Voting Station

Kaiser Wilhelm I

Please vote to return to collections.

Monarch

The Resume

    (March 22, 1797-March 9, 1888)
    Birth name is Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig
    Son of King Friedrich Wilhelm III
    Brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV
    Prince Regent (1858-1861)
    King in Prussia (1861)
    German Emperor (1871)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was Otto von Bismarck's pawn.
    Though he and his chancellor-puppeteer often quarreled, Bismarck always got the upper hand, simply by threatening to resign.
    The German Empire was arrogantly proclaimed, with the Franco-Prussian War still on, in the Hall of Mirrors of the Versailles Palace.
    Wilhelm's Germany then annexed a part of France and demanded a ruinous indemnity.
    French resentment would be at the root of World War I.
    He despised his title of German Emperor: he would have preferred a more dignified 'Emperor of Germany.'
    He was a die-hard conservative, and oppressed Catholics and socialists.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He escaped several assassination attempts.
    He was wise enough to grant Bismarck his total confidence.
    He (and Bismarck!) achieved the unification of Germany.
    He (and Bismarck!) won the numerous wars undertaken under his reign.
    At the time of his death, Germany was one of the World’s great powers.
    He was extremely well-mannered.

Credit: Sviatoslav Mixer


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 173 Votes: 60.12% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 273 Votes: 52.01% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 18 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 29 Votes: 34.48% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 74 Votes: 51.35% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 93 Votes: 58.06% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 96 Votes: 52.08% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 74 Votes: 56.76% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 20 Votes: 65.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 54 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 42 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 30 Votes: 76.67% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 65 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 128 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 88 Votes: 67.05% Annoying