbreak is still controversial. While Wilhelm did not actively seek war, and tried to hold back his generals from mobilizing the German army in the summer of 1914, his verbal outbursts and his open enjoyment of the title of Supreme War Lord helped bolster the case of those who blamed him for the conflict. He gained a reputation as a swaggering militarist through his speeches and ill-advised newspaper interviews. Wilhelm II (1859-1941), the German kaiser (emperor) and king of Prussia from 1888 to 1918, was one of the most recognizable public figures of World War I (1914-18).
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