WILLIAM 



6291 



WILLIAM 



wife, and the king's only son, a newborn baby, 

 was to become a Catholic, it was natural for 

 the Protestants of England to hail William, 

 himself a grandson of Charles I, as a deliverer. 



In England not a drop of blood was shed in 

 the revolution. James escaped to France, took 

 a French army to Ireland, and with his Irish 

 allies was defeated by William in the Battle 

 of the Boyne, in 1690. A long persecution of 

 1 1 ish Catholics followed. The Protestants of Ul- 

 ster, who supported William, are called Orange- 

 men to this day. In Scotland there were sev- 

 eral battles and a massacre, which, though prob- 

 ably not authorized by William, may have had 

 his approval. 



William became the best English sovereign 

 since Elizabeth, but was never popular. His 

 foreign ways were not understood, and in turn 

 he failed to comprehend the English political 

 system. To further his projects against Louis 

 he needed the support of Parliament, and often 

 sacrificed his personal feelings to keep its good 

 will. Rather than arouse opposition, he al- 

 lowed Parliament seriously to curtail the king's 

 powers. Though a good soldier, he was a bet- 

 ter diplomat. In 1692 his admirals destroyed 

 the French sea power, and after prolonged land 

 warfare he forced Louis to acknowledge him in 

 1697 as the rightful king of England. In 1701 

 he formed an alliance with nearly all Europe 

 against Louis, but did not live to fight in the 

 war which followed. The Bank of England was 

 established during his reign, to finance the wars. 



William IV (1765-1837), "the Sailor King" of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, was a genial and con- 

 scientious man, but an irresolute ruler. He suc- 

 ceeded his brother, George IV, in 1830. Though 

 three of the greatest of English reforms abo- 

 lition of rotten boroughs (see page 5089), aboli- 

 tion of slavery in the colonies and factory re- 

 formwere made in his reign, they were due 

 to the energy of his ministers in carrying out 

 demands of the people. The great Reform 

 Bill of 1832, which ended the rotton boroughs 

 and added half a million voters to the lists, 

 was passed only after a struggle between kinn 

 and Cabinet. William was succeeded by his 

 great Queen Victoria. C.H.H. 



WILLIAM, in Gerni.ni. WII.HKI.M. the name 

 of two German emperors, the latter the last of 

 tin Hohenzollern monarchs. 



William I (1797-1888), the first emperor of 

 modern Cennany. though overshadowed in his 

 reign by Bismarck and Moltkc, was a sovereign 

 of unusual force of character, n 

 In* . simple, manly and upright. The second son 



WILLIAM I 



King of Prussia, and first 

 emperor of Germany. 



of Frederick William III, king of Prussia, he 

 received military training from his earliest years, 

 and in 1814-1815 fought as a captain under Na- 

 poleon. In the revolutions of 1848 he achieved 

 unpopularity by frank opposition to constitu- 

 tional reform. As 

 general he put 

 down the risings 

 of 1849. In 1857 

 he became regent 

 for his brother, 

 Frederick Wil- 

 liam IV, and in 

 1861 king of Prus- 

 sia. Though a 

 firm believer in 

 the divine right 

 of kings, with 

 shrewd common 

 sense he made 

 concessions necessary to gain public confidence. 

 He chose advisers with sagacity. He was reluc- 

 tant to declare wars, but, trusting firmly in the 

 destiny of Prussia, attained popularity In- 

 ability as a military leader in the wars with 

 Denmark (1864), with Austria (1866) and with 

 France (1870). Through Bismarck's efforts Wil- 

 liam was crowned German emperor at Versailles, 

 near Paris, in 1871. The rest of the reign was 

 spent in consolidating the Empire. 



Consult Forbes's Life of Emperor William. 



Related Subject*. The reader may refer to 

 the following articles in this connection: 

 Bismarck-Schbnhausen Moltke. Cour 

 Divine Right of Kings Prussia, subtitle Govern- 

 Franco-Oerman War went and History 



Germany, subhead The Seven Weeks' War 



Hirth of a Nation 



William II (in German WILHBLM II), FRIED- 

 RICH WILHELM VICTOR (1859- ), until No- 

 vember 10, 1918, king of Prussia and by virtue 

 of this office tin* ruler of the Crnnan Kmpire. 

 with the title of rmprror. He was popularly 

 called the kaixcr (see CAESAR). From his acces- 

 sion to the throne. June 15, 1888, at the age of 

 twenty-nine, he wa> the cent nil figure in Europe, 

 and nearly all other parts of the world L 

 the influence of his personality. He was truly 

 railed for many years the "war lord of Europe;" 

 er, he announced himself on every Mut- 

 able occasion as an apostle of peace. 



in in has combined in his life strange 

 contradictions. He is dr< ious, but is 



inordinately ambitious; he honestly endeavored 

 to advance the Empire in commerce, in educa- 

 tion, in art and in letters, and he encouraged 



