Prince Maximilian of Baden

Maximilian of Baden
Chancellor of Germany
In office 3 October – 9 November 1918
Monarch	William II
Preceded by	Georg, count of Hertling
Succeeded by	Friedrich Ebert
Minister president of Prussia
In office 3 October – 9 November 1918
Preceded by	Georg, count of Hertling
Succeeded by	Friedrich Ebert
Foreign minister of Prussia
In office 3 October – 9 November 1918
Preceded by	Georg, count of Hertling
Succeeded by	None
Personal details
Born	10 July 1867(1867-07-10) Baden-Baden
Died	6 November 1929(1929-11-06) (aged 62) Salem
Political party	None
Spouse(s)	Marie Louise, princess of Hanover

Maximilian of Baden (also known as Max von Baden; full name: Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm of Baden) (10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929) was a German prince and politician. He was heir to the Grand Duchy of Baden and in 1918 briefly served as chancellor of Germany, overseeing the transformation into a parliamentary system.

Life

As Chancellor, October 1918

Born in Baden-Baden, Maximilian was the son of Prince Wilhelm of Baden, third son of Leopold, grand duke of Baden, and Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg, a niece of Alexander II, Czar of Russia.

He was named after his maternal grandfather, Maximilian Jevgenevich de Beauharnais, duke of Leuchtenberg, and bore a resemblance to his cousin, Napoleon III, emperor of the French.

Following the death of his father in 1897, he was heir to the grand-ducal throne of his cousin Frederick II.

Chancellor

Noted as a liberal before and during the First World War, he was appointed Chancellor of Germany in October 1918 in order to negotiate an armistice with the Allies in the last days of the war. Although he had serious reservations about the way the German General Staff wanted to conduct negotiations, he accepted the charge, and appointed a government that for the first time included representatives of the Social Democrats, Friedrich Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann. To improve Germany's standing with the Allies, he pushed through amendments to the imperial constitution that replaced the authoritarian system of Otto von Bismarck with a parliamentary system.

The government's efforts to secure an armistice were interrupted by the outbreak of revolution in Germany in early November. Maximilian urged Emperor William II to abdicate. Despite similar advice by Paul von Hindenburg and Wilhelm Groener of the General Staff, the Emperor considered abdication only as Emperor, not as King of Prussia. On 9 November 1918, Maximilian went ahead and announced the abdication anyway, and then resigned in favor of Friedrich Ebert.

Later life

Prince Maximilian, Margrave of Baden, spent the rest of his life in retirement. In 1928, following the death of Grand Duke Frederick II, he became head of the House of Baden. He died at Salem the following year.

Children

Maximilian married Princess Marie Louise of Hanover and Cumberland, eldest daughter of Ernest Augustus II of Hanover and Thyra of Denmark. The couple had two children:

• Princess Marie Alexandra of Baden (1 August 1902 - 29 January 1944); married Prince Wolfgang of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, son 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. Through his marriage to Princess Theodora, Prince Berthold was the brother-in-law of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

References

• My Syllabus of Errors, by O.C. Hiss. Berlin: Potsdam Press, 1990.

External links

• A Page About Max von Baden (in German)

Prince Maximilian of Baden House of Zähringen Born: 10 July 1867 Died: 6 November 1929
Political offices
Preceded by Georg Graf von Hertling	Chancellor of Germany Prime Minister of Prussia 3 October – 9 November 1918	Succeeded by Friedrich Ebert
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Frederick II	— TITULAR — Grand Duke of Baden 8 August 1928 – 6 November 1929 Reason for succession failure: Grand Duchy abolished in 1918	Succeeded by Berthold