Young Wilhelm
The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859–1888

John C. G. Röhl's acclaimed life of Kaiser Wilhelm II, from his birth in 1859 to his accession to the throne in 1888.

John C. G. Röhl (Author)

9781107565968, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 March 2017

998 pages, 32 b/w illus.
24.7 x 17.4 x 3.9 cm, 1.69 kg

Review of the hardback: 'It is unlikely that another biography of Wilhelm II will ever surpass the level of detail or the depth of archival knowledge Röhl has achieved.' Isabel V. Hull, Journal of Modern History

This rich and compelling volume describes the life of Kaiser Wilhelm II from his birth in 1859 to his accession to the Prusso-German throne in 1888, a story so extraordinary that it will fascinate anyone interested in the psychology and the throng of personalities of the period. Its aim is to set the characters on the stage and let them speak for themselves, which in their letters and diaries the Victorians and Wilhelminians did with quite extraordinary clarity and persuasive power. The central theme is the bitter conflict between the handicapped Prince and his liberal parents, and in particular with his mother, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the utter failure of a daring educational experiment intended to turn the young Prince into a liberal Anglophile.

Preface to the English edition
Introduction to the German edition
1. Birth trauma: 'It's alive and it's a prince'
2. Disorder and early sorrow
3. Ambivalent motherhood
4. An English princess at the Prussian court
5. Blood and history
6. Education fit for a king
7. The doctor
8. Trials and tribulations
9. Experiment in Kassel
10. Spring dreams and awakening
11. Coming of age
12. The student prince
13. A question of balance: the inner-ear illness of Kaiser Wilhelm II
14. Cabal and love
15. Estrangement
16. Politics
17. First steps in foreign affairs: Prince Wilhelm between England and Russia
18. Eros and Austria
19. 'W. W. W.': Wilhelm-Wedel-Waldersee
20. Prince Wilhelm and the Battenberg conspiracy
21. The crown prince's nightmares
22. The gradual seizure of power
23. Waldersee and the world conflagration
24. The edge of darkness: the crown prince on the eve of catastrophe
25. The flight of the crown prince in the face of death
26. Prince Wilhelm and Queen Victoria's Jubilee
27. Crisis in San Remo
28. The Stoecker meeting and the break with the Bismarcks
29. Prince Wilhelm and the war party
30. Preparing for power
31. The macabre race for the throne
32. Impotence and agony
Notes
List of archival sources
List of books cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], European history [HBJD], General & world history [HBG], Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]