Chancellor of Germany, 1918
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden
(
Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm
; 10 July 1867 ? 6 November 1929),
[1]
also known as
Max von Baden
, was a
German prince
, general, and politician. He was heir presumptive to the throne of the
Grand Duchy of Baden
, and in October and November 1918 briefly served as the last
chancellor of the German Empire
and
minister-president of Prussia
. He sued for peace on Germany's behalf at the end of
World War I
based on U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson
's
Fourteen Points
and took steps towards transforming the government into a parliamentary system. As the
German Revolution of 1918?1919
spread, he handed over the office of chancellor to
SPD
Chairman
Friedrich Ebert
and unilaterally proclaimed the abdication of
Emperor Wilhelm II
. Both events took place on 9 November 1918, marking the beginning of the
Weimar Republic
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Baden-Baden
on 10 July 1867, Maximilian was a member of the
House of Baden
, the son of Prince
Wilhelm Max
(1829?1897), third son of Grand Duke
Leopold
(1790?1852) and
Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg
(1841?1914), a granddaughter of
Eugene de Beauharnais
. He was named after his maternal grandfather,
Maximilian de Beauharnais
, and bore a resemblance to his cousin, Emperor
Napoleon III
.
Max received a
humanistic education
at a
Gymnasium
secondary school and studied
law
and
cameralism
at the
Leipzig University
. Upon the order of
Queen Victoria
, Prince Max was brought to
Darmstadt
in the
Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine
as a suitor for Victoria's granddaughter,
Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt
. Alix was the daughter of Victoria's late daughter,
Princess Alice
, and
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
. Alix quickly rejected Prince Max, as she was in love with
Nicholas II
, the future Tsar of Russia.
[2]
Max von Baden was homosexual and even listed on an according list of the Berlin criminal police as a young officer, however in 1900 he decided for dynastic reasons to marry
Princess Marie Louise of Hanover and Cumberland
.
[3]
So did the future King
Gustaf V of Sweden
who married Max's cousin
Victoria of Baden
.
Early military and political career
[
edit
]
After finishing his studies, he trained as an officer of the
Prussian Army
. Following the death of his uncle Grand Duke
Frederick I of Baden
in 1907, he became heir to the grand-ducal throne of his cousin
Frederick II
, whose marriage remained childless.
[1]
He also became president of the
Erste Badische Kammer
(the upper house of the parliament of Baden).
[4]
In 1911, Max applied for a military discharge with the rank of a
Generalmajor
(
Major general
).
[4]
World War I
[
edit
]
Upon the outbreak of
World War I
in 1914, he served as a
general staff
officer at the
XIV Corps
of the
German Army
as the representative of the Grand Duke (XIV Corps included the troops from Baden).
[4]
Shortly afterwards, however, he retired from his position (
General der Kavallerie a la suite
) as he was dissatisfied with his role in the military and was suffering from ill health.
[4]
[5]
: 147
In October 1914, he became honorary president of the Baden section of the
German Red Cross
, thus beginning his work for
prisoners-of-war
inside and outside Germany in which he made use of his family connections to the Russian and Swedish courts as well as his connections to Switzerland.
[4]
In 1916, he became honorary president of the German-American support union for prisoners of war within the
YMCA
world alliance.
[4]
Due to his
liberal
stance he came into conflict with the policies of the
Oberste Heeresleitung
(OHL ? Supreme Army Command) supreme command under
Paul von Hindenburg
and
Erich Ludendorff
. He openly spoke against the resumption of the unrestricted
submarine warfare
in 1917, which provoked the
declaration of war
by the
United States Congress
on 6 April.
His activity in the interests of prisoners of war, as well as his tolerant, easy-going character gave him a reputation as an urbane personality who kept his distance from the extremes of nationalism and official war enthusiasm in evidence elsewhere at the time.
[6]
Since he was almost unknown to the public, it was mainly due to
Kurt Hahn
, who served from spring 1917 in the military office of the Foreign Ministry, that he was later considered for the position of chancellor. Hahn maintained close links with Secretary of State
Wilhelm Solf
and several
Reichstag
deputies like
Eduard David
(
SPD
) and
Conrad Haußmann
(
FVP
). David pushed for Max to be appointed Chancellor in July 1917, after the fall of Chancellor
Bethmann Hollweg
. Max then put himself forward for the position in early September 1918, pointing out his links to the social democrats, but Emperor
Wilhelm II
turned him down.
