__NOTOC__ Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) in the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday in the Julian calendar. It was the year that saw the beginning of what became known as World War I.

Events

January

January – Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, disappears while traveling with Pancho Villa, documenting the Mexican Civil War, and is never seen again.

January 5 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.

January 9 – The Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. is founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

January 10 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa's troops take Ojinaga in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

February

February 2 – Charles Chaplin makes his film debut in the comedy short Making a Living.

February 10 – Release of the film ''Hearts Adrift''; the name of Mary Pickford, the star, is displayed above the title on movie marquees.

February 11 – Clarence Mackay, president of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company, and his wife Katherine are granted a divorce in Paris, France.

February 13 – Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

February 26 – The ''Britannic'', sister to the ''Titanic'', is launched at Harland & Wolff Shipyards in Belfast.

March

March 1 – The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.

March 7 – Prince William of Wied arrives in Albania to begin his reign.

March 10 – Suffragette Mary Richardson damages Velázquez' painting ''Rokeby Venus'' in London's National Gallery with a meat chopper.

March 16 – Henriette Caillaux, wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux, murders Gaston Calmette, editor of ''Le Figaro'', fearing publication of letters showing she and Caillaux were romantically involved during his first marriage. (She is later acquitted).

March 25 – The Greek multisport club Aris Thessaloniki is founded.

March 27 – Belgian surgeon Albert Hustin makes the first successful non-direct blood transfusion, using anticoagulants.

March 29 – Katherine Routledge and her husband arrive in Easter Island to make the first true study of it (they depart August 1915)

April

April 6 – The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is begun in Hartford, CT by Hiram Maxim and Clarence Tuska.

April 9 – The Tampico Affair results in the occupation of the Mexican port city of Veracruz for over 6 months.

April 11

* Alpha Rho Chi, a professional architecture fraternity, is founded in the Hotel Sherman in Chicago.

* Canadian Margaret C. MacDonald is appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Nursing service band and becomes the first woman in the British Empire to reach the rank of major.

April 14 – The city of Irving, Texas is incorporated.

April 14–April 18 – First International Criminal Police Congress held in Monaco.

April 20 – Colorado coalfield Massacre or Ludlow Massacre: The Colorado National Guard attacks a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado, killing 24 people.

April 21 – 3,000 U.S. Marines land in Vera Cruz, Mexico.

May

May 9 – J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3,000 first-class wickets.

May 14 – Woodrow Wilson signs a Mother's Day proclamation.

May 24 – PFC Levski Sofia is founded at 1st men's school in Sofia (today 22nd gymnasium)

May 25 – The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.

May 29 – The ocean liner RMS ''Empress of Ireland'' sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,012 lives are lost.

May 30 – The ocean liner RMS ''Aquitania'' makes her maiden voyage.

June

June 1 – Woodrow Wilson's envoy Edward Mandell House meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II.

June 18 – Mexican Revolution: The ''Constitutionals'' take San Luis Potosí; Venustiano Carranza demands Victoriano Huerta's surrender.

June 23 – After it had been closed so that it could be deepened, the Kiel Canal is reopened by the Kaiser; the British Fleet under Sir G. Warrender visits; the Kaiser inspects the dreadnought .

June 24 – In Manchester NH, a downtown fire causes $400,000 damage and injures 19 firemen.

June 28 – Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinates Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Duchess Sophie, in Sarajevo.

June 29

* Austria-Hungary: The Secretary of the Legation at Belgrade sends a dispatch to Vienna suggesting Serbian complicity in the crime of Sarajevo. Anti-Serb riots erupt in Sarajevo and throughout Bosnia generally.

* Chionya Gusyeva attempts and fails to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his home town in Siberia.

June 30 – Among those addressing the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the murdered Archduke are Lords Crewe and Lansdowne in the House of Lords and Messrs Asquith and Law in the Commons.

July

July 2 – The German Kaiser announces that he will not attend the Archduke's funeral.

July 4 – The Archduke's funeral takes place at Artstetten (50 miles west of Vienna), Austria-Hungary.

July 5 – A council is held at Potsdam.

July 6 – The German Kaiser leaves Kiel for a cruise in northern German waters.

July 7 – Austria-Hungary convenes a Council of Ministers, including Ministers for Foreign Affairs and War, the Chief of the General Staff and Naval Commander-in-Chief; the Council lasts from 11.30 a.m. to 6.15 p.m.

July 9

* The House of Lords completes the recasting of the Amendment Bill.

* The Emperor of Austria-Hungary receives the report of Austro-Hungarian investigation into the Sarajevo crime. The Times publishes an account of the Austro-Hungarian press campaign against the Serbians (who are described as "pestilent rats").

July 10 – Mr. Hartwig, Russian Minister to Serbia, dies suddenly at the Austrian Legation in Belgrade.

July 11 – Baseball legend Babe Ruth makes his major league debut with the Red Sox.

July 12 – Demonstrations in Ulster suggest civil war.

July 12 – U.S. Supreme Court justice Horace H. Lurton succumbs to a heart attack at age 70.

July 13 – Reports surface of a projected Serbian attack upon the Austro-Hungarian Legation at Belgrade.

July 14 – The Government of Ireland Amending Bill is passed by the House of Lords.

July 15

* Mexican Revolution: Victoriano Huerta resigns the presidency of Mexico and leaves for Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.

* Count Tisza makes a statement in the Hungarian chamber regarding relations with Serbia: "They must be cleared up."

July 18

* The Signal Corps of the United States Army is formed, giving definite status to its air service for the first time.

* The British Fleet at Spithead is reviewed by the King.

July 19

* Austria-Hungary – A press scare concerning an alleged "Greater Serbia" conspiracy occurs.

* King George V of the United Kingdom summons a conference to discuss the Irish Home Rule problem.

July 23 – Austria-Hungary presents Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum.

July 27 – Felix Manalo registers the Iglesia Ni Cristo with the Filipino government.

July 28

* Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and its army bombards Belgrade.

* Tsar Nicholas II of Russia orders a partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary.

July 29 – Russia orders full mobilization.

July 29 – In Massachusetts, the new Cape Cod Canal opens; it will shorten the trip between New York and Boston by sixty-six miles, but it also turns Cape Cod into an island.

August

August 1

* Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica.

* Germany declares war on Russia, following Russia's military mobilization in support of Serbia; Germany also begins mobilization.

* France orders general mobilization.

* New York Stock Exchange closed due to war in Europe, where nearly all stock exchanges were already closed.

August 2

* German troops occupy Luxembourg in accordance with its Schlieffen Plan.

* A secret treaty between Turkey and Germany secures Turkish neutrality.

* At 7:00 pm (local time) Germany issues a 12-hour ultimatum to Belgium to allow German passage into France.

August 3

* Germany declares war on Russia's ally, France.

* At 7:00 am (local time) Belgium declines to accept Germany's ultimatum of August 2.

August 4 – German troops invade neutral Belgium at 8:02 am (local time). Britain declares war on Germany for this violation of Belgian neutrality. This move effectively means a declaration of war by the whole British Commonwealth and Empire against Germany. The United States declares neutrality.

August 5

The German minelayer ''Königin Luise'' lays a minefield about off the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She is intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS ''Amphion''.

* Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary.

* German zeppelins drop bombs on Liège, killing 9 civilians.

August 5 – 16 – Battle of Liège: The German Army overruns and defeats the Belgians.

August 6 – Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.

August 8 – German colonial forces execute Martin-Paul Samba for high treason.

August 12 – Battle of Haelen: Belgian troops repulse the Germans.

August 15

* The Panama Canal is inaugurated with the passage of the steamship USS ''Ancon''.

* Mexican Revolution: Venustiano Carranza's troops under general Alvaro Obregon enter Mexico City.

* Edward Elgar's ''Sospiri'', a moving adagio for strings and harp, is first performed in London.

August 16–August 19 – Battle of Cer: Serbian troops defeat the Austro-Hungarian armies, in the first Entente victory in World War I.

August 17–September 2 – World War I: The Battle of Tannenberg begins between German and Russian forces.

August 20 – World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.

August 23 – Japan declares war on Germany.

August 26 – Founding date of the Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras.

August 26–August 27 – Battle of Le Cateau: British, French and Belgian forces make a successful tactical retreat from the German advance.

August 26–August 30 – The Russian Second Army is surrounded and defeated in the Battle of Tannenberg.

August 28 – Battle of Heligoland: British cruisers under Admiral Beatty sink 3 German cruisers.

August 29–August 30 – The Battle of St. Quentin: French forces hold back the German advance.

September

September 1

* St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to ''Petrograd''.

* The last known passenger pigeon "Martha" dies in the Cincinnati Zoo.

September 2 – Moronvilliers is occupied by the Germans.

September 3

* Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa) succeeds Pope Pius X as the 258th pope.

* William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just 6 months due to opposition to his rule.

September 5

* London Agreement: No member of the Triple Entente (Britain, France, or Russia) may seek a separate peace with the Central Powers.

* World War I – First Battle of the Marne: Northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Maunoury attacks German forces nearing Paris. Over 2 million fight (500,000 killed/wounded) in the Allied victory.

September 6 – A French and British counterattack at the Marne ends the German advance on Paris.

September 13 – South African troops open hostilities in German South-West Africa (today Namibia) with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.

September 13–September 28 – The First Battle of the Aisne ends indecisively.

September 17 – Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.

September 26 – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.

September 30 – The Flying Squadron is established to promote the temperance movement.

October

October 3 – World War I: 33,000 Canadian troops depart for Europe, the largest force to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean at the time.

October 7 – Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. marries Rose Fitzgerald in Boston.

October 9 – World War I – Siege of Antwerp: Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops.

October 27 – World War I: The British super-dreadnought battleship HMS ''Audacious'' (23,400 tons), is sunk off Tory Island, north-west of Ireland, by a minefield laid by the armed German merchant-cruiser ''Berlin''.

October 28 – World War I – Battle of Penang, Malaya: The German cruiser ''Emden'' sinks a Russian cruiser and French destroyer before escaping.

October 29 – World War I: Ottoman warships shell Russian Black Sea ports; Russia, France, and Britain declare war on November 1–November 5.

November

November 1 – World War I – Battle of Coronel: A Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock is met and defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, in the first British naval defeat of the war, resulting in the loss of HMS ''Good Hope'' and HMS ''Monmouth''.

November 4 – Britain and France declare war on Turkey.

November 5 – The United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, and together with France declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

November 7 – The Japanese seize Jiaozhou Bay in China, the base of the German East Asia Squadron.

November 9 – World War I – Battle of Cocos: The German cruiser ''Emden'' is sunk by the Australian cruiser ''Sydney''.

November 16

* A year after being created by passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens for business.

* World War I – The Battle of Kolubara begins: Serbian forces engaged by Austro-Hungarian forces.

November 21 – In New Haven CT, the new Yale Bowl officially opens; Harvard defeats Yale 36-0 in the first football game held there.

November 23 – U.S. troops withdraw from Veracruz. Venustiano Carranza's troops take over and Carranza makes the town his headquarters.

November 24 – Benito Mussolini is expelled from the Italian Socialist Party.

November 28 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.

December

December 5 – The Toronto Argonauts win their first Grey Cup at Varsity Stadium.

December 8 – Battle of the Falkland Islands, between Doveton Sturdee and Maximilian von Spee squadrons.

December 12 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opened, having been closed since 1 Aug 1914 except for bond trading.

December 15 – A gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine, Kyūshū, Japan, kills 687 (the worst coal mine disaster in Japanese history).

December 17 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (initially introduced by Francis Burton Harrison).

December 19 – The Battle of Kolubara ends, resulting in a decisive Serbian victory over Austria-Hungary.

December 24 – World War I:

* British and German soldiers interrupt World War I to celebrate Christmas, beginning the Christmas truce.

* German air raid on Dover, England.

Date unknown

Oxymorphone, a powerful narcotic analgesic closely related to morphine is first developed in Germany.

Blaise Diagne of Senegal becomes the first black African representative in the French parliament.

The first everyday items made of stainless steel come into public circulation.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returns to India from South Africa to spearhead the Indian independence movement.

The capital of the Guangxi Province of China is moved from Guilin to Nanning.

The Port of Orange, Texas, is dredged for the fabrication of vessels for the United States Navy.

The United States Power Squadrons is formed.

Phi Sigma, a local undergraduate classical club, is founded by a group of students in the Greek Department at the University of Chicago.

Henry Ford sells 248,000 cars.

China declares its neutrality in World War I.

