Wilhelm’s birth, on 24th January 1859, is acclaimed throughout Europe and the world as a harbinger of peace, prosperity and progress. But the problems start right at Day One: Wilhelm is a breech baby and a forceps operation permanently damages the infant’s arm and neck. The physical results of this traumatic birth are disastrous. The emotional consequences also start immediately. Wilhelm’s mother, the English- born Princess Vicky experiences a revulsion against her damaged firstborn from which she never really recovers and leads to a tormented love-hate relationship between mother and child. Every barbarity that a primitive and ignorant medical profession can contrive is inflicted on the growing boy. He is prescribed “animal baths”: twice a week his left arm is inserted into the body of a freshly slaughtered hare for half an hour, the idea being that the “warmth and vigor of the wild animal” will be transferred to the arm. When, at the age of four, his head starts to tilt, an iron “head- stretching machine” is clamped to his body. Wilhelm is trapped in this grotesque instrument day and night. The psychological damage is immense. His parents groom their son to be the peaceful uniter of all Europe and a supporter of the British Empire. But Wilhelm’s complex relationship with his mother leads to his rejection of everything they value. Time spent at a Prussian officer training academy is the final turning point for Wilhelm. When he takes the German throne its war not peace in Europe that Kaiser Wilhelm II has in mind.