[6]
Chancellor
[
edit
]
Appointment
[
edit
]
After the
Oberste Heeresleitung
(OHL) told the government in late September 1918 that the German front was about to collapse and asked for immediate negotiation of an armistice, the cabinet of Chancellor
Georg von Hertling
resigned on 30 September 1918. Hertling, after consulting Vice-Chancellor
Friedrich von Payer
(FVP), suggested Prince Max of Baden as his successor to the emperor. However, it took the additional support of Haußmann,
Oberst
Johannes "Hans" von Haeften
[
de
]
and Ludendorff himself to have Wilhelm II appoint Max as
Chancellor of Germany
and
Minister President of Prussia
.
[6]
Max was to head a new government, based on the majority parties of the Reichstag (
SPD
,
Centre Party
and
FVP
). When Max arrived in Berlin on 1 October, he had no idea that he would be asked to approach the
Allies
about an armistice. Horrified, Max fought against the plan. Moreover, he also admitted openly that he was no politician, and that he did not think additional steps towards "parliamentarisation" and democratisation feasible, as long as the war continued. Consequently, he did not favour a liberal reform of the constitution.
[6]
However, Emperor Wilhelm II convinced him to take the post, and appointed him on 3 October 1918. The message asking for an armistice went out only on 4 October, not as originally planned on 1 October, hopefully to be accepted by US President
Woodrow Wilson
.
[7]
: 44
In office
[
edit
]
Although Max had serious reservations about the conditions under which the OHL was willing to conduct negotiations and tried to interpret Wilson's
Fourteen Points
in a way most favourable to the German position,
[6]
he accepted the charge. He appointed a government that for the first time included representatives of the largest party in the Reichstag, the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
, as state secretaries (equivalent to ministers in other monarchies):
Philipp Scheidemann
and
Gustav Bauer
. This was following up on an idea of Ludendorff's and former Foreign Secretary
Paul von Hintze
's (as the representative of the Hertling cabinet) who had agreed on 29 September that the request for an armistice must not come from the old regime, but from one based on the majority parties.
[7]
: 36?37
The official reason for appointing a government based on a parliamentary majority was to make it harder for the American president to refuse a peace offer. The need to convince Wilson was also the driving factor behind the move towards "parliamentarisation" that was to make the Chancellor and his government answerable to the Reichstag, as they had not been under the Empire so far. Ludendorff, however, was more interested in shifting the blame for the lost war to the politicians and to the Reichstag parties.
[7]
: 33?34
The Allies were cautious, distrusting Max as a member of a ruling family of Germany. These doubts were intensified by the publication of a personal letter Max had written to Prince Alexander zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst in early 1918, in which he had expressed criticism of "parliamentarisation" and his opposition to the
Friedensresolution
of the Reichstag of July 1917, when a majority had demanded a negotiated peace rather than a peace by victory.
[6]
President Wilson reacted with reserve to the German initiative and took his time to agree to the request for an armistice, sending three diplomatic notes between 8 October and 23 October 1918. When Ludendorff changed his mind about the armistice and suddenly advocated continued fighting, Max opposed him in a cabinet meeting on 17 October 1918.
[7]
: 50
On 24 October, Ludendorff issued an army order that called Wilson's third note "unacceptable" and called on the troops to fight on. On 25 October, Hindenburg and Ludendorff then ignored explicit instructions by the Chancellor and travelled to Berlin. Max asked for Ludendorff to be dismissed; Wilhelm II agreed. On 26 October, the emperor told Ludendorff that he had lost his trust. Ludendorff offered his resignation and Wilhelm II accepted.
[7]
: 51
While trying to move towards an armistice, Max, advised closely by Hahn (who also wrote his speeches), Haußmann and
Walter Simons
, worked with the representatives of the majority parties in his cabinet (Scheidemann and Bauer for the SPD,
Matthias Erzberger
,
Karl Trimborn
[
de
]
and
Adolf Grober
[
de
]
for the Centre Party, Payer and, after 14 October, Haußmann for the FVP). Although some of the initiatives were a result of the notes sent by Wilson, they were also in line with the parties' manifestos: making the Chancellor, his government and the
Prussian Minister of War
answerable to parliament (
Reichstag
and
Preußischer Landtag
), introducing a more democratic voting system in the place of the
Dreiklassenwahlrecht
(Three-class franchise) in Prussia, the replacement of the Governor of
Alsace-Lorraine
with the Mayor of
Straßburg
, appointing a local deputy from the Centre Party as Secretary of State for Alsace-Lorraine and some other adjustments in government personnel.
