| Prince Maximilian of Baden | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Max von Baden in 1914 | |||||
| Head of the House of Baden | |||||
| Tenure | 9 August 1928 – 6 November 1929 | ||||
| Predecessor | Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden | ||||
| Successor | Berthold, Margrave of Baden | ||||
| Born | (1867-07-10)10 July 1867 Baden-Baden,Grand Duchy of Baden | ||||
| Died | 6 November 1929(1929-11-06) (aged 62) Salem,Weimar Republic | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Princess Marie Alexandra of Baden Berthold, Margrave of Baden | ||||
| |||||
| House | Baden | ||||
| Father | Prince Wilhelm of Baden | ||||
| Mother | Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg | ||||
| Chancellor of the German Empire | |||||
| In office 3 October 1918 – 9 November 1918 | |||||
| Monarch | Wilhelm II | ||||
| Preceded by | Georg von Hertling | ||||
| Succeeded by | Friedrich Ebert | ||||
| Minister President of Prussia | |||||
| In office 3 October 1918 – 9 November 1918 | |||||
| Monarch | Wilhelm II | ||||
| Preceded by | Georg von Hertling | ||||
| Succeeded by | Friedrich Ebert | ||||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs of Prussia | |||||
| In office 3 October 1918 – 9 November 1918 | |||||
| Monarch | Wilhelm II | ||||
| Preceded by | Georg von Hertling | ||||
| Succeeded by | Office abolished | ||||
| Personal details | |||||
| Political party | Independent | ||||
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),[1] also known asMax von Baden, was aGerman prince, general, and politician. He was heir presumptive to the throne of theGrand Duchy of Baden, and in October and November 1918 briefly served as the lastchancellor of the German Empire andminister-president of Prussia. He sued for peace on Germany's behalf at the end ofWorld War I based on U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson'sFourteen Points and took steps towards transforming the government into a parliamentary system. As theGerman Revolution of 1918–1919 spread, he handed over the office of chancellor toSPD ChairmanFriedrich Ebert and unilaterally proclaimed the abdication ofEmperor Wilhelm II. Both events took place on 9 November 1918, marking the beginning of theWeimar Republic.
Born inBaden-Baden on 10 July 1867, Maximilian was a member of theHouse of Baden, the son of PrinceWilhelm Max (1829–1897), third son of Grand DukeLeopold (1790–1852) andPrincess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg (1841–1914), a granddaughter ofEugène de Beauharnais. He was named after his maternal grandfather,Maximilian de Beauharnais, and bore a resemblance to his cousin, EmperorNapoleon III.
Max received ahumanistic education at aGymnasium secondary school and studiedlaw andcameralism at theLeipzig University. Upon the order ofQueen Victoria, Prince Max was brought toDarmstadt in theGrand 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, andLouis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. Alix quickly rejected Prince Max, as she was in love withNicholas 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 marryPrincess Marie Louise of Hanover and Cumberland.[3] So did the future KingGustaf V of Sweden who married Max's cousinVictoria of Baden.
After finishing his studies, he trained as an officer of thePrussian Army. Following the death of his uncle Grand DukeFrederick I of Baden in 1907, he became heir to the grand-ducal throne of his cousinFrederick II, whose marriage remained childless.[1] He also became president of theErste Badische Kammer (the upper house of the parliament of Baden).[4] In 1911, Max applied for a military discharge with the rank of aGeneralmajor (Major general).[4]
Upon the outbreak ofWorld War I in 1914, he served as ageneral staff officer at theXIV Corps of theGerman 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 à 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 theGerman Red Cross, thus beginning his work forprisoners-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 theYMCA world alliance.[4]
Due to hisliberal stance he came into conflict with the policies of theOberste Heeresleitung (OHL – Supreme Army Command) supreme command underPaul von Hindenburg andErich Ludendorff. He openly spoke against the resumption of the unrestrictedsubmarine warfare in 1917, which provoked thedeclaration of war by theUnited 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 toKurt 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 StateWilhelm Solf and severalReichstag deputies likeEduard David (SPD) andConrad Haußmann (FVP). David pushed for Max to be appointed Chancellor in July 1917, after the fall of ChancellorBethmann Hollweg. Max then put himself forward for the position in early September 1918, pointing out his links to the social democrats, but EmperorWilhelm II turned him down.[6]
After theOberste 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 ChancellorGeorg von Hertling resigned on 30 September 1918. Hertling, after consulting Vice-ChancellorFriedrich von Payer (FVP), suggested Prince Max of Baden as his successor to the emperor. However, it took the additional support of Haußmann,OberstJohannes "Hans" von Haeften [de] and Ludendorff himself to have Wilhelm II appoint Max asImperial Chancellor of Germany andMinister President of Prussia.[6]
