Wilhelm, German Crown Prince

Wilhelm became crown prince at six in 1888 when his grandfather died and his father ascended as Kaiser Wilhelm II. For three decades he held the title, commanding the 5th Army from 1914 and later the Army Group German Crown Prince through the war's end. The abdication of 9 November 1918 erased both his father's throne and his own inheritance. Returning to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for monarchy's return, even supporting Hitler's rise after his father blocked his own presidential ambitions. The alliance soured when Hitler's indifference to restoration became c…