Editing Wilhelm II (section)

==Life in exile==
[[File:Kaiser Wilhelm II and his dog in exile, 1938.jpg|thumb|Kaiser Wilhelm II and his dog in exile. [[Doorn]], 1938]]
In 1922, Wilhelm published the first volume of his memoirs{{Sfn | Hohenzollern | 1922}}—a very slim volume that insisted he was not guilty of initiating the Great War, and defended his conduct throughout his reign, especially in matters of foreign policy. For the remaining twenty years of his life, he entertained guests (often of some standing) and kept himself updated on events in Europe. He grew a beard and allowed his famous moustache to droop, adopting a style very similar to that of his cousins King George V and [[Tsar Nicholas II]]. He also learned the Dutch language. Wilhelm developed a penchant for archaeology while residing at the [[Achilleion (Corfu)|Corfu Achilleion]], excavating at the site of the [[Temple of Artemis, Corfu|Temple of Artemis in Corfu]], a passion he retained in his exile. He had bought the former Greek residence of [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria|Empress Elisabeth]] after her murder in 1898. He also sketched plans for grand buildings and battleships when he was bored. In exile, one of Wilhelm's greatest passions was hunting, and he killed thousands of animals, both beast and bird. Much of his time was spent chopping wood and thousands of trees were chopped down during his stay at Doorn.{{Sfn | Macdonogh | 2001 | p = 457}}

=== Wealth ===
Wilhelm II was seen as the richest man in Germany before 1914. After his abdication he retained substantial wealth. It was reported that at least 60 railway wagons were needed to carry his furniture, art, porcelain and silver from Germany to the Netherlands. The Kaiser retained substantial cash reserves as well as several palaces.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/12/arts/design/german-royals-property-claim.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/12/arts/design/german-royals-property-claim.html |archive-date=28 December 2021 |url-access=limited|title = His Ancestors Were German Kings. He Wants Their Treasures Back|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 12 March 2021|last1 = Hickley|first1 = Catherine}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After 1945, the Hohenzollerns' forests, farms, factories and palaces in what became East Germany were expropriated and thousands of artworks were subsumed into state-owned museums.

=== Views on Nazism ===
In the early 1930s, Wilhelm apparently hoped that the successes of the [[Nazi Party]] would stimulate interest in a restoration of the [[House of Hohenzollern]], with his eldest grandson as the new Kaiser. His second wife, Hermine, actively petitioned the Nazi government on her husband's behalf. However, [[Adolf Hitler]], despite being a veteran of the [[Imperial German Army]] during the [[First World War]], felt nothing but contempt for the man he blamed for Germany's greatest defeat, and the petitions were ignored. Though he played host to [[Hermann Göring]] at Doorn on at least one occasion, Wilhelm learned to distrust Hitler. Hearing of the murder of the wife of former Chancellor [[Kurt von Schleicher]] during the [[Night of the Long Knives]], Wilhelm said, "We have ceased to live under the rule of law and everyone must be prepared for the possibility that the Nazis will push their way in and put them up against the wall!"{{Sfn | Macdonogh | 2001 | pp = 452–452}}

Wilhelm was also appalled at the [[Kristallnacht]] of 9–10 November 1938, saying "I have just made my views clear to [[Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia|Auwi]] [August Wilhelm, Wilhelm's fourth son] in the presence of his brothers. He had the nerve to say that he agreed with the Jewish [[pogrom]]s and understood why they had come about. When I told him that any decent man would describe these actions as gangsterisms, he appeared totally indifferent. He is completely lost to our family".{{Sfn | Macdonogh | 2001 | p = 456}} Wilhelm also stated, "For the first time, I am ashamed to be a German":{{Sfn | Balfour | 1964 | p = 419}}

{{blockquote|There's a man alone, without family, without children, without God&nbsp;[...] He builds legions, but he doesn't build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, traditions: it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children&nbsp;[...] For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he has got rid of, or even killed&nbsp;... Papen, Schleicher, Neurath – and even Blomberg. He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters! [...] This man could bring home victories to our people each year, without bringing them either glory or (danger). But of our Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians, of artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed in a mob and led by a thousand liars or fanatics.|Wilhelm on Hitler, December 1938<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Kaiser on Hitler|magazine=[[Ken (magazine)|Ken]]|date=15 December 1938 |url=http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/Kaiser_Wm_and_Hitler.pdf |access-date=2 October 2016}}</ref>}}