Max was to head a new government, based on the majority parties of the Reichstag (SPD,Centre Party andFVP). When Max arrived in Berlin on 1 October, he had no idea that he would be asked to approach theAllies 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 PresidentWoodrow Wilson.[7]: 44
Although Max had serious reservations about the conditions under which the OHL was willing to conduct negotiations and tried to interpret Wilson'sFourteen 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, theSocial Democratic Party of Germany, as state secretaries (equivalent to ministers in other monarchies):Philipp Scheidemann andGustav Bauer. This was following up on an idea of Ludendorff's and former Foreign SecretaryPaul 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-Schillingsfürst in early 1918, in which he had expressed criticism of "parliamentarisation" and his opposition to theFriedensresolution 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 andWalter Simons, worked with the representatives of the majority parties in his cabinet (Scheidemann and Bauer for the SPD,Matthias Erzberger,Karl Trimborn [de] andAdolf Gröber 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 thePrussian Minister of War answerable to parliament (Reichstag andPreußischer Landtag), introducing a more democratic voting system in the place of theDreiklassenwahlrecht (Three-class franchise) in Prussia, the replacement of the Governor ofAlsace-Lorraine with the Mayor ofStraßburg, 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 likeKarl 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, theImperial 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 theKiel mutiny, which began with events atWilhelmshaven on 30 October and the outbreak ofrevolution 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 withSpanish influenza, urged Wilhelm II to abdicate. The Emperor, who had fled from revolutionary Berlin to theSpa headquarters of the OHL in Belgium, despite similar advice by Hindenburg and Ludendorff's successorWilhelm 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
On 7 November, Max met withFriedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD, and discussed his plan to go to Spa and convince Wilhelm II to abdicate. He considered installingPrince Eitel Friedrich, Wilhelm's second son, as regent;[7]: 76 however, the outbreak ofthe 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 ofCrown Prince Wilhelm.[7]: 86
Shortly thereafter, Ebert appeared in theReichskanzlei 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 spontaneouslyproclaimed 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]
Maximilian spent the rest of his life in retirement. He rejected a mandate to the 1919Weimar National Assembly, offered to him by theGerman Democratic politicianMax Weber. In 1920, together with Kurt Hahn, he established theSchule 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:Völkerbund und Rechtsfriede (1919),Die moralische Offensive (1921) andErinnerungen und Dokumente (1927).[6]
In 1928, following the death ofGrand Duke Frederick II, who had been deposed in November 1918 when the German monarchies were abolished, Maximilian became head of theHouse of Zähringen, assuming the dynasty's historical title ofMargrave of Baden. He died atSalem on 6 November the following year.[4]
Maximilian was married toPrincess Marie Louise of Hanover and Cumberland, eldest daughter ofErnest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, andPrincess Thyra of Denmark, on 10 July 1900 in Gmunden, Austria-Hungary. The couple had two children:[1]
Baden:
Anhalt:Grand Cross of Albert the Bear,1889[13]
Bavaria:Knight of St. Hubert,1899[14]
Hanoverian Royal Family:Knight of St. George
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order
Hesse and by Rhine: Grand Cross of theLudwig Order,6 May 1892[15]
Mecklenburg:Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:Grand Cross of the White Falcon
Saxony:Knight of the Rue Crown
Württemberg:Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown,1885[16]
Prussia:
Hohenzollern: Cross of Honour of thePrincely House Order of Hohenzollern, 1st Class
Austria-Hungary:Grand Cross of St. Stephen,1900[19]
Belgium: Grand Cordon of theOrder of Leopold (military),2 October 1906[20]
Bulgaria:Grand Cross of St. Alexander
Denmark:Knight of the Elephant,10 July 1900[21]
Montenegro: Grand Cross of theOrder of Prince Danilo I
Russia:Knight of St. Andrew
Sweden–Norway:
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Prince Maximilian of Baden Born: 10 July 1867 Died: 6 November 1929 | ||
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chancellor of the German Empire 3 October – 9 November 1918 | Succeeded by |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Grand Duke of Baden 8 August 1928 – 6 November 1929 Reason for succession failure: Grand Duchy abolished in 1918 | Succeeded by |
Heads of theHouse of Baden since1918 | ||
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See alsoList of monarchs of Baden | ||
North German Confederation.svg) Bundeskanzler (1867–1871) | |
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| German Empire Reichskanzler (1871–1918) | |
Weimar Republic.svg) Reichskanzler (1919–1933) |
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Nazi Germany.svg) .svg) Reichskanzler (1933–1945) |
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Federal Republic Bundeskanzler (1949–present) | |
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