Kaiser Wilhelm's Childhood

I was really interested in Kaiser Wilhelm's life as a child because it seemed like he had his share of hardships, and you have to wonder how much of an effect these events affected his mind as the leader of a country.

From birth Kaiser Wilhelm was forced to live with a debilitated left arm in a time when physical appearance was extremely important. His mother would never hesitate in expressing her disappointment with her son's unnatural arm. Because he felt like his mother despised him, they grew separate. As we saw in the video, his strict tutor forced him to continue to learn to ride horseback for himself, even as he saw him fall off every time. Eventually, his mother's dominance over his father caused Wilhelm to reject bother of them and remain distant once he left for college. There, he was much happier. "I found my family, friends, interests - everything in my life that I had been deprived of." This illustrates Wilhelm's satisfaction with his adult life but also the bitterness he felt towards his childhood. His days at his grandmother's representation of a battlefield led into his desire to join the army as a young man, in spite of (or possibly because of) his left arm. However, he was described as rude, unstable, insensitive, and self-centered, determined to have his own way. In addition, many noted his belligerence and violent attitude.

Looking at his childhood, many trends can be found, and his tendencies carried over into his political life. His political actions were often viewed as extremely shallow and his policies just as inconsistent. Wilhelm's playing "war," his time in the army, and his naturally violent disposition shone through in his leadership. He wanted to build a navy to rival that of the British, and he antagonized neighboring powers with his bellicose decisions. Wilhelm constantly felt unappreciated as a child, so he needed to assert himself, and he was forced to learn the hard way, through trial and error. This proved to foster a somewhat incompetent leader whose militaristic decisions may have set the country back.