An abdication for Wilhelm

all images: Marlene A. Eilers Koenig Collection

It was on October 4, 1918, that the German Chancellor,  Prince Max of Baden succumbed to the pressure from the Supreme Army Command and asked American President Woodrow Wilson to "arrange an armistice."  Prince Max also accepted Wilson's "Fourteen Points" plan as the "basis for the forthcoming negotiations.   Kaiser Wilhelm II's biographer John Röhl described Max, in his first act as chancellor, as "hapless."

Max was ordered to capitulate and was told by Wilhelm II: "The Supreme Command consider an armistice necessary and you have not been brought here to make things difficult for the Supreme Command."



But Americans were not planning to negotiate with Wilhelm II.  By  October 23, it became clear that Wilhelm's abdication "rose to the very forefront of the domestic agenda."


Revolution was fomenting throughout Germany.  Wilhelm II was furious with President Wilson.  "That brute is demanding my removal and that of all the other monarchs in Germany. He has now thrown aside the mask and will get what is coming to him."


Wilhelm was deluded into thinking that the German people "were staunchly monarchist."

It was on October 29 that the Emperor, who had been in Berlin since the beginning of the month,  left the capital to return to Spa, Belgium, where the Supreme Headquarters was located.  Prince Max told Wilhelm that leaving for Spa would not be in his best interests or in Germany's.


Wilhelm II would never return to Germany.   His decision to leave Berlin proved to be a disastrous decision, putting him further out of touch "with the rapidly changing developments in the capital."


Max was now placed in a difficult position, knowing that Wilhelm's abdication could no longer be avoided.   The Prussian Minister of the Interior was sent to Spa to urge Wilhelm to abdicate.

The Emperor refused.  "I wouldn't dream of abdicating.  The King of Prussia must not leave Germany in the lurch, least of all at a time like this; I too have sworn my oath and will keep it.  I wouldn't dream of quitting my throne on account of a few hundred Jews or 1,000 workers -- you go and tell that to your masters in Berlin."

Wilhelm remained convinced that he had the solid support of the German army.  "My duty as Supreme Lord forbids me to abandon the army."


The revolution spread like wildfire throughout Germany, leading to the end of the German monarchies.  The King of Bavaria's throne collapsed on the night of November 7-8, followed the next day by most of the other monarchs.


This was followed by demonstrations and a general strike.  The Social Democrats, the majority party in the government, threatened to pull out if Wilhelm II did not abdicate.   Two of his aides come up with idea that he could abdicate as Emperor but remain as King of Prussia.

Wilhelm II "clutched at this straw," wanting to hold onto his Prussian throne, although others knew that could not happen.  It was not what Prince Max wanted to hear as he was making plans to announce the abdication in Berlin.

Wilhelm remained convinced that he had the solid support of the German army.  "My duty as Supreme Lord forbids me to abandon the army."

The revolution spread like wildfire throughout Germany, leading to the end of the German monarchies.  The King of Bavaria's throne collapsed on the night of November 7-8, followed the next day by most of the other monarchs.

This was followed by demonstrations and a general strike.  The Social Democrats, the majority party in the government, threatened to pull out if Wilhelm II did not abdicate.   Two of his aides come up with idea that he could abdicate as Emperor but remain as King of Prussia.

Wilhelm II "clutched at this straw," wanting to hold onto his Prussian throne, although others knew that could not happen.  It was not what Prince Max wanted to hear as he was making plans to announce the abdication in Berlin.

Röhl stated that Prince Max "graphically described" the events in his memoir. "The half hour went by without any sign of the promised wording from Spa, At any moment the Kaiser's dethronement could be proclaimed on the street.  We had no way of stopping that from happening. The dethronement could only be pre-empted by declaring the abdication. If we were to achieve even the slightest advantage for the Kaiser and his House, the abdication had to be made public immediately and could not be announced as an appendage to the dethronement. We tried over and over again to reach the Kaiser. One telephone ... was off the hook, the other one engaged.  I was faced with the dilemma of either waiting or doing nothing, or of acting on my own initiative.  I knew that I was not formally entitled to publish [the abdication] without the Kaiser's express consent. But I held it to my duty to proclaim the Kaiser's decision, which had been reported to me as firm, while there was still some point in doing so."

Thus, Prince Max of Baden, the last the Imperial Chancellor, authorized the Government's news agency to release a statement: "The Kaiser and the King has decided to give up the throne."

Wilhelm was still "dithering" in Spa when the announcement was made.  A few hours later, the German Republic was proclaimed.

Now came the decision on how to protect the former monarch, as "revolutionary troops" marched toward Spa.  His generals waited until the last minute to "inform the Supreme War Lord " that he no longer had the support of the army.

It was over.  The only action now available was to get Wilhelm "secretly across the border in the Netherlands."

One General said of Wilhelm II after he realized that the gig was up, "He said nothing, just looked --looked from one to the other, with an expression first of amazement, then piteous appeal, and then -- just a curious wandering vagueness. He said nothing, and we took him -- just like he were a little child -- and sent him to Holland."