In English history talk, the Kaiser is Wilhelm II, the German emperor and king of Prussia from 1888 to 1918. He sat on the throne through the years that led into the First World War, and he lost the crown when Germany lost that war; he then lived in exile in the Netherlands. Kaiser is simply the German word for emperor, but English “the Kaiser” in schoolbooks and newspapers almost always means this one man, not every German ruler. British soldiers and papers called him Kaiser Bill — a nickname that made him sound both grand and a bit like a cartoon. He was Queen Victoria’s grandson and spoke English, and he loved ships, uniforms, and sounding strong. Many people then and now argue that his pride and his poor judgment helped push Europe into the war; historians still fight over how much blame is his. After 1918 the title dies with the empire: there is no German kaiser now.