Germany
Prince Max of Baden
1867–1929 Chancellor, 3 October – 9 November 1918
Prince Max, a cousin of the Grand Duke of Baden and a liberal known for his humane conduct of prisoner-of-war affairs, became chancellor at the moment when the army was demanding an armistice. He disliked the task, since he thought the request should come after a defensive victory had improved Germany's position, but he took it on. He negotiated the exchange of notes with Wilson, forced through the reform that made the government answerable to the Reichstag, and on 9 November announced the Kaiser's abdication himself, before the Kaiser had agreed. He then handed power to Friedrich Ebert and retired. In later years he wrote a memoir defending his government's conduct.