William II, German Wilhelm II<span>, in full Friedrich </span>Wilhelm<span> Viktor Albert, (born January 27, 1859, Potsdam, near Berlin [Germany]—died June 4, 1941, </span>Doorn<span>, Netherlands), German emperor (kaiser) and king of Prussia from 1888 to the end of World War I in 1918.
Answer: They were hoping to find a waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to make it easier for trading ships to sail from Europe to Asia.