Births

January

January 1 – Noor Inayat Khan, World War II heroine (d. 1944)

January 2 – Violet Vivian Finlay Stuart Mann (aka Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, V.A. Stuart, William Stuart Long, Robyn Stuart), British writer (d. 1986)

January 4

* Herman Franks, American baseball player (d. 2009)

* Jean-Pierre Vernant, French historian and anthropologist (d. 2007)

January 5 – George Reeves, American actor (''Superman'') (d. 1959)

January 12 – Albrecht von Goertz, German car designer (d. 2006)

January 13 – Ted Willis, British television dramatist and author (d. 1992)

January 14 – Harold Russell, Canadian actor (d. 2002)

January 15 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (d. 2003)

January 17

* William Stafford, American poet and pacifist (d. 1993)

* Anacleto Angelini, Italian-born businessman (d. 2007)

January 18 – Arno Schmidt, German author (d. 1979)

January 26 – Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (d. 2006)

January 30

* John Ireland, Canadian-born actor (d. 1992)

* David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)

January 31

* Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)

* Daya Mata, President of Self-Realization Fellowship (d. 2010)

February

February 1 – George Nissen, American gymnast and inventor of the trampoline (d. 2010)

February 4 – Alfred Andersch, German writer (d. 1980)

February 5

* William S. Burroughs, American author (d. 1997)

* Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)

February 6 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (d. 2005)

February 9

* Ernest Tubb, American singer (d. 1984)

* Bill Justice, American Disney animator (d. 2011)

February 11 – Matt Dennis, American singer and songwriter (d. 2002)

February 12 – Tex Beneke, American bandleader (d. 2000)

February 15 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (d. 2010)

February 16 – Jimmy Wakely, American country-western singer and actor (d. 1982)

February 19 – Jacques Dufilho, French comedian and actor (d. 2005)

February 20 – Peter Rogers, British film producer (d. 2009)

February 22 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

February 23 – Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)

February 24 – Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)

March

March 1

* Harry Caray, baseball broadcaster (d. 1998)

* Ralph Ellison, American writer (d. 1994)

March 2 – Martin Ritt, American director (d. 1990)

March 3 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter (d. 1973)

March 4

* Ward Kimball, American cartoonist (d. 2002)

* Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor and architect (d. 2000)

March 6 – Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (d. 1981)

March 8 – Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)

March 13 – Edward O'Hare, American pilot (d. 1943)

March 14

* Bill Owen, English actor (Last of the Summer Wine's 'Compo') (d. 1999)

* Abdias do Nascimento, Brazilian actor, artist and politician (d. 2011)

March 17 – Sammy Baugh, American football player (d. 2008)

March 19 – Jay Berwanger, American football player (d. 2002)

March 25 – Norman Borlaug, American agricultural scientist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2009)

March 26 – William Westmoreland, American Vietnam War general (d. 2005)

March 27 – Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter (d. 2009)

March 28 – Edmund Muskie, American politician (d. 1996)

March 30 – Sonny Boy Williamson I, American musician (d. 1948)

March 31 – Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)

April

April 2

* Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)

* Hans Wegner, Danish furniture designer (d. 2007)

April 3 – Sam Manekshaw, Field Marshal of Indian Army (d. 2008)

April 4

* Marguerite Duras, French author and director (d. 1996)

* Frances Langford, American singer and actress (d. 2005)

April 8

* María Félix, Mexican actress (d. 2002)

* Claire Martin, Canadian author

April 9 – Nouhak Phoumsavanh, President of Laos (d. 2008)

April 11 – Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)

April 12

* Armen Alchian, American author and economist

* Adriaan Blaauw, Dutch astronomer (d. 2010)

April 13 – Orhan Veli, Turkish poet (d. 1950)

April 21 – James Henry Quello, American Federal Communications Commissioner (d. 2010)

April 22

* Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)

* Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian film director (d. 2008)

April 26

* Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)

* Lilian Rolfe, French-born World War II heroine (d. 1941)

April 28 – Michel Mohrt, French author and historian

April 30 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian songwriter (d. 2008)

May

May 3 – Martín de Riquer, Spanish writer and Romantic scholar

May 8 – Romain Gary, Russian-born writer and diplomat (d. 1980)

May 9 – Hank Snow, Canadian country musician (d. 1999)

May 12

* Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)

* Howard K. Smith, American journalist (d. 2002)

May 13

* Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)

* Phil Drabble, British author and television personality (d. 2007)

May 14

* Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (d. 1995)

* Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician (d. 1995)

May 16 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist (d. 2009)

May 18 – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer (d. 1993)

May 19

* Go Seigen, Japanese Go player

* Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)

* Alex Shibicky, Canadian hockey player (d. 2005)

May 20 – Avraham Shapira, head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem and the Supreme Rabbinic Court; rosh yeshiva of Mercaz HaRav (d. 2007)

May 22

* Vance Packard, American social critic and author (d. 1996)

* Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)

* Edward Arthur Thompson, British historian (d. 1994)

May 24

* Arthur A. Link, American politician (d. 2010)

* George Tabori, Hungarian writer and director (d. 2007)

May 26 – Frankie Manning, American choreographer and dancer (d. 2009)

May 28 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, British World War II pilot (d. 1996)

Late May, exact date unknown – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese/Tibetan mountaineer (d. 1986)

May 31 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music/film composer (d. 2006)

June

June 11 – Trammell Crow, American developer (d. 2009)

June 15

* Yuri Andropov, Soviet leader (d. 1984)

* Saul Steinberg, Romanian-born cartoonist (d. 1999)

June 18 – E. G. Marshall, American actor (d. 1998)

June 19 – Alan Cranston, U.S. Senator (d. 2000)

June 21 – William Vickrey, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)

June 24 – Frances Oldham Kelsey, American Food and Drug Administration reviewer

June 26 – Doc Williams, American musician (d. 2011)

June 29 – Rafael Kubelík, Czech-born conductor (d. 1996)

July

July 2

* Frederick Fennell, American conductor (d. 2004)

* Ethelreda Leopold, American film actress (d. 1998)

July 5 – Gerda Gilboe, Danish actress (d. 2009)

July 6 – Vincent J. McMahon, professional wrestling promoter (d. 1988)

July 8

* Jyoti Basu, Indian politician (d. 2010)

* Sarah P. Harkness, American architect

July 10

* Charles Donnelly, Irish poet (d. 1937)

* Joe Shuster, Canadian-born comic book author (d. 1992)

July 14 – George Putnam, American reporter and talk show host (d. 2008)

July 15

* Hammond Innes, English author (d. 1998)

* Akhtar Hameed Khan, pioneer of microcredit in developing countries (d. 1999)

* Gavin Maxwell, Scottish naturalist and author (d. 1969)

July 19

* John Kenneth Macalister, Canadian World War II hero (d. 1944)

* Marius Russo, American baseball player (d. 2005)

July 20

* Charilaos Florakis, Greek Communist leader (d. 2005)

* Masa Niemi, Finnish actor (d. 1960)

July 23 – Virgil Finlay, American artist (d. 1971)

July 24 – Ed Mirvish, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2007)

July 25 – Lionel Van Deerlin, American politician (d. 2008)

July 29 – Irwin Corey, American actor and comic

July 30 – Lord Killanin, Irish president of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1999)

August

August 2 – Beatrice Straight, American actress (d. 2001)

August 5 – Parley Baer, American actor (d. 2002)

August 9

* Tove Jansson, Finnish author (d. 2001)

* Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (d. 1963)

* Gordon Cullen, British Architect (d. 1994)

August 10

* Jeff Corey, American actor and drama teacher (d. 2002)

* Ken Annakin, British film director (d. 2009)

August 11 – Hugh Martin, American composer (d. 2011)

August 15 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)

August 17

* Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1988)

* Gabrielle Weidner, Belgian World War II heroine (d. 1945)

August 26 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (d. 1984)

August 27 – Heidi Kabel, German actress (d. 2010)

August 30 – Julie Bishop, American actress (d. 2001)

September

September 5

* Sor Isolina Ferré, Puerto Rican Catholic nun (d. 2000)

* Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet

September 7 – James Van Allen, American physicist (d. 2006)

September 10 – Robert Wise, American film producer (d. 2005)

September 11 – Pavle, Patriarch of Serbia, leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church (d. 2009)

September 12

* Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (d. 1999)

* Janusz Zurakowski, Polish-born pilot (d. 2004)

September 13 – Ralph Rapson, American architect (d. 2008)

September 14

* Robert McCloskey, American children's author/illustrator (d. 2003)

* Clayton Moore, American actor (''The Lone Ranger'') (d. 1999)

September 15

* Creighton Williams Abrams, U.S. Vietnam War general (d. 1974)

* Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian writer (d. 1999)

* Jens Otto Krag, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1978)

September 16 – Allen Funt, American television show host (''Candid Camera'') (d. 1999)

September 17 – Thomas J. Bata, Czech-born businessman (d. 2008)

September 18 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director, and photographer (d. 2009)

September 20

* Kenneth More, English actor (d. 1982)

* Ken Hechler, American politician

September 21 – Bob Lido, American singer and musician (d. 2000)

September 23

* Omar Ali Saifuddin III, Sultan of Brunei (d. 1986)

* Bethsabée de Rothschild, English philanthropist and patron of dance (d. 1999)

September 26 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness, exercise and nutritional expert (d. 2011)

October

October 1 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (d. 2004)

October 2 – Jack Parsons, American rocket engineer (d. 1952)

October 4 – Jim Cairns, Australian politician (d. 2003)

October 6 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (d. 2002)

October 8 – Henry C. Pearson, American abstract and modernist painter (d. 2006)

October 10 – Tommy Fine, baseball player (d. 2005)

October 14

* Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)

* Dick Durrance, American skier (d. 2004)

October 16 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan (d. 2007)

October 17 – Jerry Siegel, American comic book author (d. 1996)

October 21 – Martin Gardner, American writer (d. 2010)

October 25

* John Berryman, American poet (d. 1972)

* Maudie Prickett, American actress (d. 1976)

October 26 – Jackie Coogan, American actor (d. 1984)

October 27 – Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (d. 1953)

October 28

* Jonas Salk, American medical scientist (d. 1995)

* Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)

* Glenn Robert Davis, U.S. Congressman (d. 1988)

October 30 – Anna Wing, English actress (EastEnders)

November

November 1 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (d. 2006)

November 2 – Johnny Vander Meer, baseball player (d. 1997)

November 5 – Alton Tobey, American artist (d. 2005)

November 6

* Jonathan Harris, American actor (''Lost in Space'') (d. 2002)

* Leonard Miall, British broadcaster and television personality (d. 2005)

November 8

* George Dantzig, American mathematician (d. 2005)

* Norman Lloyd, American actor

November 10 – Tod Andrews, American actor (d. 1972)

November 11 – Howard Fast, American novelist and television writer (d. 2003)

November 13 – Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (d. 2005)

November 20 – Charles Berlitz, American author (d. 2003)

November 23

* Roger Avon, English actor (d. 1998)

* George Dunn, American actor (d. 1982)

November 25 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 1999)

December

December 2

* Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001)

* Bill Erwin, American actor (d. 2010)

December 10 – Dorothy Lamour, American actress and singer (d. 1996)

December 12 – Patrick O'Brian, British novelist (d. 2000)

December 14 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (d. 2003)

December 15 – Anatole Abragam, French physicist (d. 2011)

December 19 – Dietrich Hrabak, German World War II flying ace (d. 1995)

December 24 – Herbert Reinecker, German writer (d. 2007)

December 26 – Richard Widmark, American actor (d. 2008)

December 28 – Bidia Dandaron, Buddhist author and teacher in the USSR (d. 1974)

December 29 – Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)

December 30 – Bert Parks, American singer and actor (''Miss America Pageant'') (d. 1992)

Deaths

January–June

January 11 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and patron of the arts (b. 1842)

January 13 – Valentin Zubiaurre, Spanish composer and professor of the Madrid Royal Conservatory (b. 1837)

January 18 – Georges Picquart, French general and politician (b. 1854)

January 20 – Federico Degetau, Puerto Rican politician (b. 1862)

February 24 – Joshua Chamberlain, American Civil War general (b. 1828)

February 25 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (b. 1820)

March 1 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (b. 1845)

March 6 – George Washington Vanderbilt II, American businessman (b. 1862)

March 12 – George Westinghouse, American entrepreneur (b. 1846)

March 16 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)

March 19 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b. 1850)

March 25 – Frédéric Mistral, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)

April 1 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1876)

April 2 – Paul von Heyse, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)

April 7 – Mohammad Ayyub Khan, Emir of Herat, Emir of Kandahar, Afghan military leader (b. 1855)

April 19 – Empress Shōken, empress-consort of the Meiji Emperor (b. 1849)

April 26 – Eduard Suess, Austrian geologist (b. 1831)

May 2 – John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, husband of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom (b. 1845)

May 8 – Seth Edulji Dinshaw, Pakistani philanthropist

May 23 – Gustav Hamel, pioneer aviator, carried first airlmail (b. 1889)

May 26 – Jacob Riis, Danish-American social reformer (b. 1849)

June 11 – Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1848)

June 14 – Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)

June 21 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)

June 28

* Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1863)

* Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1868)

July–December

July 2 – Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (b. 1836)

July 17 – Luis Uribe, Chilean naval hero (b. 1847)

July 31 – Jean Jaurès, French pacifist (assassinated) (b. 1859)

August 4 – Hubertine Auclert, French feminist (b. 1848)

August 6 – Ellen Louise Wilson, First Lady of the United States (b. 1860)

August 8

* Martin-Paul Samba, Cameroonian rebel leader (executed)

* Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, Cameroonian resistance leader (executed)

August 12 – John Philip Holland, Irish developer of the submarine (b. 1840)

August 20 – Pope Pius X (b. 1835)

August 30 – Aleksander Samsonov, Russian general (b. 1859)

September 3 – Albéric Magnard, French composer (b. 1865)

September 8 – Hans Leybold, German nihilist poet (b. 1892)

September 11 – Ismail Gasprinski, Crimean Tatar intellectual (b. 1851)

September 22 – Alain-Fournier, French writer (b. 1886)

September 26 – August Macke, German painter (b. 1887)

September 28 – Richard Warren Sears, American founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company (b. 1863)

October 1 – Kitty Lange Kielland, Norwegian painter (b. 1843)

October 10 – King Carol I of Romania (b. 1839)

November 2 – Heinrich Burkhardt, German mathematician (b. 1861)

November 3 – Georg Trakl, Austrian poet (b. 1887)

November 11 – A. E. J. Collins, British cricketer and soldier (b. 1885)

November 12 – Augusto dos Anjos, Brazilian poet (b. 1884)

November 14 – Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, British field marshal (b. 1832)

November 19 – Robert Jones Burdette, American minister and sentimental humorist (b. 1844)

November 21 – Thaddeus C. Pound, American businessman and politician (b. 1833)

December 24 – John Muir, American naturalist (b. 1838)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Max von Laue

Chemistry- Theodore William Richards

Medicine – Robert Bárány

Literature – not awarded

Peace – not awarded

References

1914 Coin Pictures

Category:Article Feedback Pilot

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name	The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)
type	Christmas song
artist	The King Cole Trio
b-side	"In the Cool of Evening" (Capitol 311)"Laguna Mood" (Capitol 15201)"(All I Want for Christmas Is) My Two Front Teeth" (Capitol F90036; Capitol F2955)"The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" (Capitol 3561)
published	1944
released
recorded
format	10-inch, 7-inch
genre	Christmas, Jazz, Pop
length	(1946 recording) (1953 recording)
label	Capitol 311 (1946)Capitol 15201 (1948)Capitol F90036 (1953)Capitol F2955 (1954)Capitol 3561 (1956)
writer	Mel Tormé,Bob Wells
misc	}}

"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé (aka The Velvet Fog), and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool", the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born.

"I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "They started, "Chestnuts roasting..., Jack Frost nipping..., Yuletide carols..., Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob (Wells, co-writer) didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."

The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's behest and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records a second recording was made the same year utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B; charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Nat King Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49, while Cole's original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974. Mel Tormé recorded the song himself in 1954, and again in 1961, 1966 and 1992.

The Nat King Cole recordings

First recording: Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, June 14, 1946. Label credit: The King Cole Trio (Nat King Cole, vocal-pianist; Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist). Not issued until 1989, when it was (accidentally) included on the various-artists compilation ''Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1935–1954)'' Rhino R1 70637(LP) / R2 70637(CD).

Second recording: Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, August 19, 1946. First record issue. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir (Nat King Cole, vocal-pianist, Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist; Charlie Grean, conductor of 4 string players, a harpist and a drummer) Lacquer disc master #981. Issued November 1946 as Capitol 311 (78rpm). This is featured on a CD called ''The Holiday Album'', which has 1940s Christmas songs recorded by Cole and Bing Crosby. In 2005 Capitol restored and re-released it for the 25 bit re-mastered Cole album "The Christmas Song", which also contains tracks from his 1960 and 1963 holiday albums.

Third recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, August 24, 1953. This was the song,s first magnetic tape recording. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir (Actual artists: Nat King Cole, vocal; Nelson Riddle, orchestra conductor) Master #11726, take 11. Issued November 1953 as the "new" Capitol 90036(78rpm) / F90036(45rpm) (Capitol first issued 90036 in 1950 with the second recording). Correct label credit issued on October 18, 1954 as Capitol 2955(78rpm) / F2955(45rpm). Label credit: Nat "King" Cole with Orchestra Conducted by Nelson Riddle. This recording is available on the 1990 CD ''Cole, Christmas and Kids,'' as well as the various-artists compilation ''Casey Kasem Presents All Time Christmas Favorites''. It was also included, along with both 1946 recordings, on the 1991 Mosaic Records box set ''The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio''.

Fourth recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30, 1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is widely played on radio stations during the Christmas season, and is probably the most famous version of this song. Label credit: Nat King Cole (Nat King Cole, vocal; Charles Grean and Pete Rugolo, orchestration; Ralph Carmichael, orchestra conductor). The instrumental arrangement is nearly identical with the 1953 version, but the vocals are much deeper and more focused. Originally done for ''The Nat King Cole Story'' (a 1961 LP devoted to stereo re-recordings of Cole's earlier hits), this recording was later appended to a reissue of Cole's 1960 holiday album ''The Magic of Christmas''. Retitled ''The Christmas Song'', the album was issued in 1963 as Capitol W-1967(mono) / SW-1967(stereo) and today is in print on compact disc. This recording of "The Christmas Song" is also available on numerous compilation albums. Some are Capitol pop standards Christmas compilations while others are broader-based. It's available on WCBS-FM's ''Ultimate Christmas Album Volume 3'', for example.

There were several covers of Nat Cole's original record in the 1940s. The first of these was said to be by Dick Haymes on the Decca label, but his was released first not recorded first. The first cover of "The Christmas Song" was performed by pop tenor and bandleader Eddy Howard on Majestic. Howard was a big Cole fan, and also covered Nat's versions of "I Want to Thank Your Folks" and "I Love You for Sentimental Reasons", among others.

Selective list of notable recordings

"The Christmas Song" has been covered by numerous artists from a wide variety of genres, including:

Trace Adkins

Christina Aguilera

Clay Aiken

Herb Alpert

Thomas Anders

India.Arie and Stevie Wonder (winner of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2003)

Aska

Babyface

Tony Bennett

Polly Bergen (who sang the song on the December 14, 1957 airing of her NBC variety show, ''The Polly Bergen Show'')

Justin Bieber and Usher (#58 in US, #59 in Canada)

Michael Bolton

Toni Braxton

Garth Brooks

James Brown

Les Brown and his Orchestra (with Doris Day on lead vocal)

Michael Bublé (his version, bearing close similarities to Celine Dion's recording of the song, reached #6 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart in December 2003.)

Kenny Burrell

The Canadian Brass (from their 1985 Christmas album ''A Canadian Brass Christmas'')

The Carpenters (from their 1978 Christmas album ''Christmas Portrait'')

Celtic Woman

Charice

Chicago

Christmas Who? (a SpongeBob Christmas special. SpongeBob and Patrick in a Christmas song sing as a lyric "...chestnuts roasting and burns in the third degree" before the ending of their song.)

Charlotte Church

Rosemary Clooney

Natalie Cole

Bing Crosby

Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass (1970)

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Doris Day (from her 1964 Christmas album ''The Doris Day Christmas Album'')

Gavin DeGraw

Celine Dion

Vanessa Doofenshmirtz (voiced by Olivia Olson on the album ''Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites'')

Bob Dylan

Gloria Estefan

Connie Francis

Aretha Franklin

Judy Garland, who sang the song in a duet with its composer, Mel Torme, on a Christmas-themed episode of her television show in December 1963.

Amy Grant (from her 1983 Christmas album ''A Christmas Album'')

Josh Groban (from his 2007 holiday album, ''Noël'')

Robert Goulet

Hampton String Quartet

Eddie Higgins

Hootie and the Blowfish

Whitney Houston

Ramon "RJ" Jacinto (from his 1988 Christmas album ''Pasko Na Naman'')

The Jackson 5

Alan Jackson (from his 2007 Christmas album ''Let It Be Christmas'')

Joni James (from her 1956 ''Merry Christmas from Joni''). Joni's version alters the lyric: "I'm offering this simple phrase, for kids from one to ninety-two" to "... kids from one to ninety-one".

Al Jarreau

Joe

Wynonna Judd

Peggy Lee

Damien Leith (from a special limited Christmas edition of his 2007 album ''Where We Land'')

The Lettermen

Lovedrug

Aimee Mann (from her 2006 album ''One More Drifter in the Snow'')

Johnny Mathis

Martina McBride

Reba McEntire

Brian McKnight

*NSYNC

Ricky Nelson (on the episode of TV's ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' titled "A Busy Christmas")

Aaron Neville

New Kids on the Block

Des O'Connor (from a Tesco Christmas advert)

Alexander O'Neal

Olivia Olson (from a 2010 Christmas album ''Phineas and Ferb: Holiday Favourites'')

The Partridge Family (from their 1971 Christmas album ''A Partridge Family Christmas Card'')

Les Paul

CeCe Peniston (from the 1996 Christmas album ''Merry Arizona II: Desert Stars Shine at Christmas'')

LeAnn Rimes (on her first holiday album ''What a Wonderful World'')

Raven-Symoné

Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (from their 1963 Christmas album ''Christmas with The Miracles)

Linda Ronstadt (from her 2000 Christmas album ''A Merry Little Christmas'')

SWV

Diane Schuur (nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female in 1990)

Neil Sedaka (from his 2008 first-ever holiday album, ''The Miracle of Christmas'')

Jessica Simpson

Frank Sinatra (including two recordings: a virtual duet with Nat King Cole, and an actual duet with Bing Crosby)

Tom Smith (of the Editors) and Agnes Obel (on the 2011 Smith and Burrows album, ''Funny Looking Angels'')

George Strait

Donna Summer

Demi Lovato

The Supremes (remained unreleased until their 1965 Christmas album, ''Merry Christmas'', was re-released in 1999 with additional tracks)

Kim Taeyeon (of the South Korean pop group Girls' Generation)

Take 6

James Taylor

Team Rocket (voiced by Rachael Lillis, Eric Stewart and Maddie Blaustein on the album ''Pokémon Christmas Bash'')

The Temptations

Mel Tormé recorded by the writer four times (1954, 1961, 1966 and finally in 1992 as part of his album "Christmas Songs")

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

Luther Vandross

Andy Williams

Stevie Wonder (from his 1967 Christmas album ''Someday at Christmas'')

Dwight Yoakam

Ascap entry for song showing numerous other covers

Parodies

The title of ''The Simpsons'' episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" is a parody of the song.

Bob Rivers parodied the song with his 2000 album, and the title track from said album, "Chipmunks Roasting On an Open Fire".

Stan Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$" includes several snippets of holiday songs. One segment begins with a sincere-sounding "Chestnuts roasting..." and quickly segués into a mock 1950s radio or TV ad, for a brand of chestnuts, being described as if they were toothpaste or cigarettes.

Twisted Sister parodied the song in his 2006 album ''A Twisted Christmas''.

Footnotes

External links

Mark Evanier on Tormé and "The Christmas Song"

Category:Christmas songs Category:1946 songs Category:1961 singles Category:1999 singles Category:2009 singles Category:Nat King Cole songs Category:Amy Grant songs Category:Christina Aguilera songs Category:Toby Keith songs Category:Martina McBride songs Category:Joe Nichols songs Category:George Strait songs Category:Kenny Loggins songs Category:Trisha Yearwood songs Category:Vocal duets Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Category:Barbra Streisand songs Category:Bob Dylan songs Category:Sheryl Crow songs Category:CeCe Peniston songs Category:The Partridge Family songs

es:The Christmas Song fr:The Christmas Song id:The Christmas Song it:The Christmas Song no:The Christmas Song pl:The Christmas Song pt:The Christmas Song simple:The Christmas Song sv:The Christmas Song tr:The Christmas Song vi:The Christmas Song

{{infobox uk place | official name	Dorchester | static_image | static_image_caption |static_image_2 |static_image_2_caption | country England | region South West England | shire_county Dorset | shire_district West Dorset | constituency_westminster West Dorset
population	16,171
population ref	(2001 Census) | population_density | os_grid_reference SY690906 | map_type Dorset | latitude 50.7 | longitude -2.433333 | post_town DORCHESTER | postcode_area DT | postcode_district DT1 | dial_code 01305 | london_distance | website http://www.dorchester-tc.gov.uk }}

Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. An historic market town, Dorchester lies on the banks of the River Frome, in the Frome Valley, just south of the Dorset Downs and north of the South Dorset Ridgeway, that separates the area from Weymouth, south. In 2001, the town had a population of 16,171 and 7,386 dwellings. In 1991 there were 205 shops in the town.

It is noted as being home and inspiration to the author Thomas Hardy, whose novels ''Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' and ''The Mayor of Casterbridge'' were both based on the town.

History

Prehistory and Romano-British

Dorchester's roots stem back to prehistoric times. Settlements were first based around Maiden Castle, a large Iron Age hill fort that was one of the most powerful settlements in pre-Roman Britain, with varying tribes having existed there since 4000 BC. The Durotriges were likely to have been there at the arrival of the Romans in 43 AD.

