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Wilhelm, German Crown Prince
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<p>Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst; 6 May 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the eldest child of the last <a href="/facts/German_emperor/t8DrTp2u">German emperor</a>, <a href="/facts/Wilhelm_II/pG9lIa9K">Wilhelm II</a>, and his consort <a href="/facts/Augusta_Victoria_of_Schleswig-Holstein/3bxPtfrf">Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein</a>, and thus a great-grandson of <a href="/facts/Queen_Victoria/CgxSlQ4g">Queen Victoria</a>, and distant cousin to many British royals, such as Queen <a href="/facts/Elizabeth_II/os6eB47B">Elizabeth II</a> and King <a href="/facts/Charles_III/w4hCfC9k">Charles III</a>. As Emperor Wilhelm's heir, he was the last <a href="/facts/Crown_Prince/27V3spwl">Crown Prince</a> of the <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">German Empire</a> and the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Prussia/x796l7vx">Kingdom of Prussia</a>, until the <a href="/facts/German_Revolution_of_1918-1919/PtYaRGEA">abolition of the monarchy</a>. </p><p>Wilhelm became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather <a href="/facts/Frederick_III%2c_German_Emperor/lfx61cCn">Frederick III</a> died and his father became emperor. He was crown prince for 30 years until the <a href="/facts/Abdication_of_Wilhelm_II/A6EN0LoM">fall of the empire on 9 November 1918</a>. During <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, he commanded the <a href="/facts/5th_Army_(German_Empire)/mI2jYwSJ">5th Army</a> from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the <a href="/facts/Army_Group_German_Crown_Prince_(German_Empire)/ETggeAsA">Army Group German Crown Prince</a> for the remainder of the war. After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the <a href="/facts/Weimar_Republic/LYYS66ad">Weimar Republic</a> and campaigned for the reintroduction of the <a href="/facts/Monarchy/Kg1vY7tt">monarchy</a> in Germany. After his plans to become <a href="/facts/Reichspr%25C3%25A4sident/T80fAUWI">president</a> had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported <a href="/facts/Adolf_Hitler/3zyXG1L8">Adolf Hitler</a>'s rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship cooled. Wilhelm became head of the <a href="/facts/House_of_Hohenzollern/2KwG1rYf">House of Hohenzollern</a> on 4 June 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death on 20 July 1951. </p>