Prince Maximilian of Baden

Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),

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

Upon the outbreak of

Appointment

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

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-Schillingsfürst 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

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

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

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: Völkerbund und Rechtsfriede (1919), Die moralische Offensive (1921) and Erinnerungen und Dokumente (1927).^[6]

In 1928, following the death of

• Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse-Kassel, designated King of Finland, and Princess Margaret of Prussia; no issue. Marie Alexandra was killed in a bombing of Frankfurt by the Allies of World War II
  .
• Prince Berthold of Baden (24 February 1906 – 27 October 1963); later Margrave of Baden; married Princess Theodora, daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Theodora was the sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

• 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

Domestic^[9][10]

Foreign^[9][10]

•  
  Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1900^[19]
•  Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (military), 2 October 1906^[20]
•  
  Grand Cross of St. Alexander
•  Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 10 July 1900^[21]
•  Montenegro: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I
•  Russia: Knight of St. Andrew
• Sweden-Norway
  :
  • Grand Cross of St. Olav, 30 August 1887^[22]
  • Knight of the Seraphim, 24 April 1902^[23]

Ancestry

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prinz Maximilian von Baden.

• Newspaper clippings about Prince Maximilian of Baden in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Prince Maximilian of Baden House of Zähringen Born: 10 July 1867 Died: 6 November 1929
Political offices
Preceded by Georg Graf von Hertling	Prime Minister of Prussia 3 October – 9 November 1918	Succeeded by Friedrich Ebert
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Frederick II	— TITULAR — Grand Duchy abolished in 1918	Succeeded by Berthold