The Romans defeated the local tribes by 70 AD. After possibly being converted from a garrison to a town, the Romans named the settlement Durnovaria. This was a Brythonic name meaning 'place with fist-sized pebbles' and appears to have taken part of its name from the local Durotriges tribe who inhabited the area. Durnovaria was first recorded in the 4th century Antonine Itinerary and became a market centre for the surrounding countryside, and an important road junction and staging post, and eventually one of the twin capitals of the Celtic Durotriges tribe.

The Romans walled the town and the remains can still be seen today. The walls were largely replaced with walks that form a square inside modern Dorchester. Known as 'The Walks' a small segment of the original Roman wall still exists today near the Top 'o Town roundabout. The town still has some Roman features, including part of the town walls and the foundations of a Roman town house, which are freely accessible near the County Hall. There are many Roman finds in the County Museum. The Romans built an aqueduct to supply the town with water, lengths of the terrace on which it was constructed still remain in parts. Near the town centre is Maumbury Rings, an ancient British henge earthwork converted by the Romans for use as an amphitheatre, and to the north west is Poundbury Hill, another pre-Roman fortification.

Little evidence exists to suggest continued occupation after the withdrawal of the Roman administration from Britain. Historians have suggested that the town became known as Caer Durnac, mistakenly recorded by Nennius as ''Caer Urnac''. The area remained in British hands until the mid-7th century and there was certainly continuity of use of the Roman cemetery at nearby Poundbury. Dorchester has therefore been suggested as the centre of a sub-kingdom of Dumnonia or other regional power base.

Anglo-Saxon

By 864, the area around Durnovaria/Caer Durnac was dominated by the newly established Saxons, who came to refer to themselves as ''Dorsaetas'' ('People of the Dor' - Durnovaria). In their own language, they referred to the town as ''Dornwaraceaster'' or ''Dornwaracester'', combining the original name 'Dor/Dorn' from the Latin and Celtic languages with the word 'cester', which was an Anglo-Saxon word used for 'walled town'. The name would further change to Dorncester/Dornceaster until modern Dorchester emerged some time later. It continued as a thriving commercial and political centre for south Dorset with a textile trading and manufacturing industry continuing until the 17th century.

Early modern history

:''"The town is populous, tho' not large, the streets broad, but the buildings old, and low; however, there is good company and a good deal of it; and a man that coveted a retreat in this world might as agreeably spend his time, and as well in Dorchester, as in any town I know in England".'' -- Daniel Defoe, in his ''A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain'' (1724-1726).

In 1613 and 1725 great fires destroyed large parts of the town, but some of the mediaeval buildings, including Judge Jeffreys' lodgings, and the Tudor almshouse survive in the town centre, amongst the replacement Georgian buildings, many of which are built in Portland limestone.

In the 17th century the town was at the centre of the Puritan emigration to America, and the local rector, John White, organised the settlement of Dorchester, Massachusetts. For his efforts on behalf of Puritan dissenters, White has been called the unheralded founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Some observers have attributed the oversight to the fact that White, unlike John Winthrop, never came to America.)

In 1642, just prior to the English Civil War, Hugh Green, a Catholic chaplain was executed here. After his execution, Puritans played football with his head. The town was heavily defended against the Royalists in the Civil War. In 1651 Prince Charles, the future King Charles II, on his hasty escape to France via Bridport, narrowly escaped capture by hiding in Lee Lane. A plaque erected on the spot in 1991 commemorates the event.

In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth failed in his invasion attempt, the Monmouth Rebellion, and almost 300 of his men were condemned to death or transportation in the "Bloody Assizes", held in the Oak Room of the Antelope Hotel, Dorchester and presided over by Judge Jeffreys.

Modern history

In 1833, the Tolpuddle Martyrs formed the ''Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers''. Trade unions were legal, but due to them swearing an oath of allegiance, they were arrested and tried in the Shire Hall in Dorchester. This building still remains and is preserved as it was at the time. Under the court are the cells where the prisoners were held while waiting for their court appearance. Dorchester Prison was constructed in the town during the 19th century and the prison is still in use today, holding convicted and remanded inmates from the local courts.

Dorchester remained a compact town within the boundaries of the old town walls until the latter part of the 19th century due to the ownership of all land immediately adjacent to the west, south and east by the Duchy of Cornwall. This land composed the Manor of Fordington, and a select few developments had encroached onto it:

The Marabout Barracks, to the north of Bridport Road, in 1794

The Dorchester Union Workhouse, to the north of Damer's Road, in 1835

The Southampton and Dorchester Railway and its station east of Weymouth Avenue, in 1847

The Great Western Railway and its station to the south of Damer's Road, in 1857

The Waterworks, to the north of Bridport Road, in 1854

A new cemetery, to the west of the new railway and east of Weymouth Avenue, in 1856

The Dorset County Constabulary police station in 1860, west of the Southampton railway, east of Weymouth Avenue and north of Maumbury Rings.

This remaining Duchy land was farmed under the open field system until 1874 when the land was enclosed - or consolidated - into three large farms by the landowners and residents. Soon afterwards followed a series of key developments for the town: the enclosing of Poundbury hillfort for public enjoyment in 1876, the 'Fair Field' (new site for the market, off Weymouth Avenue) in 1877, the Recreation Ground (also off Weymouth Avenue) opening in 1880, and the imposing Eldridge Pope Brewery of 1881, adjacent to the railway line to Southampton. Salisbury Field was retained for public use in 1892, with land being purchased in 1895 for the formal Borough Gardens, between West Walks and Cornwall Road. The clock and bandstand were added in 1898.

Meanwhile, land had begun to be developed for housing outside the walls. This included the Cornwall Estate, between the Borough Gardens and the Great Western Railway, from 1876 and the Prince of Wales Estate, centred on Prince of Wales Road, from 1880. Land for the Victoria Park Estate was bought in 1896 and building began in 1897, Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. The lime trees in Queen's Avenue were planted in February 1897.

Recent developments

Poundbury is the well-known western extension of the town, constructed on Duchy of Cornwall land (owned by Charles, Prince of Wales) according to urban village principles since 1993. Being developed over 25 years, it will eventually be composed of four phases with a total of 2,500 dwellings and a population of about 6,000. Since 2008, Poundbury is now home to Dorset Fire and Rescue Service headquarters and Dorchester fire station. Prince Charles designed the estate (as well as the local Tesco supermarket) and makes several visits throughout the year.

Dorchester became Dorset's first Official Transition Initiative in 2008 as part of the Transition Towns concept. Transition Town Dorchester is a Dorchester community response to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change.

The town's Woolworths shop closed in January 2009 after the high-street retail chain entered administration. The store manager, however, secured investment to re-open the store in March 2009, under the name Wellworths. In May 2009, a skatepark was opened in Dorchester after 12 years of planning and construction.

Future developments

In November 2007, West Dorset District Council granted detailed planning permission for the redevelopment of the old Eldridge Pope brewery (that ceased production in 2003) that will include 30 buildings, c.650 new flats, 22 new houses, new restaurants, bars, 42 shops, an Odeon cinema, arts centre, theatre, two hotels and a replacement solar-powered railway station (the first in the country) at Dorchester South. It will be called Brewery Square.

A new four-star, 48-bed, Conran designed hotel, will be created from the conversion of the listed Brewhouse, originally designed by Crickmay & Sons. G.R. Crickmay (1830–1907) of Weymouth was the architect who employed Thomas Hardy until 1872, when he became a full time writer. The architects are CZWG for most of the new buildings and Conran & Partners for all the conversion buildings and two new buildings. It is one of the largest regeneration projects in the South West, with over of development on the site situated between the main shopping area on South Street, the historic market site and Dorchester South railway station.

The Maltings, one of the original 1880s listed buildings, is, subject to funding, to become a new arts centre for Dorchester. It would replace the existing and cramped premises on School Lane. Oliver Letwin MP, initiated the demolition of the 20th century industrial buildings in early-2006. Construction work on Phase 1, the conversion of the Italianate 1880s Eldridge Pope Offices, started on site in August 2007 and was completed in August 2008. The Sales & Marketing Suite for the development opened in August 2008 and in early September was hailed in the Dorset Echo as the fastest selling new homes development in the country. In June 2007 the Environment Agency granted a license to enable enough water for the scheme to be abstracted so that all the buildings will self sufficient in water from its own well; the same one used by the brewery since 1880.

West Dorset District Council approved planning permission for a £60m regeneration of the Charles Street Car Park site in the town centre. The new development will include new shops and housing, hotel, new library and adult education, and controversially, a new £10m office for West Dorset District Council. The old headquarters, Stratton House and the old Crown Court will be sold to a hotel chain and the national trust respectively.

Government

Dorchester is represented by three tiers of government. Dorchester town council, West Dorset District Council and Dorset County Council, all of whom are based within the town. The Member of Parliament for West Dorset is Oliver Letwin.

The town's coat of arms depicts the old castle that used to stand where the prison now does. The royal purple background signifies Dorchester's status as part of the private estates of the king since before Domesday. The shield within the castle depicts lions, copied from the shields of Dorset men who fought at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, and fleur-de-lys. The fleur-de-lys on the shield are scattered (or "semée") rather than the more traditional triangular arrangement. Doing so, shows that the town had the right to bear the arms of France before 1405, when they were altered by King Henry VI. Dorchester's seal is the only one in the UK to use the fleur-de-lys in this way. The inscription 'Sigillum Bailivorum Dorcestre' means 'The Seal of the Bailiffs of Dorchester'.

Transport

The town has two railway stations. Dorchester South railway station on the South Western Main Line to Bournemouth, Southampton and London is operated by South West Trains. Dorchester West railway station on the Heart of Wessex Line is operated by First Great Western and serves Yeovil, Bath and Bristol The building at Dorchester West railway station is the original building designed and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. As part of the regeneration project taking place at the Brewery Site in the town centre, Dorchester South railway station will become the first solar powered railway station in the UK.

A bypass road was completed in 1988 by construction company Mowlem to the south and west of the town, diverting through traffic using the A35 and A37 from the town.

Education

Dorchester has one private school, several first schools, two middle schools and one upper school. The upper school, The Thomas Hardye School, can trace its origins back to 1569, when it was founded by a merchant of that name, not the writer Thomas Hardy as commonly believed.

Kingston Maurward College is a land-based studies college based on the outskirts of the town.

Culture

Local author and poet Thomas Hardy based the fictional town of Casterbridge on Dorchester. Hardy's childhood home is to the east of the town, and his house in town, Max Gate, is owned by the National Trust and open to the public. William Barnes, the local dialect poet, was Rector of Winterborne Came, a small hamlet near Dorchester, for 24 years until his death in 1886, and ran a school in the town. Statues of both men stand in the town centre; Barnes is outside St Peter's Church and Hardy's beside the Top o' Town crossroads. Cecil Day Lewis is buried in Stinsford, one mile (1.6 km) from Dorchester. Hardy is buried in London, but his heart was removed and buried in Stinsford.

On the hills to the south west of the town, stands Hardy's Monument, a memorial to the other local Thomas Hardy, Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, who served with Lord Nelson, which overlooks the town with views of Weymouth, the Isle of Portland and Chesil Beach. Tom Roberts, Australian painter, was born in Dorchester in 1856.

Dorchester Arts, a regularly funded arts organisation based in a former school building runs a seasonal programme of music, dance and theatre events in the town as well as a range of participatory arts projects for socially excluded groups and the biannual Dorchester Festival. In 2011, Dorchester Arts became an Arts Council 'National Portfolio organisation' with enhanced funding until 2015.

Museums in Dorchester inclue the Roman Town House, The Dinosaur Museum, the Terracotta Warriors Museum, the Dorset Teddy Bear Museum, The Keep Military Museum, Dorset County Museum and the Tutankhamun Exhibition. All of these museums took part in the "Museums at Night" event in May 2011 where museums across the UK opened after hours.

On 15 December 2004, Dorchester was granted Fairtrade Town status.

Twinned towns

Dorchester is twinned with Bayeux in France since 1959, Lübbecke in Germany since 1973, and Holbæk in Denmark since 1992.

Notable people

Paul Hillier, classical siger and composer was born in Dorchester. He attended the Thomas Hardye School.

Sport

Dorchester is represented by many sports teams, the most prominent of whom are Dorchester Town F.C., a football team currently playing in the Conference South.

Harry Redknapp and former England players Graham Roberts and Martin Chivers represented 'The Magpies' during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The club have historically been based along Weymouth Avenue in the south of the town. Having previously played at the old Avenue Ground since their inception, the club moved to a new purpose built 5,000 capacity Avenue Stadium in the early 1990's - designed and owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. The site of the old Avenue ground is now home to Dorchester Cricket Club.

Dorchester RFC are an amateur rugby union team who currently play in the Southern Counties South league.

Dorchester CC, are a cricket club, who play in the Dorset Premier League, being last crowned champions in 2009.

Aaron Cook, a taekwondo athlete who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games finishing in fifth place, was born in Dorchester.

