William II | |||||
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King of Württemberg | |||||
Reign | 6 October 1891 – 30 November 1918 | ||||
Predecessor | Charles I | ||||
Successor | Monarchy abolished | ||||
Born |
Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg |
25 February 1848||||
Died | 2 October 1921 Bebenhausen, Württemberg, Weimar Republic |
(aged 73)||||
Spouse |
Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe |
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Issue |
Pauline, Princess of Wied Prince Ulrich |
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House | Württemberg | ||||
Father | Prince Frederick of Württemberg | ||||
Mother | Princess Catherine of Württemberg | ||||
Religion | Lutheran |
Full name | |
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Wilhelm Karl Paul Heinrich Friedrich |
William II (German: Wilhelm II; 25 February 1848 – 2 October 1921) was the last King of Württemberg. He ruled from 6 October 1891 until the abolition of the kingdom on 30 November 1918.
Frederick was born the son of Prince Frederick of Württemberg (1808–1870) by his wife Princess Catherine Frederica of Württemberg (1821–1898), herself the daughter of King William I of Württemberg (1781–1864). His parents were first cousins, being the children of two brothers, and Frederick was their only child.
Frederick's growing years coincided with a progressive diminished of Württemberg's sovereignty and international presence, concomitant with the process of German unification. In 1870, Württemberg took the side of Prussia in the Franco-German War. In 1871, Württemberg became a state of the German Reich, a significant limitation on its sovereignty.
Frederick's father died in 1870, but his mother lived to see him seated on the throne of Württemberg. In 1891, William succeeded his childless maternal uncle, King Charles I (1823–1891) and became King of Württemberg. This was not, as it may seem, a departure from the Salic law which governed succession in the German states; his claim to the throne came because he was the nearest agnatic heir of his maternal uncle, as the senior male-line descendant of Frederick I of Württemberg through his younger son Prince Paul.
King William became a Generalfeldmarschall during World War I. In 1918, he was deposed from the throne along with the other German rulers. King William finally abdicated on 30 November 1918. He died in 1921 at Bebenhausen.