In the wake of the [[Invasion of Poland|German victory over Poland]] in September 1939, Wilhelm's adjutant, Wilhelm von Dommes, wrote on his behalf to Hitler, stating that the House of Hohenzollern "remained loyal" and noted that nine Prussian Princes (one son and eight grandchildren) were stationed at the front, concluding "because of the special circumstances that require residence in a neutral foreign country, His Majesty must personally decline to make the aforementioned comment. The Emperor has therefore charged me with making a communication."{{Sfn | Petropoulos | 2006 | p = 170}} Wilhelm greatly admired the success which the [[Wehrmacht]] was able to achieve in the opening months of the [[Second World War]], and personally sent Hitler a congratulatory telegram when the Netherlands surrendered in May 1940: "My [[Führer]], I congratulate you and hope that under your marvellous leadership the German monarchy will be restored completely." Unimpressed, Hitler commented to [[Heinz Linge]], his valet, "What an idiot!"{{sfn|Beevor|2013|pp=92–93}}

Upon the [[fall of Paris]] a month later, Wilhelm sent another telegram: "Under the deeply moving impression of France's capitulation I congratulate you and all the German armed forces on the God-given prodigious victory with the words of [[Kaiser Wilhelm I|Kaiser Wilhelm the Great]] of the year 1870: 'What a turn of events through God's dispensation!' All German hearts are filled with the chorale of Leuthen, which the victors of [[Battle of Leuthen|Leuthen]], the soldiers of the Great King sang: '[[Now thank we all our God]]!'" In a letter to his daughter Victoria Louise, Duchess of Brunswick, he wrote triumphantly, "Thus is the pernicious ''Entente Cordiale'' of Uncle Edward VII brought to nought."{{Sfn | Palmer | 1978 | p = 226}} In a September 1940 letter to an American journalist, Wilhelm praised Germany's rapid early conquests as "a succession of miracles", but remarked also that "the brilliant leading Generals in this war came from ''My'' school, they fought under my command in the World War as lieutenants, captains and young majors. Educated by Schlieffen they put the plans he had worked out under me into practice along the same lines as we did in 1914."{{sfn|Röhl|2014|p=192}}

After the German conquest of the Netherlands in 1940, the aging Wilhelm retired completely from public life. In May 1940, Wilhelm declined an offer from [[Winston Churchill]] of asylum in Britain, preferring to die at Huis Doorn.{{Sfn | Gilbert | 1994 | p = 523}}

=== Anti-England, antisemitic, and anti-Freemason views ===
During his last year at Doorn, Wilhelm believed that Germany was still the land of monarchy and Christianity, while England was the land of [[classical liberalism]] and therefore of [[Satan]] and the [[Antichrist]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Conflict, Catastrophe and Continuity: Essays on Modern German History|last=Röhl|first=John C. G.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780521844314|pages=1263|ref=none}}</ref> He argued that the [[English nobility]] were "[[Freemasons]] thoroughly infected by Juda".<ref name=":0"/> Wilhelm asserted that the "British people must be ''liberated'' from ''Antichrist Juda''. We must drive Juda out of England just as he has been chased out of the Continent."{{sfn|Röhl|1996|p=211}}

He also believed a [[conspiracy theory]] that [[Anglo-American Freemasonry]] and the Jews had caused both world wars, and were aiming for a world empire financed by British and American gold, but that "Juda's plan has been smashed to pieces and they themselves swept out of the European Continent!"<ref name=":0"/> Continental Europe was now, Wilhelm wrote, "consolidating and closing itself off from British influences after the elimination of the British and the Jews!" The result would be a "[[U.S. of Europe]]!"{{sfn|Röhl|1996|p=212}} In a 1940 letter to his sister [[Princess Margaret of Prussia|Princess Margaret]], Wilhelm wrote: "The hand of God is creating a new world & working &nbsp;... We are becoming the U.S. of Europe under German leadership, a united European Continent." He added: "The Jews [are] being thrust out of their nefarious positions in all countries, whom they have driven to hostility for centuries."{{Sfn | Petropoulos | 2006 | p = 170}}

Also, in 1940 came what would have been his mother's 100th birthday. Despite their very troubled relationship, Wilhelm wrote to a friend, "Today the 100th birthday of my mother! No notice is taken of it at home! No 'Memorial Service' or&nbsp;... committee to remember her marvellous work for the&nbsp;... welfare of our German people&nbsp;... Nobody of the new generation knows anything about her."{{Sfn | Pakula | 1997 | p = 602}}
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Ex-keizer Wilhelm II met nieuwe baard door Ruben Velleman gefotografeerd — urn-gvn-SFA03-SFA001018553-large.jpg|Wilhelm in Amerongen, 1919
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00679, Niederlande, Haus Doorn.jpg|[[Huis Doorn]] in 1925
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 136-C0804, Kaiser Wilhelm II. im Exil.jpg|Wilhelm in 1933
File:Huisdoorn.JPG|Huis Doorn in October 2004
</gallery>