References

Bibliography

Bingham, A. (1987) '' Dorset : Ordnance Survey landranger guidebook '', Norwich: Jarrold, ISBN 0-319-00187-3

Chandler, J. H. (1990) '' Wessex images'', Gloucester: Alan Sutton and Wiltshire County Council Library & Museum Service, ISBN 0-86299-739-9

Draper, J. (1992) ''Dorchester : An illustrated history'' Wimborne: Dovecote Press, ISBN 1-874336-04-0

Morris, J. and Draper, J. (1995) "The 'Enclosure' of Foridngton Fields and the Development of Dorchester, 1874–1903", ''Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society proceedings'', v. 117, p. 5–14, ISSN 0070-7112

Pitt-Rivers, M. (1966) ''Dorset'', A Shell guide, New ed., London: Faber, ISBN 0-5710-6714-X

Taylor, C. (1970) ''Dorset'', Making of the English landscape, London: Hodder & Stoughton, p. 197–201, ISBN 0-340-10962-9

Waymark, J, (1997) "The Duchy of Cornwall and the Expansion of Dorchester, c. 1900–1997", ''Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society proceedings'', v. 119, p. 19–32, ISSN 0070-7112

External links

Census data

Category:Market towns in Dorset Category:County towns in England Category:70 establishments Category:Towns in Dorset

ang:Dornƿaraceaster de:Dorchester (Dorset) et:Dorchester es:Dorchester (Dorset) eo:Dorchester fr:Dorchester (Dorset) it:Dorchester (Dorset) kw:Dorchester la:Durnovaria nl:Dorchester (Dorset) ja:ドーチェスター no:Dorchester (Dorset) nn:Dorchester i Dorset pl:Dorchester (Anglia) ro:Dorchester ru:Дорчестер fi:Dorchester sv:Dorchester vo:Dorchester (Dorset)

Winsor McCay (September 26, 1869(?) – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator.

A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades. His two best-known creations are the newspaper comic strip ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'', which ran from 1905–1914 and 1924–1927, and the animated cartoon ''Gertie the Dinosaur'', which he created in 1914.

His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as William Joyce, André LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson.

Early life

McCay was the son of Robert McKay (later changed to McCay) and Janet Murray McKay; Robert at various times worked as a teamster, a grocer, and a real estate agent. Winsor's exact place and year of birth are uncertain — he claimed to have been born in Spring Lake, Michigan in 1871, but his gravestone says 1869, and census reports state that he was born in Canada in 1867. He was originally named Zenas Winsor McKay, in honor of his father's employer, Zenas G. Winsor. He later dropped the name Zenas.

In 1886, McCay's parents sent him to Cleary's Business College in Ypsilanti, Michigan to learn to be a businessman. While in Ypsilanti, he also received his only formal art training, from John Goodison of Michigan State Normal College (now known as Eastern Michigan University). Goodison taught him the strict application of the fundamentals of perspective, which he put to significant use later in his career. Goodison, formerly a glass stainer, also influenced McCay's bold use of color.

Career

In 1889, McCay moved to Chicago, intending to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, but due to lack of money had to find employment instead. He worked for the National Printing and Engraving Company, producing woodcuts for circus and theatrical posters. Two years later, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and went to work as an artist for Kohl and Middleton's Vine Street Dime Museum. While in Cincinnati he married Maude Leonore Dufour. McCay began doing vaudeville chalk talks in 1906. In his ''The Seven Ages of Man'' vaudeville act, he drew two faces and progressively aged them.

McCay's first major comic strip series was ''Tales of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle''. Forty-three installments were published from January to November 1903, in the ''Cincinnati Enquirer''. The strip was based on poems by George Randolph Chester, then a reporter and editor at the ''Enquirer''. The stories concerned jungle creatures and the ways that they adapted to a hostile world, with individual titles such as ''How the Elephant Got His Trunk'' and ''How the Ostrich Got So Tall''.

His strips ''Little Nemo'' and ''Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend'' were both set in the dreams of their characters and featured fantasy art that attempted to capture the look and feel of dreams. McCay's cartoons were never overwhelmingly popular, but always had a strong following because of his expressive graphic style. Newspaper pages were physically much larger in that time and McCay usually had a half a page to work with. For fantasy art in comics, his only rival was Lyonel Feininger, who went on to have a career in the fine arts after his comics days were over.

McCay also created a number of animated short films, in which every single frame of each cartoon (with each film requiring thousands of frames) was hand-drawn by McCay and occasionally his assistants. McCay went on vaudeville tours with his films. He presented lectures and did drawings; then he interacted with his animated films, performing such tricks as holding his hand out to "pet" his animated creations. The star of McCay's groundbreaking animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' is classified by film and animation historians as the first cartoon character created especially for film to display a unique, realistic personality. In the film, Gertie causes trouble and cries when she is scolded, and finally she gives McCay himself a ride on her back as he steps into the movie picture.

In addition to a series of cartoons based on his popular "rarebit" gags, McCay also created ''The Sinking of the Lusitania'', a depiction of the attack on the maritime ship. The cartoon contained a message that was meant to inspire America into joining World War I.

Death and legacy

McCay died in 1934 and was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn.

Woody Gelman discovered many of the original Little Nemo strips at a cartoon studio where Bob McCay, Winsor's son, had worked in 1966. Many of the original drawings that Gelman recovered were displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the direction of curator A. Hyatt Mayor. In 1973, Gelman would publish a collection of Little Nemo strips in Italy.

Comic strips

''Tales of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle'' (1903)

''Little Sammy Sneeze'' (1904 to 1906)

''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'' (1904–13)

''The Story of Hungry Henrietta'' (1905)

''A Pilgrim's Progress'' (1905 to 1910)

''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' (1905 to 1914)

''Poor Jake'' (1909 to 1911)

Filmography

''Little Nemo'' (1911) also titled ''Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics''

''How a Mosquito Operates'' (1912) also titled ''The Story Of A Mosquito''

''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914)

''The Sinking of the Lusitania'' (1918)

''Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: Bug Vaudeville'' (1921)

''Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet'' (1921)

''Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Flying House'' (1921)

''The Centaurs'' (1921)

''Gertie on Tour'' (1921)

''Flip's Circus'' (1921)

''The Barnyard Performance'' (1922-27?) also called '' Performing Animals'' and The Midsummer's Nightmare

Books and collections

''Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend'' Dover, ISBN 0-486-21347-1

''Little Nemo in the Palace of Ice and Further Adventures'' Dover, ISBN 0-486-23234-4

''The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. I: 1905-1907'' Fantagraphics ISBN 0-930193-63-6

''The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. II: 1907-1908'' Fantagraphics ISBN 0-930193-64-4

''The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. III: 1908-1910'' Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-025-1

''The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. IV: 1910-1911'' Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-045-6

''The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. V: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, Part 1: 1911-12'' Fantagraphics ISBN 0-924359-35-8

''The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. VI: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, Part 2: 1913-14'' Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-130-4

''Little Nemo 1905-1914'' Taschen, ISBN 3-8228-6300-9

''The Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland'' Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, ISBN 1-55670-647-2

''Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays'' Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-0-5

''Little Nemo in Slumberland: Many More Splendid Sundays'' Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-5-6

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 1'' Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-0-5 (“Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Sammy Sneeze”)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 2'' Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-7-2 (More “Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Sammy Sneeze,” “Centaurs,” “Hungry Henrietta,” and editorial illustrations.)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 3'' Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-9-9 (More “Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” (1907), “Little Sammy Sneeze,” “A Pilgrim’s Progress,” (1907) and editorial illustrations from New York period.)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 4'' Checker, ISBN 0-9753808-1-8 (more Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (early 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (early 1908), various Little Sammy Sneezes, and New York American editorial cartoons.)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 5'' Checker, ISBN 0-9753808-2-6 (Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (late 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (late 1908), Phoolish Phillip (all), Hungry Henrietta (all), and New York American editorial cartoons.)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 6'' Checker, ISBN 1-933160-05-5 (“Mr Goodenough”, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (late 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (late 1908), and New York American editorial cartoons.)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 7'' Checker, ISBN 1-933160-05-5 (illustrations from New York editorial period, and collection of comic strips.)

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 8'' Checker, ISBN 1-933160-06-3

''Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 9'' Checker, ISBN 978-1-933160-07-8

''Daydreams and Nightmares'' Fantagraphics, ISBN 1-56097-569-5

''Little Sammy Sneeze'' Sunday Press ISBN 0-97688-854-8

References

Sources

External links

Spring Lake District Library "The Talented Winsor McCay"

The Fales Library of NYU's guide to the David C. Bohnett Collection of Winsor McCay Drawings

Meeting McCay

on Internet Movie Database Little Nemo in Slumberland Anniversary Special

Winsor McCay's ''The Centaurs''.

Comic Strip Library has a complete collection of out-of-copyright Little Nemo pages

Category:1934 deaths Category:American animators Category:Artists from Cincinnati, Ohio Category:Burials at the Cemetery of the Evergreens Category:Cleary University alumni Category:Comic strip cartoonists Category:Eastern Michigan University alumni Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Ypsilanti, Michigan Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees

bs:Winsor McCay ca:Winsor McCay de:Winsor McCay et:Winsor McCay es:Winsor McCay fr:Winsor McCay hr:Winsor McCay it:Winsor McCay nl:Winsor McCay ja:ウィンザー・マッケイ no:Winsor McCay pt:Winsor McCay ro:Winsor McCay ru:Маккей, Уинзор sr:Винзор Мекеј fi:Winsor McCay sv:Winsor McCay

name	Wilhelm II
succession	German Emperor; King of Prussia
reign	15 June 1888 – 18 November 1918
predecessor	Frederick III
spouse	Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-HolsteinHermine Reuss of Greiz
issue	Wilhelm, German Crown PrincePrince Eitel FriedrichPrince AdalbertPrince August WilhelmPrince OskarPrince JoachimPrincess Viktoria Luise
Full name
house	House of Hohenzollern
royal anthem	Heil dir im Siegerkranz (unofficial)
religion	Lutheranism
father	Frederick III, German Emperor
mother	Victoria, Princess Royal
birth date	January 27, 1859
birth place	Berlin, Prussia
death date	June 04, 1941
death place	Doorn, Netherlands
signature	Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
religion	Evangelical Christian Church }}

Wilhelm II (; ) (27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (''Kaiser'') and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria, and related to many kings and princes around Europe. Crowned in 1888 he dismissed the Chancellor, Prince Otto von Bismarck, in 1890 and launched Germany on a bellicose "New Course" in foreign affairs, culminating in his support for Austria in the crisis of the summer of 1914 that caused World War I. Bombastic and impetuous, he blundered often, making major diplomatic decisions on his own, and allowing his generals to dictate policy during World War I, ignoring the civilian government. An ineffective war leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands.

Biography

Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 in Berlin to Prince Frederick William of Prussia (the future Frederick III) and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain. He was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria, but more importantly, as the first son of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Wilhelm was (from 1861) the second in the line of succession to Prussia, and also, after 1871, to the German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the Prussian King. He was related to many royal figures across Europe, and as war loomed in 1914, Wilhelm was on a first-name basis with his cousins the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and the King George V of England. He often tried to bully his royal relatives.

A traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erb's palsy, which he tried with some success to conceal. In many photos he carries a pair of white gloves in his left hand to make the arm seem longer, holds his left hand with his right, or has his crippled arm on the hilt of a sword or holding a cane to give the effect of a useful limb posed at a dignified angle. Biographers including Miranda Carter have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development.

Early years

Wilhelm, beginning at age 6, was tutored by the 39-year old teacher Georg Hinzpeter. He stated later that his instructor never uttered a word of praise for his efforts. As a teenager he was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium and the University of Bonn, where he became a member of ''Corps Borussia Bonn''. Wilhelm possessed a quick intelligence, but unfortunately this was often overshadowed by a cantankerous temper. Wilhelm took an interest in the science and technology of the age, but although he liked to pose in conversation as a man of the world, he remained convinced that he belonged to a distinct order of mankind, designated for monarchy by the grace of God. Wilhelm was accused of megalomania as early as 1892, by the Portuguese man of letters Eça de Queiroz, then again in 1894 by the German pacifist Ludwig Quidde.

As a scion of the Royal house of Hohenzollern, Wilhelm was also exposed from an early age to the military society of the Prussian aristocracy. This had a major impact on him and, in maturity, Wilhelm was seldom to be seen out of uniform. The hyper-masculine military culture of Prussia in this period did much to frame Wilhelm's political ideals as well as his personal relationships.

Crown Prince Frederick was viewed by his son with a deeply felt love and respect. His father's status as a hero of the wars of unification was largely responsible for the young Wilhelm's attitude, as in the circumstances in which he was raised; close emotional contact between father and son was not encouraged. Later, as he came into contact with the Crown Prince's political opponents, Wilhelm came to adopt more ambivalent feelings toward his father, given the perceived influence of Wilhelm's mother over a figure who should have been possessed of masculine independence and strength. Wilhelm also idolised his grandfather, Wilhelm I, and he was instrumental in later attempts to foster a cult of the first German Emperor as "Wilhelm the Great".

