Editing Wilhelm I (section)

===Later years and death===
[[File:Beisetzung von Kaiser Wilhelm I 1888 - cropped.jpg|thumb|left|Wilhelm's funeral procession, 1888]]

In August 1878, [[Alexander II of Russia]], Wilhelm's nephew, wrote a letter (known as ''Ohrfeigenbrief'') to him complaining about the treatment Russian interests had received at the [[Congress of Berlin]]. In response Wilhelm, his wife Augusta, and his son travelled to Russia (against the advice of Bismarck) to mend fences in face-to-face talks. However, by once again threatening to resign, Bismarck overcame the opposition of Wilhelm to a closer alliance with [[Austria-Hungary]]. In October, Wilhelm agreed to the [[Dual Alliance (1879)|Dual Alliance]] (''Zweibund'') between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which was directed against Russia.<ref name="DHM"/>

Another assassination attempt failed on 28 September 1883 when Wilhelm unveiled the ''[[Niederwalddenkmal]]'' in [[Rüdesheim am Rhein|Rüdesheim]]. A group of anarchists had prepared an attack using dynamite which failed due to the wet weather.<ref name="DHM"/>

[[Image:Wilhelm10mark.jpeg|thumb|right|10 goldmark depicting Wilhelm and his titles]]
The [[Berlin Conference]] of 1884–85 organized by Otto von Bismarck can be seen as the formalization of the [[Scramble for Africa]]. Claiming much of the left-over territories in Africa and Oceania that were yet unclaimed, Germany managed to build the large [[German colonial empire]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article168705897/Diese-deutschen-Woerter-kennt-man-noch-in-der-Suedsee.html |date=17 September 2017 |title=Diese deutschen Wörter kennt man noch in der Südsee |first=Matthias |last=Heine |newspaper=Die Welt |quote=Einst hatten die Deutschen das drittgrößte Kolonialreich[...] }}</ref>

Despite the assassination attempts and Wilhelm's unpopular role in the 1848 uprising, he and his wife were very popular, especially in their later years. Many people considered them the personification of "the old Prussia" and liked their austere and simple lifestyle.<ref name="DHM"/><ref name="Kings"/> Wilhelm died on 9 March 1888 in Berlin after a short illness, at age 90. He was buried on 16 March at the Mausoleum at Park [[Charlottenburg Palace|Charlottenburg]]. He was succeeded by his son Frederick, who was already fatally unwell himself (suffering from throat cancer). Frederick spent the 99 days of his reign fighting his illness before dying and being succeeded by his eldest son [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm]] on 15 June.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

[[File:William_I_grave.jpg|thumb|left|Grave of Wilhelm I in the mausoleum of [[Schloss Charlottenburg]] in Berlin]]
To honour him a large number of memorials/statues were erected all over the country over the following years. The best known among them are the [[Kyffhäuser monument]] (1890–96) in [[Thuringia]], the monument at [[Porta Westfalica]] (1896) and the mounted statue of Wilhelm at the [[Deutsches Eck]] in Koblenz (1897). The [[National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument]] in in front of the [[Berlin Palace]] was destroyed by the government of [[East Berlin]] in 1950.<ref name="DHM"/>