<P> Acceding to the throne in 1888 , he dismissed the Chancellor , Otto von Bismarck , in 1890 and launched Germany on a bellicose `` New Course '' in foreign affairs that culminated in his support for Austria - Hungary in the crisis of July 1914 that led in a matter of days to the First World War . Bombastic and impetuous , he sometimes made tactless pronouncements on sensitive topics without consulting his ministers , culminating in a disastrous Daily Telegraph interview in 1908 that cost him most of his influence . His leading generals , Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff , dictated policy during the First World War with little regard for the civilian government . An ineffective war - time leader , he lost the support of the army , abdicated in November 1918 , and fled to exile in the Netherlands . </P>
what happened to germany 's leader after ww1
he lost the support of the army , abdicated in November 1918 , and fled to exile in the Netherlands