In many ways, Wilhelm was a victim of his inheritance and of Otto von Bismarck's machinations. Both sides of his family had suffered from mental illness, and this may explain his emotional instability. The Emperor's parents, Frederick and Victoria, were great admirers of the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, Victoria's father. They planned to rule as consorts, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and they planned to reform the fatal flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself. The office of Chancellor responsible to the Emperor would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick described the Imperial Constitution as "ingeniously contrived chaos."

When Wilhelm was in his early twenties, Bismarck tried to separate him from his liberal parents with some success. Bismarck planned to use the young prince as a weapon against his parents in order to retain his own political dominance. Wilhelm thus developed a dysfunctional relationship with his parents, but especially with his English mother. In an outburst in April 1889, which the Empress Victoria conveyed in a letter to her mother, Queen Victoria, Wilhelm angrily implied that “an English doctor killed my father, and an English doctor crippled my arm – which is the fault of my mother” who allowed no German physicians to attend to herself or her immediate family.

Next to the throne

The German Emperor Wilhelm I died in Berlin on 9 March 1888, and Prince Wilhelm's father was proclaimed Emperor as Frederick III. He was already suffering from an incurable throat cancer and spent all 99 days of his reign fighting the disease before dying. On 15 June of that same year, his 29-year-old son succeeded him as German Emperor and King of Prussia.

Although in his youth he had been a great admirer of Otto von Bismarck, Wilhelm's characteristic impatience soon brought him into conflict with the "Iron Chancellor", the dominant figure in the foundation of his empire. The new Emperor opposed Bismarck's careful foreign policy, preferring vigorous and rapid expansion to protect Germany's "place in the sun." Furthermore, the young Emperor had come to the throne with the determination that he was going to rule as well as reign, unlike his grandfather, who had largely been content to leave day-to-day administration to Bismarck.

Early conflicts between Wilhelm II and his chancellor soon poisoned the relationship between the two men. Bismarck believed that Wilhelm was a lightweight who could be dominated, and he showed scant respect for Wilhelm's policies in the late 1880s. The final split between monarch and statesman occurred soon after an attempt by Bismarck to implement a far-reaching anti-Socialist law in early 1890.

Break with Bismarck on labor policy

It was during this time that Bismarck, after gaining an absolute majority in favor of his policies in the Reichstag, decided to make the anti-Socialist laws permanent. His ''Kartell'', the majority of the amalgamated Conservative Party and the National Liberal Party, favored making the laws permanent, with one exception: the police power to expel Socialist agitators from their homes. This power had been used excessively at times against political opponents, and the National Liberal Party was unwilling to pass the expulsion clause in the first place. Bismarck would not give his assent to a modified bill, so the ''Kartell'' split over this issue. The Conservatives would support the bill only in its entirety, and threatened to, and eventually did, veto the entire bill.

As the debate continued, Wilhelm became increasingly interested in social problems, especially the treatment of mine workers who went on strike in 1889. Following his policy of active participation in government, he routinely interrupted Bismarck in Council to make clear where he stood on social policy. Bismarck sharply disagreed with Wilhelm's policy and worked to circumvent it. Even though Wilhelm supported the altered anti-Socialist bill, Bismarck pushed for his support to veto the bill in its entirety, but when Bismarck's arguments couldn't convince Wilhelm, he became excited and agitated until uncharacteristically he blurted out his motive for having the bill fail: he wanted the Socialists to agitate until a violent clash occurred that could be used as a pretext to crush them. Wilhelm replied that he wasn't willing to open his reign with a bloody campaign against his subjects.

The next day, after realising his blunder, Bismarck attempted to reach a compromise with Wilhelm by agreeing to his social policy towards industrial workers, and even suggested a European council to discuss working conditions, presided over by the German Emperor.

Despite this, a turn of events eventually led to his distance from Wilhelm. Bismarck, feeling pressured and unappreciated by the Emperor and undermined by ambitious advisors, refused to sign a proclamation regarding the protection of workers along with Wilhelm, as was required by the German Constitution, to protest Wilhelm's ever-increasing interference with Bismarck's previously unquestioned authority. Bismarck also worked behind the scenes to break the Continental Labour Council Wilhelm held so dear. The final break came as Bismarck searched for a new parliamentary majority, with his ''Kartell'' voted from power due to the anti-Socialist bill fiasco. The remaining powers in the Reichstag were the Catholic Centre Party and the Conservative Party. Bismarck wished to form a new bloc with the Centre Party, and invited Ludwig Windthorst, the party's parliamentary leader, to discuss an alliance. This would be Bismarck's last political maneuver. Wilhelm was furious to hear about Windthorst's visit. In a parliamentary state, the head of government depends on the confidence of the parliamentary majority, and certainly has the right to form coalitions to ensure his policies a majority, but in Germany, the Chancellor depended on the confidence of the Emperor alone, and Wilhelm believed that the Emperor had the right to be informed before his minister's meeting. After a heated argument at Bismarck's estate over Imperial authority, Wilhelm stormed out, the men parting ways permanently. Bismarck, forced for the first time into a situation he could not use to his advantage, wrote a blistering letter of resignation, decrying Wilhelm's interference in foreign and domestic policy, which was only published after Bismarck's death. When Bismarck realised that his dismissal was imminent:

All Bismarck’s resources were deployed; he even asked Empress Frederick to use her influence at her son on his behalf. But the wizard had lost his magic; his spells were powerless because they were exerted on people who did not respect them, and he who had so signally disregarded Kant’s command to use people as ends in themselves had too small a stock of loyalty to draw on. As Lord Salisbury told Queen Victoria: 'The very qualities which Bismarck fostered in the Emperor in order to strengthen himself when the Emperor Frederick should come to the throne have been the qualities by which he has been overthrown.' The Empress, with what must have been a mixture of pity and triumph, told him that her influence with her son could not save him for he himself had destroyed it.

Although Bismarck had sponsored landmark social security legislation, by 1889–90 he had become disillusioned with the attitude of workers. In particular, he was opposed to wage increases, improving working conditions, and regulating labour relations. Moreover the ''Kartell'', the shifting political coalition that Bismarck had been able to forge since 1867, had lost a working majority in the Reichstag. Bismarck also attempted to sabotage the Labour Conference that the Kaiser was organising. In March 1890, the dismissal of Bismarck coincided with the Kaiser's opening of the Labour Conference in Berlin. Subsequently at the opening of the Reichstag on 6 May 1890, the Kaiser stated that the most pressing issue was ''the further enlargement of the bill concerning the protection of the labourer.'' In 1891, the Reichstag passed the Workers Protection Acts, which improved working conditions, protected women and children and regulated labour relations.

Wilhelm in control

Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II's insistence in 1890, at age 75, to be succeeded as Chancellor of Germany and Minister-President of Prussia by Leo von Caprivi, who in turn was replaced by Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst in 1894. In foreign policy Bismarck had achieved a fragile balance of interests between Germany, France and Russia--peace was at hand and Bismarck tried to keep it that way despite growing popular sentiment against Britain (regarding colonies) and especially against Russia. With Bismarck's dismissal the Russians now expected a reversal of policy in Berlin, so they quickly came to terms with France, beginning the process that by 1914 largely isolated Germany.

However Louis Ferdinand, the Kaiser's grandson and heir, offered a different perspective on the role of Bismarck leading up to his departure:

Had Bismarck stayed he would not have helped. He already wanted to abolish all the reforms that had been introduced. He was aspiring to establish a kind of shogunate and hoped to treat our family in the same way the Japanese shoguns treated the Japanese emperors isolated in Kyoto. My grandfather had no other choice but to dismiss him.

type	Monarchical
name	German Emperor Wilhelm II, King of Prussia
reference	His Imperial and Royal Majesty
spoken	Your Imperial and Royal Majesty
alternative	Sire }}

In appointing Caprivi and then Hohenlohe, Wilhelm was embarking upon what is known to history as "the New Course", in which he hoped to exert decisive influence in the government of the empire. There is debate amongst historians as to the precise degree to which Wilhelm succeeded in implementing "personal rule" in this era, but what is clear is the very different dynamic which existed between the Crown and its chief political servant (the Chancellor) in the "Wilhelmine Era". These chancellors were senior civil servants and not seasoned politician-statesmen like Bismarck. Wilhelm wanted to preclude the emergence of another Iron Chancellor, whom he ultimately detested as being "a boorish old killjoy" who had not permitted any minister to see the Emperor except in his presence, keeping a stranglehold on effective political power. Upon his enforced retirement and until his dying day, Bismarck was to become a bitter critic of Wilhelm's policies, but without the support of the supreme arbiter of all political appointments (the Emperor) there was little chance of Bismarck exerting a decisive influence on policy.

Something which Bismarck was able to effect was the creation of the "Bismarck myth". This was a view—which some would argue was confirmed by subsequent events—that, with the dismissal of the Iron Chancellor, Wilhelm II effectively destroyed any chance Germany had of stable and effective government. In this view, Wilhelm's "New Course" was characterised far more as the German ship of state going out of control, eventually leading through a series of crises to the carnage of the First and Second World Wars.

The strong chancellors

Following the dismissal of Hohenlohe in 1900, Wilhelm appointed the man whom he regarded as "his own Bismarck", Bernhard von Bülow.

In the early twentieth century Wilhelm began to concentrate upon his real agenda; the creation of a German navy that would rival that of Britain and enable Germany to declare itself a world power. He ordered his military leaders to read Admiral Mahan's book on naval power and spent hours drawing sketches of the ships that he wanted built.Bülow and Bethmann—Hollweg, his loyal chancellors looked after domestic affairs and Wilhelm began to spread alarm in the chancellaries of Europe with his increasingly eccentric views on foreign affairs.

Personality

Historians have frequently stressed the role of Wilhelm's personality in shaping his reign. Thus, Thomas Nipperdey concludes he was: :"gifted, with a quick understanding, sometimes brilliant, with a taste for the modern,—technology, industry, science—but at the same time superficial, hasty, restless, unable to relax, without any deeper level of seriousness, without any desire for hard work or drive to see things through to the end, without any sense of sobriety, for balance and boundaries, or even for reality and real problems, uncontrollable and scarcely capable of learning from experience, desperate for applause and success,—as Bismarck said early on in his life, he wanted every day to be his birthday—romantic, sentimental and theatrical, unsure and arrogant, with an immeasurably exaggerated self-confidence and desire to show off, a juvenile cadet, who never took the tone of the officers’ mess out of his voice, and brashly wanted to play the part of the supreme warlord, full of panicky fear of a monotonous life without any diversions, and yet aimless, pathological in his hatred against his English mother.".

Langer et al. (1968) emphasize the negative international consequences of his erratic personality: :He believed in force, and the 'survival of the fittest' in domestic as well as foreign politics....William was not lacking in intelligence, but he did lack stability, disguising his deep insecurities by swagger and tough talk. He frequently fell into depressions and hysterics....William's personal instability was reflected in vacillations of policy. His actions, at home as well as abroad, lacked guidance, and therefore often bewildered or infuriated public opinion. He was not so much concerned with gaining specific objectives, as had been the case with Bismarck, as with asserting his will. This trait in the ruler of the leading Continental power was one of the main causes of the uneasiness prevailing in Europe at the turn-of-the-century.

Foreign affairs

German foreign policy under Wilhelm II was faced with a number of significant problems. Perhaps the most apparent was that Wilhelm was an impatient man, subjective in his reactions and affected strongly by sentiment and impulse. He was personally ill-equipped to steer German foreign policy along a rational course. It is now widely recognised that the various spectacular acts which Wilhelm undertook in the international sphere were often partially encouraged by the German foreign policy elite. There were a number of key exceptions, such as the famous Kruger telegram of 1896 in which Wilhelm congratulated President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal Republic on the suppression of the Jameson Raid, thus alienating British public opinion.

Wilhelm invented and spread fears of a yellow peril trying to interest other European rulers in the perils they faced by invading Chinese; few other leaders paid attention. German troops were sent to fight in the Boxer Rebellion.

Under Wilhelm Germany attempted to develop its colonies in Africa and the Pacific, but few became self-supporting and all were lost during World War I. In Namibia a native revolt against German rule led to the Herero and Namaqua Genocide, although Wilhelm eventually ordered it be stopped.

One of the few times Wilhelm succeeded in personal "diplomacy" was when he supported Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in marrying Sophie Chotek in 1900 against the wishes of Emperor Franz Joseph.

One "domestic" triumph for Wilhelm was when his daughter Victoria Louise married the Duke of Brunswick in 1913; this helped heal the rift between the House of Hanover and the House of Hohenzollern after the 1866 annexation of Hanover by Prussia.

Moroccan Crisis

One of Wilhelm II's diplomatic blunders sparked the Moroccan Crisis of 1905, when Wilhelm made a spectacular visit to Tangier, in Morocco. Wilhelm's presence was seen as an assertion of German interests in Morocco, in opposition to France. In his speech he even made certain remarks in favour of Moroccan independence. This led to friction with France, which had expanding colonial interests in Morocco, and led to the Algeciras Conference, which served largely to further isolate Germany in Europe.

