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WILLIAM

2087

WILLIAM

At the outbreak of the revolutionary movement, in 1848, William saw that some of the demands for a freer government must be granted, but urged that order should first be restored. At this time he was the best hated man in Germany. In 1849 he skillfully crushed the rebellion in the grand-duchy of Baden, at which time an attempt was made upon his life. On Jan. 2, 1861, he became king of Prussia as William I. The successful wars against Denmark and Austria changed the feelings of his subjects toward him, and on his return to Berlin he was received with unbounded enthusiasm, being looked upon from this time as the father of his people. On the outbreak of the war with France, in 1870, all Germans rallied round the king of Prussia, and, when he quitted Berlin to join his army, he knew he had the support of a united nation. He personally commanded at the battles of Gravelotte and Sedan, and during the siege of Paris was proclaimed German emperor, Jan. 18, 1871. He left the destinies of Germany almost entirely in the hands of Bismarck, the chancellor of the empire. William died at Berlin, March 9, 1888. Consult A. Forbes' Life of Emperor William.

William II, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia, is the oldest son of Emperor Frederick III (q. v.) of Germany and Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain. He was born on Jan. 27, 1859. After being tutored at home, he entered Cassel Gymnasium, where he graduated in 1877. He then took a course under the professors of Potsdam Military Academy, and was made a * colonel of hussars. | William II became !v emperor on June !i5, 1888. He at once went back to the policy of William I and Prince Bismarck, much to the disappointment of the great body of the nation, who had looked forward to enjoving the more liberal government which it was felt that Emperor Frederick would have given to Germany had he lived. The chief events of William's reign have been the forced retirement of Prince Bismarck the chancellor, the most powerful of his subjects, owing to their disagreements as to measures to be adopt-

ed toward the socialists, who are fast becoming one of the most powerful of the political parties of Germany; the widening of Germany's colonial empire; the interest taken by the empire in the punitive expedition to China after the attack on the European legations at Pekin; and the struggle in the Reichstag over the increase of the army deemed necessary by the emperor in view of the state of Europe.

William, Prince of Orange, called William the Silent, founder of the independence of the Netherlands, was born at Dillenburg, Nassau, April 16, 1533. He inherited Nassau from his father and Orange from a cousin. As a boy he was a page at the court of Charles V, who gave him the command of a body of troops and employed him in diplomacy. When Philip II left for Spain, he appointed William one of the state council to help Margaret of Parma to rule the Netherlands as regent. He opposed the persecution of the Protestants, and refused to permit it in the provinces of which he was stadtholder. When the duke of Alva marched to Brussels and put Egmont and Horn to death, William, who had fled to Germany, had his property seized and a son sent to Spain as a hostage. After raising an army he marched against Alva, but was forced to retire to French Flanders, and with his brotners joined the Huguenots under Coligni. In 1569 he sent out privateers, known as the beggars of the sea, who captured Briel in 1572. This exploit was followed by the rebellions of Flushing, Haarlem, Dort, Ley den and other cities, which acknowledged William of Orange as their prince. William captured several other towns, but the massacre of St. Bartholomew destroyed his hopes of French aid, and he was forced to disband his army. The Spaniards retook city after city, sacked Haarlem after seven months' siege, and defeated and slew his brothers. But William by cutting the dikes and flooding the country, enabled Admiral Brissot to bring his fleet to the relief of Ley den, which had long been besieged. In 1576 the five provinces which had all along held to Spain joined the states general at Ghent, and formed a league under William. But two years later Don John of Austria, the new Spanish governor, won a victory near Gembloux. His successor, Alexander Farnese, also gained the Walloon provinces. But William in 1579 formed a league between Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen and Overyssel, which was the foundation of the Dutch Republic. Two years later the United Provinces declared themselves independent, July 26, 1581. William twice refused to become the ruler of the new country, and was assassinated at Delft, July ip, 1584. Maurice of Nassau, who distinguished himself in the Thirty Years' War as a military genius, was a son

KAISER WILHELM II