[6]
Pushed by the social democrats, the government passed a widespread amnesty, under which political prisoners like
Karl Liebknecht
were released. Under Max von Baden, the bureaucracy, military and political leadership of the old Empire began a cooperation with the leaders of the majority parties and with the individual states of the empire. This cooperation was to have a significant impact on later events during the revolution.
[6]
In late October, the
Imperial constitution was amended
to transform the empire into a parliamentary monarchy. The chancellor was now responsible to the Reichstag rather than the emperor. However, Wilson's third note seemed to imply that negotiations for an armistice would be dependent on the abdication of Wilhelm II. Max and his government now feared that a military collapse and a socialist revolution at home were becoming likelier with every day that went by. In fact, the government's efforts to secure an armistice were interrupted by the
Kiel mutiny
, which began with events at
Wilhelmshaven
on 30 October and the outbreak of
revolution in Germany
in early November. On 1 November, Max wrote to all the ruling Princes of Germany, asking them whether they would approve of an abdication by the Emperor.
[6]
On 6 November, the Chancellor sent Erzberger to conduct the negotiations with the Allies. Max, seriously ill with
Spanish influenza
, urged Wilhelm II to abdicate. The Emperor, who had fled from revolutionary Berlin to the
Spa
headquarters of the OHL in Belgium, despite similar advice by Hindenburg and Ludendorff's successor
Wilhelm Groener
of the OHL, was willing to consider abdication only as German Emperor, not as King of Prussia.
[8]
This was not possible under the imperial constitution as it stood. Article 11 defined the empire as a confederation of states under the permanent presidency of the king of Prussia. Thus, the imperial crown was tied to the Prussian crown, and Wilhelm could not renounce one crown without renouncing the other.
[5]
: 191
Revolution and resignation
[
edit
]
On 7 November, Max met with
Friedrich Ebert
, leader of the SPD, and discussed his plan to go to Spa and convince Wilhelm II to abdicate. He considered installing
Prince Eitel Friedrich
, Wilhelm's second son, as regent;
[7]
: 76
however, the outbreak of
the revolution in Berlin
prevented Max from implementing his plan. Ebert decided that to keep control of the socialist uprising the Emperor must abdicate quickly and a new government was required.
[7]
: 77
As the masses gathered in Berlin, at noon on 9 November 1918, Maximilian went ahead and unilaterally announced Wilhelm's abdication of both the imperial and Prussian crowns, as well as the renunciation of
Crown Prince Wilhelm
.
[7]
: 86
Shortly thereafter, Ebert appeared in the
Reichskanzlei
and demanded that the government be handed over to him and the SPD, as that was the only way to keep up law and order. In an unconstitutional move, Max resigned and appointed Ebert as his successor.
[7]
: 87
On the same day, Philipp Scheidemann spontaneously
proclaimed Germany a republic
in order to placate the masses and prevent a socialist revolution. When Maximilian later visited Ebert to say goodbye before leaving Berlin, Ebert ? who urgently wanted to keep up the old order, improving it through parliamentary rule, and head a legitimate, not a revolutionary government ? asked him to stay on as regent (
Reichsverweser
). Maximilian refused and, turning his back on politics for good, departed for Baden.
[7]
: 90
Although events had overtaken him during his tenure at the Reichskanzlei and he was not considered a strong Chancellor, Max is seen today as having played a vital role in enabling the transition from the old regime to a democratic government based on the majority parties and the Reichstag. This made the government of Ebert that emerged from the November revolution acceptable to some conservative forces in the bureaucracy and military, which was one of Ebert's strongest aims. They were thus willing to ally themselves with him against the more radical demands by the revolutionaries on the far-left.
[6]
Later life and death
[
edit
]
Maximilian spent the rest of his life in retirement. He rejected a mandate to the 1919
Weimar National Assembly
, offered to him by the
German Democratic
politician
Max Weber
. In 1920, together with Kurt Hahn, he established the
Schule Schloss Salem
boarding school, which was intended to help educate a new German intellectual elite.
[4]
Max also published a number of books, assisted by Hahn:
Volkerbund und Rechtsfriede
(1919),
Die moralische Offensive
(1921) and
Erinnerungen und Dokumente
(1927).