''Daily Telegraph'' affair

Perhaps Wilhelm's most damaging personal blunder in the arena of foreign policy had a far greater impact in Germany than internationally. The ''Daily Telegraph'' Affair of 1908 stemmed from the publication of some of Wilhelm's opinions in edited form in the British daily newspaper of that name. Wilhelm saw it as an opportunity to promote his views and ideas on Anglo-German friendship, but instead, due to his emotional outbursts during the course of the interview, Wilhelm ended up further alienating not only the British people, but also the French, Russians, and Japanese all in one fell swoop by implying, among other things, that the Germans cared nothing for the British; that the French and Russians had attempted to incite Germany to intervene in the Second Boer War; and that the German naval buildup was targeted against the Japanese, not Britain. (One memorable quotation from the interview was, "You English are mad, mad, mad as March hares.") The effect in Germany was quite significant, with serious calls for his abdication being mentioned in the press. Not surprisingly, Wilhelm kept a very low profile for many months after the ''Daily Telegraph'' fiasco, and later exacted his revenge by enforcing the resignation of Prince Bülow, who had abandoned the Emperor to public criticism by publicly accepting some responsibility for not having edited the transcript of the interview before its publication.

The ''Daily Telegraph'' crisis deeply wounded Wilhelm's previously unimpaired self-confidence, so much so that he soon suffered a severe bout of depression from which he never really recovered (photographs of Wilhelm in the post-1908 period show a man with far more haggard features and greying hair), and he lost much of the influence he had previously exercised in domestic and foreign policy.

Promoter of arts and science

Wilhelm II was an enthusiastic promoter of the arts and sciences, as well as public education and social welfare. He sponsored the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, for the promotion of scientific research; it was funded by wealthy private donors and the state and comprised a number of research institutes in both pure and applied sciences. The Prussian Academy of Sciences, however, was unable to avoid the Kaiser's pressure and lost some of its autonomy when it was forced to incorporate new programs in engineering, and award new fellowships in engineering sciences as a gift from the Kaiser in 1900.

Wilhelm II supported the modernisers as they tried to reform the Prussian system of secondary education, which was rigidly traditional, elitist, politically authoritarian, and unchanged by the progress in the natural sciences.

Naval expansion

Nothing Wilhelm II did in the international arena was of more influence than his decision to pursue a policy of massive naval construction. A powerful navy was Wilhelm's pet project. He had inherited, from his mother, a love of the British Royal Navy, which was at that time the world's largest. He once confided to his uncle, Edward VII, that his dream was to have a "fleet of my own some day". Wilhelm's frustration over his fleet's poor showing at the Fleet Review at his grandmother Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, combined with his inability to exert German influence in South Africa following the dispatch of the Kruger telegram, led to Wilhelm taking definitive steps toward the construction of a fleet to rival that of his British cousins. Wilhelm was fortunate to be able to call on the services of the dynamic naval officer Alfred von Tirpitz, whom he appointed to the head of the Imperial Naval Office in 1897.

The new admiral had conceived of what came to be known as the "Risk Theory" or the Tirpitz Plan, by which Germany could force Britain to accede to German demands in the international arena through the threat posed by a powerful battlefleet concentrated in the North Sea. Tirpitz enjoyed Wilhelm's full support in his advocacy of successive naval bills of 1897 and 1900, by which the German navy was built up to contend with that of the United Kingdom. Naval expansion under the Fleet Acts eventually led to severe financial strains in Germany by 1914, as by 1906 Wilhelm had committed his navy to construction of the much larger, more expensive dreadnought type of battleship.

In 1889 Wilhelm II reorganised top level control of the navy by creating a Navy Cabinet (Marine-Kabinett) equivalent to the German Imperial Military Cabinet which had previously functioned in the same capacity for both the army and navy. The Head of the navy cabinet was responsible for promotions, appointments, administration and issuing orders to naval forces. Captain Gustav von Senden-Bibran was appointed as its first head and remained so until 1906. The existing Imperial admiralty was abolished and its responsibilities divided between two organisations. A new position (equivalent to the supreme commander of the army) was created, chief of the high command of the admiralty (Oberkommando der Marine), being responsible for ship deployments, strategy and tactics. Vice Admiral Max von der Goltz was appointed in 1889 and remained in post until 1895. Construction and maintenance of ships and obtaining supplies was the responsibility of the State Secretary of the Imperial Navy Office (Reichsmarineamt), responsible to the Chancellor and advising the Reichstag on naval matters. The first appointee was Rear Admiral Eduard Heusner, followed shortly by Rear Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann from 1890 to 1897. Each of these three heads of department reported separately to Wilhelm II.

In addition to the expansion of the fleet the Kiel Canal was opened in 1895 enabling faster movements between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

World War I

The Sarajevo crisis

Wilhelm was a friend of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este, and he was deeply shocked by his assassination on 28 June 1914. Wilhelm offered to support Austria-Hungary in crushing the Black Hand, the secret organisation that had plotted the killing, and even sanctioned the use of force by Austria against the perceived source of the movement—Serbia (this is often called "the blank cheque"). He wanted to remain in Berlin until the crisis was resolved, but his courtiers persuaded him instead to go on his annual cruise of the North Sea on 6 July 1914. Wilhelm made erratic attempts to stay on top of the crisis via telegram, and when the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was delivered to Serbia, he hurried back to Berlin. He reached Berlin on 28 July, read a copy of the Serbian reply, and wrote on it:

A brilliant solution—and in barely 48 hours! This is more than could have been expected. A great moral victory for Vienna; but with it every pretext for war falls to the ground, and [the Ambassador] Giesl had better have stayed quietly at Belgrade. On this document, I should never have given orders for mobilisation.

Unknown to the Emperor, Austro-Hungarian ministers and generals had already convinced the 84-year-old Francis Joseph I of Austria to sign a declaration of war against Serbia. As a direct consequence, Russia began a general mobilization to attack Austria in defense of Serbia.

July 1914

On the night of 30 July, when handed a document stating that Russia would not cancel its mobilisation, Wilhelm wrote a lengthy commentary containing the startling observations:

''"For I no longer have any doubt that England, Russia and France have agreed among themselves—knowing that our treaty obligations compel us to support Austria—to use the Austro-Serb conflict as a pretext for waging a war of annihilation against us ... Our dilemma over keeping faith with the old and honourable Emperor has been exploited to create a situation which gives England the excuse she has been seeking to annihilate us with a spurious appearance of justice on the pretext that she is helping France and maintaining the well-known Balance of Power in Europe, i.e. playing off all European States for her own benefit against us."''

More recent British authors state that Wilhelm II actually declared "''Ruthlessness and weakness will start the most terrifying war of the world, whose purpose is to destroy Germany. Because there can no longer be any doubts, England, France and Russia have conspired them selves together to fight an annihilation war against us''"

When it became clear that Germany would experience a war on ''two fronts'', and that the United Kingdom would enter the war if Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium, the panic-stricken Wilhelm attempted to redirect the main attack against Russia. When Helmuth von Moltke (the younger) (who had chosen the old plan from 1905, made by the former German general von Schlieffen for the possibility of Germany war on two fronts) told him that this was impossible, Wilhelm said: "Your uncle would have given me a different answer!" Wilhelm is also reported to have said: "To think that George and Nicky should have played me false! If my grandmother had been alive, she would never have allowed it." In the original Schlieffen plan Germany should attack the (supposed) weaker enemy first, meaning France. The plan supposed that it would take a long time before Russia was ready for war. And defeating France had not been a hard task for Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. At the 1914 border between France and Germany, an attack at this more southern part of France could be stopped by the French fortress along the border. However Wilhelm II got Helmuth Moltke (the younger) to also not invade the Netherlands.

Shadow-Kaiser

Upon hearing that his cousin George V had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor, Wilhelm remarked that he planned to see Shakespeare's play ''The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha''. Wilhelm's role in wartime was of ever-decreasing significance. The high command continued with their strategy even when it was clear that the Schlieffen plan had failed. Moltke suffered a nervous breakdown and the fearsome duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff took effective control of all military affairs. By 1916 the Empire had effectively become a military dictatorship under the control of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. Increasingly cut off from reality and the political decision-making process, Wilhelm vacillated between defeatism and dreams of victory, depending upon the fortunes of his armies, but his role as supreme leader was adopted by the elderly Hindenburg, whose wooden features and unshakable nerves endeared him to nobody but which upheld the illusion of a German victory until long after the war was lost on the battlefields. Nevertheless, Wilhelm still retained the ultimate authority in matters of political appointment, and it was only after his consent had been gained that major changes to the high command could be effected. Wilhelm was in favour of the dismissal of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September 1914 and his replacement by Erich von Falkenhayn. In 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided that Bethman-Hollweg was no longer acceptable to them as Chancellor and called upon the Kaiser to appoint somebody else. When asked whom they would accept, Ludendorff recommended Michaelis, a nonentity who had made a visit to GHQ a few weeks earlier. Wilhelm did not even know the man, but accepted the suggestion. His role as Kaiser was at an end. The Kaiser's support collapsed completely in October–November 1918 in the army, the civilian government, and German public opinion, as President Wilson made clear the Kaiser could no longer be a party to peace negotiations.

Abdication and flight

Wilhelm was at the Imperial Army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, when the uprisings in Berlin and other centres took him by surprise in late 1918. Mutiny among the ranks of his beloved Kaiserliche Marine, the imperial navy, profoundly shocked him. After the outbreak of the German Revolution, Wilhelm could not make up his mind whether or not to abdicate. Up to that point, he was confident that even if he were obliged to vacate the German throne, he would still retain the Prussian kingship. The unreality of this belief was revealed when, in the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face growing revolutionary unrest, Wilhelm's abdication both as German Emperor and King of Prussia was abruptly announced by the Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, on 9 November 1918. (Prince Max himself was forced to resign later the same day, when it became clear that only Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD could effectively exert control.)

Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff's replacement, General Wilhelm Groener, had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Paul von Hindenburg's command, but would certainly not fight for Wilhelm's throne on the home front. The monarchy's last and strongest support had been broken, and finally even Hindenburg, himself a lifelong royalist, was obliged, with some embarrassment, to advise the Emperor to give up the crown. For telling Wilhelm the truth, Groener would not be forgiven by German arch-conservatives. The abdication instrument was not actually signed until 28 November; by then his six sons had sworn not to succeed him, so ending the dynasty's connection with the crown of Prussia.

The following day, the former Emperor crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral throughout the war. Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919, Article 227 expressly provided for the prosecution of Wilhelm "for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties", but Queen Wilhelmina refused to extradite him, despite appeals from the Allies. President Wilson rejected extradition, arguing that punishing Wilhelm for waging war would destabilize international order and lose the peace.

The erstwhile Emperor first settled in Amerongen, and then subsequently purchased a small castle in the municipality of Doorn on 16 August 1919 and moved in on 15 May 1920. This was to be his home for the remainder of his life. From this residence, Huis Doorn, Wilhelm absolved his officers and servants of their oath of loyalty to him; however, he himself never formally relinquished his titles, and hoped to return to Germany in the future. The Weimar Republic allowed Wilhelm to remove twenty-three railway wagons of furniture, twenty-seven containing packages of all sorts, one bearing a car and another a boat, from the New Palace at Potsdam.

Life in exile

On 2 December 1919, Wilhelm wrote to Field Marshal August von Mackensen, denouncing his abdication as the "deepest, most disgusting shame ever perpetrated by a person in history, the Germans have done to themselves", "egged on and misled by the tribe of Judah ... Let no German ever forget this, nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed and exterminated from German soil!" He advocated a "regular international all-worlds pogrom à la Russe" as "the best cure" and further believed that Jews were a "nuisance that humanity must get rid of some way or other. I believe the best would be gas!"

In 1922, Wilhelm published the first volume of his memoirs—a very slim volume which nevertheless revealed the possession of a remarkable memory (Wilhelm had no archive on which to draw). In them, he asserted his claim that 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, the former Emperor regularly entertained guests (often of some standing) and kept himself updated on events in Europe. On his arrival from Germany at Amerongen Castle in the Netherlands in 1918, the first thing Wilhelm said to his host was, "So what do you say, now give me a nice cup of hot, good, real English tea." No longer able to call upon the services of a court barber, and partly out of a desire to disguise his features, Wilhelm grew a beard and allowed his famous moustache to droop. He even learned the Dutch language.

Wilhelm developed a penchant for archaeology during his vacations on Corfu, a passion he retained in his exile. He had bought the former Greek residence of Austrian Empress Elisabeth after her murder in 1898. He also sketched plans for grand buildings and battleships when he was bored, although experts in construction saw his ideas as grandiose and unworkable. One of Wilhelm's greatest passions was hunting, and he bagged 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. and observing the life of a country gentleman. In the early 1930s, Wilhelm apparently hoped that the successes of the German Nazi Party would stimulate interest in the revival of the monarchy. His second wife, Hermine (see below), actively petitioned the Nazi government on her husband's behalf, but the scorn which Adolf Hitler felt for the man who he believed contributed to Germany's greatest defeat, and his own desire for power, would prevent Wilhelm's restoration. Though he hosted Hermann Göring at Doorn on at least one occasion, Wilhelm grew to mistrust Hitler. He heard about the Night of the Long Knives of 30 June 1934 by wireless and said of it, "What would people have said if I had done such a thing?" and hearing of the murder of the wife of former Chancellor Schleicher, "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!" Wilhelm was also appalled at the Kristallnacht of 9–10 November 1938 saying, "I have just made my views clear to Auwi [Wilhelm's fourth son] in the presence of his brothers. He had the nerve to say that he agreed with the Jewish pogroms 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 ..." He also stated, "For the first time, I am ashamed to be a German."

