Wilhelm II, German Emperor

About Wilhelm II, German Emperor

Wilhelm II (1859–1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, reigning from 1888 until the end of World War I in 1918. As a highly consequential politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his reign was marked by aggressive foreign policy, a massive naval buildup, and his complex personal rivalry with British royalty, all contributing to the volatile geopolitical atmosphere that led to the Great War. This legacy secures his position at #175 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index (HPI) of influential figures worldwide.

Despite his high historical importance, Wilhelm II's contemporary internet attention is relatively modest. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued an annualized 463K views, placing his Attention Gap at approximately 1x—meaning he receives the level of attention expected for his rank. This contrasts sharply with figures of lesser historical weight, such as Heinrich Himmler (#435 importance), who garnered 2.2M views in the same period, illustrating a significant current interest skew within the field of national politicians.

Furthermore, the data suggests a cooling of interest over the last year, with his pageviews declining by 16.5% year-over-year and showing a 10% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, indicating his presence in the modern digital dialogue is currently receding.