Final answer:
The Ems Telegram was an edited communication by Bismarck that led to the Franco-Prussian War. Kaiser Wilhelm II, who later ruled Germany, pursued aggressive policies contributing to WWI tensions and abdicated after military defeats and revolutions in 1918.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Ems Telegram refers to a dispatch edited by Otto von Bismarck, which played a critical role in the escalation of tensions leading to the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Originally, the Ems Dispatch was a communication between King Wilhelm I of Prussia and the French ambassador over the candidacy of a Hohenzollern prince to the Spanish throne, which France opposed. Bismarck edited the dispatch to make it appear as though the king had insulted the French envoy, triggering France to declare war on Prussia.
Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended to the German throne in 1888, following the deaths of his grandfather Kaiser Wilhelm I and his father. Wilhelm II fiercely pursued a policy of Weltpolitik, aimed at elevating Germany to a global power through naval expansion and colonization, but his aggressive stances contributed to the geopolitical tensions of pre-World War I Europe. After a series of military defeats in World War I and revolutions at home, Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate in 1918, marking the end of the German Empire and his reign.