In the wake of the German victory over Poland in September 1939, Wilhelm's adjutant, General 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." Wilhelm stayed in regular contact with Hitler through General von Dommes, who represented the family in Germany. Wilhelm greatly admired the success which Hitler was able to achieve in the opening months of the Second World War, and personally sent a congratulatory telegram on the fall of Paris stating "Congratulations, you have won using ''my'' troops." In a letter to his daughter Victoria Louise, the Duchess of Brunswick, he wrote triumphantly, "Thus is the pernicious entente cordial of Uncle Edward VII brought to nought." Nevertheless, after the Nazi conquest of the Netherlands in 1940, the aging Wilhelm retired completely from public life. In May 1940 Wilhelm declined an offer from Churchill for asylum in the UK, preferring to die at ''Huis Doorn''.

During his last year at Doorn, Wilhelm believed that Germany was the land of monarchy and therefore of Christ and that England was the land of Liberalism and therefore of Satan and the Anti-Christ. He argued that the English ruling classes were "Freemasons thoroughly infected by Juda". 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." He believed the Freemasons and Jews had caused the two world wars, aiming at a world Jewish empire with British and American gold, but that "Juda's plan has been smashed to pieces and they themselves swept out of the European Continent!" Continental Europe was now, Wilhelm wrote, "consolidating and closing itself off from British influences after the elimination of the British and the Jews!" The end result would be a "U.S. of Europe!"

Death

Wilhelm II died of a pulmonary embolus in Doorn, Netherlands on 3 June 1941 aged 82, just weeks before the German invasion of the Soviet Union. German soldiers had been guarding his estate. Adolf Hitler, however, was reportedly angry that the former monarch had an honor guard of German troops and nearly fired the general who ordered them there when he found out. Despite his personal animosity toward Wilhelm, Hitler wanted to bring Wilhelm's body back to Berlin for a state funeral, as Wilhelm was a symbol of Germany and Germans during World War I. Hitler felt this would demonstrate to Germans the direct succession of the Third Reich from the old Kaiserreich. However, Wilhelm's wishes of never returning to Germany until the restoration of the monarchy were respected, and the Nazi occupation authorities granted a small military funeral with a few hundred people present, the mourners including August von Mackensen, along with a few other military advisers. Wilhelm's request that the swastika and other Nazi regalia not be displayed at the final rites was ignored, however, and they are featured in the photos of the funeral that were taken by a Dutch photographer.

He was buried in a mausoleum in the grounds of Huis Doorn, which has since become a place of pilgrimage for German monarchists. To this day, small but enthusiastic and faithful numbers of them gather at Huis Doorn every year on the anniversary of his death to pay their homage to the last German Emperor.

Legacy and memory

Three trends have characterized the writing about Wilhelm. First, the court-inspired writers who considered him a martyr and a hero. Often they uncritically accepted the justifications provided in the Kaiser's memoirs. Second, those who judged Wilhelm as completely unable to handle the great responsibilities of his office and one who was too reckless to deal with power. Third, after 1950, scholars sought to transcend the passions of the 1910s and attempted objective portrayal of William II and his rule.

Until the late 1950s the Kaiser was depicted by most historians as man of considerable influence. Partly that was a deception by German officials. For example, President Theodore Roosevelt believed the Kaiser was in control of German foreign policy because Hermann Speck von Sternburg, the German ambassador in Washington and personal friend of Roosevelt, presented messages of Chancellor von Bülow to the president as messages from the Kaiser. Then historians downplayed his role, arguing senior officials learned to work around him. More recently historian John C. G. Röhl has portrayed Wilhelm II as the key figure in understanding the recklessness and downfall of Imperial Germany. Thus the argument is made that the Kaiser played a major role in promoting the policies of naval and colonial expansion that caused the sharp deterioration in Germany's relations with Britain before 1914.

First marriage and issue

Wilhelm and his first wife, Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, were married on 27 February 1881. They had seven children:

# Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882–1951). On 6 June 1905, he married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (20 September 1886 – 6 May 1954) in Berlin. Cecilie was the daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851–1897) and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860–1922). They had six children. Their eldest son Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906–1940) was killed in World War II. # Prince Eitel Friedrich (1883–1942). On 27 February 1906, he married Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg (2 February 1879 Oldenburg, Germany – 29 March 1964 Westerstede, Germany) in Berlin, Germany. They were divorced 20 October 1926 and had no children. # Prince Adalbert (1884–1948). On 3 August 1914, he married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (16 August 1891 – 25 April 1971) in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. They had three children. # Prince August Wilhelm (1887–1949). On 22 October 1908, he married Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (21 April 1887 Germany – 15 April 1957 France). They had one child. # Prince Oskar (1888–1958). On 31 July 1914, he married Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz (27 January 1888 – 17 September 1973). It was a morganatic marriage, so Ina-Marie was created Countess von Ruppin. In 1920, she and her children were granted the rank of Prince/ss of Prussia with the style Royal Highness. They had four children. His eldest son Prince Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno of Prussia was killed in 1939 in World War II. # Prince Joachim (1890–1920). On 11 March 1916, he married Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt (10 June 1898 – 22 May 1983). They had one son. Joachim's great grandson Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Prince of Prussia (born 1981) is a pretender to the Russian throne. # Princess Viktoria Luise (1892–1980). In 1913, she married Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick (1887–1953). They had five children.

Princess Augusta, known affectionately as "Dona", was a constant companion to Wilhelm; and her death on 11 April 1921 was a devastating blow. It also came less than a year after their son Joachim committed suicide—unable to accept his lot after the abdication of his father, the failure of his own marriage to Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt, and the severe depression felt after his service in the Great War.

Remarriage

The following January, Wilhelm received a birthday greeting from a son of the late Prince Johann George Ludwig Ferdinand August Wilhelm of Schönaich-Carolath. The 63-year-old Wilhelm invited the boy and his mother, Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, to Doorn. Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive, and greatly enjoyed her company. The couple were wed on 9 November 1922, despite the objections of Wilhelm's monarchist supporters and his children. Hermine's daughter, Princess Henriette, married the late Prince Joachim's son, Karl Franz Josef, in 1940, but divorced in 1946. Hermine remained a constant companion to the aging Emperor until his death.

Titles and styles

27 January 1859 – 9 March 1888: ''His Royal Highness'' Prince Wilhelm of Prussia

9 March 1888 – 15 June 1888: ''His Imperial and Royal Highness'' The German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia

15 June 1888 – 18 November 1918: ''His Imperial and Royal Majesty'' The German Emperor, King of Prussia

Full title as German Emperor

His Imperial and Royal Majesty Wilhelm the Second, by the Grace of God, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern, Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz, Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen, Duke of Saxony, of Angria, of Westphalia, of Pomerania and of Lunenburg, Duke of Schleswig, of Holstein and of Crossen, Duke of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelderland and of Jülich, Cleves and Berg, Duke of the Wends and the Kashubians, of Lauenburg and of Mecklenburg, Landgrave of Hesse and in Thuringia, Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Prince of Orange, of Rugen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and of Pyrmont, Prince of Halberstadt, of Münster, of Minden, of Osnabrück, of Hildesheim, of Verden, of Kammin, of Fulda, of Nassau and of Moers, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, of Tecklenburg and of Lingen, Count of Mansfeld, of Sigmaringen and of Veringen, Lord of Frankfurt.

Documentaries

''William II. – The last days of the German Monarchy.'' (Original Title: "Wilhelm II. – Die letzten Tage des Deutschen Kaiserreichs") Documentary film about the abdication and flight of the last German Kaiser. Germany/Belgium, 2007. Produced by seelmannfilm and German Television. Written and directed by Christoph Weinert.

Barry Foster plays Kaiser William II in several episodes of the 1974 BBC TV series ''Fall of Eagles''.

Rupert Julian played Kaiser William II in the 1918 Hollywood propaganda film ''The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin''.

In popular culture

''The Simpsons'', Treehouse of Horror XIII – "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms". The Kaiser rides in as a strange addition to an evil undead band of western villains, consisting of Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Frank James and Sundance Kid.

''The Kaiser's Last Kiss'', a novel by Alan Judd offers a fictional account of the Kaiser's final days at Doorn.

The ''Emperor Tamarin'' allegedly receives its name due to the similar mustache.

See also

Kaiserlicher Yacht Club

Navy League (Germany)

List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s – 28 June 1926

Rulers of Germany family tree. He was related to every other monarch of Germany.

Wilhelminism

Alesund, a Norwegian city rebuilt by Wilhelm II after it had been almost completely destroyed by fire in 1904.

References

;Notes

;Bibliography

Cecil, Lamar. ''Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859–1900'', Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. ISBN 0807818283 online edition

Cecil, Lamar. ''Wilhelm II: Emperor and Exile, 1900–1941'', (1996). ISBN 0807822833 online edition,

McLean, Roderick R. "Kaiser Wilhelm II and the British Royal Family: Anglo-German Dynastic Relations in Political Context, 1890–1914." ''History'' 2001 86(284): 478–502. Issn: 0018-2648

Röhl, John C. G., and Nicholaus Sombart, eds. ''Kaiser Wilhelm II: New Interpretations − the Corfu Papers'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982 (reprinted 2005).

Röhl, John C. G. ''Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859–1888'', (Cambridge University Press, 1998)

Röhl, John C. G. ''The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888–1900'', (Cambridge University Press, 2004); 1310pp excerpt and text search ISBN 9780521819206

Röhl, John C. G.. ''The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany'', (Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-521-40223-9

Further reading

Carter, Miranda. ''George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I'' (2010)

Clark, Christopher M. ''Kaiser Wilhelm II.'' (2000) 271 pp. short biography by scholar

Clay, Catrine., ''King Kaiser Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War.'' (2007). 432 pp. popular narrative

Eley, Geoff. "The View From The Throne: The Personal Rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II," ''Historical Journal,'' June 1985, Vol. 28 Issue 2, pp 469–485

Hull, Isabel V. ''The Entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1888–1918'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISBN 9780521236652

Kohut, Thomas A. ''Wilhelm II and the Germans: A Study in Leadership'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0195061727

Ludwig, Emil. ''Wilhelm Hohenzollern: The Last of the Kaisers'', G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1927 ISBN 0-404-04067-5.

Macdonogh, Giles. ''The Last Kaiser: William the Impetuous'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. ISBN 9781842124789

Mombauer, Annika, and Wilhelm Deist, eds. ''The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II's Role in Imperial Germany'', (Cambridge University Press, 2003) 299pp; 12 essays by scholars ISBN 9780521824088

Mommsen, Wolfgang J. "Kaiser Wilhelm II and German Politics." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 1990 25(2–3): 289–316. Issn: 0022-0094 in Jstor

Retallack, James. ''Germany in the Age of Kaiser Wilhelm II'', Basingstoke: St. Martin's Press, 1996. ISBN 9780333592427

Van der Kiste, John. ''Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor'', Sutton Publishing, 1999. ISBN 9780750919418

Waite, Robert G. L. ''Kaiser and Führer: A Comparative Study of Personality and Politics.'' (1998). 511 pp. Psychohistory that compares him with Adolf Hitler

External links

''The German Emperor as shown in his public utterances''

''My Memoirs: 1878–1918'' by William II, London: Cassell & Co., 1922.

''My Memoirs: 1878–1918'' by William II, London: Cassell & Co. 1922.

''The German emperor's speeches: being a selection from the speeches, edicts, letters, and telegrams of the Emperor William II''

Commemorative Silk Bookmark of William II from 1913

''Fall of Eagles'' BBC series

William II tried to stop the bombing of Belgrade ''History of the Last Days before the day of fate'', documentary by German Historian Guido Knopp, February 1999, as History of Ultimatum to Serbia repeated.

Category:1859 births Category:1941 deaths Category:19th-century German people Category:Attempted assassination survivors Category:Burials in the Netherlands Category:Crown Princes of Prussia Category:Deaths from pulmonary embolism Category:German emperors Category:German Lutherans Category:German people of English descent Category:German racehorse owners and breeders Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Category:House of Hohenzollern Category:Kings of Prussia Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Military William Order Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Category:Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Category:Knights of the Elephant Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece Category:Knights of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation Category:Knights of the Order of the Norwegian Lion Category:People from Berlin Category:People of the Edwardian era Category:Pretenders to the German throne Category:Protestant monarchs Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross Category:Recipients of the Military Order of Max Joseph Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called Category:Recipients of the Order of the Black Eagle Category:Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain Category:University of Bonn alumni

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