[6]
In 1928, following the death of
Grand Duke Frederick II
, who had been deposed in November 1918 when the German monarchies were abolished, Maximilian became head of the
House of Zahringen
, assuming the dynasty's historical title of
Margrave of Baden
. He died at
Salem
on 6 November the following year.
[4]
Children
[
edit
]
Maximilian was married to
Princess Marie Louise of Hanover and Cumberland
, eldest daughter of
Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover
, and
Thyra of Denmark
, on 10 July 1900 in Gmunden, Austria-Hungary. The couple had two children:
[1]
Titles, styles and honours
[
edit
]
Titles and styles
[
edit
]
- 10 July 1867 ? 8 August 1928:
His Grand Ducal Highness
Prince Maximilian of Baden
[1]
- 9 August 1928 ? 6 November 1929:
His Royal Highness
The Margrave of Baden
[1]
Honours
[
edit
]
- Domestic
[9]
[10]
- Foreign
[9]
[10]
Ancestry
[
edit
]
Ancestors of Prince Maximilian of Baden
|
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|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Almanach de Gotha
.
Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)
.
Justus Perthes
, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French).
- ^
Massie, R,
Nicholas and Alexandra
, p.49
- ^
Lothar Machtan:
Prinz Max von Baden. Der letzte Kanzler des Kaisers.
Berlin 2013,
ISBN
978-3-518-42407-0
, p. 243f and 253f.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Biografie Prinz Max von Baden (German)"
. Deutsches Historisches Museum. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014
. Retrieved
22 July
2013
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
a
b
Watt, Richard M. (2003).
The kings depart : the tragedy of Germany : Versailles and the German revolution
. London: Phoenix.
ISBN
1-84212-658-X
.
OCLC
59368284
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
"Biografie Prinz Max von Baden (German)"
. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
. Retrieved
22 July
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Haffner, Sebastian (2002).
Die deutsche Revolution 1918/19 (German)
. Kindler.
ISBN
3-463-40423-0
.
- ^
Wilhelm II (1922).
The Kaiser's Memoirs
. Translated by Thomas R. Ybarra. Harper & Brothers Publishers. pp.
285
-91.
- ^
a
b
Rangliste der Koniglich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Koniglich Wurttembergischen) Armeekorps fur 1914.
Hrsg.:
Kriegsministerium
.
Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn
. Berlin 1914. S. 355.
- ^
a
b
Lothar Machtan:
Prinz Max von Baden: Der letzte Kanzler des Kaisers.
Suhrkamp Verlag. Berlin 2013.
ISBN
978-3-518-42407-0
. p. 246.
- ^
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden
(1896), "Großherzogliche Orden"
p. 61
- ^
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch ...
(1896), "Großherzogliche Orden"
p. 76
- ^
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch fur des Herzogtum Anhalt
(1894), "Herzoglicher Haus-Orden Albrecht des Baren" p. 17
- ^
Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Konigreich Bayern
(1906), "Konigliche Orden" p. 9
- ^
"Ludewigs-orden",
Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste
(in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1914, p. 5 – via hathitrust.org
- ^
Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Konigreichs Wurttemberg 1907.
p. 30.
- ^
"Rother Adler-orden"
,
Koniglich Preussische Ordensliste
(in German), Berlin, 1895, p.
8
– via hathitrust.org
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
"Germany".
The Times
. No. 36981. London. 19 January 1903. p. 5.
- ^
"A Szent Istvan Rend tagjai"
Archived
22 December 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Liste des Membres de l'Ordre de Leopold",
Almanach Royale Belgique
(in French), Bruxelles, 1907, p. 86 – via hathitrust.org
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Jørgen Pedersen (2009).
Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559?2009
(in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 463.
ISBN
978-87-7674-434-2
.
- ^
Norges Statskalender
(in Norwegian). 1890. pp. 595?596
. Retrieved
2018-01-06
– via runeberg.org.
- ^
Sveriges Statskalender
(in Swedish). 1925. p. 813
. Retrieved
2018-01-06
– via runeberg.org.
External links
[
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]
|
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The generations indicate descent from
Charles Frederick
, the first Grand Duke of a united Baden. Only princes notable enough for standalone articles are included. Later generations do not legally hold a title due to the abolition of the monarchy in 1918.
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4th generation
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5th generation
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6th generation
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*Titular prince of Baden due to the 1918 German Revolution
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