Triggered by the sailors' revolt in Kiel in the final phase of the First World War, the revolutionary movement spread throughout Germany and reached the capital Berlin on November 9, 1918. There, at noon, the Chancellor of the Deutsches Reich, Max von Baden, announced unauthaurized the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II. At the same time, he transferred his office to Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the majority Social Democrats. Ebert promised to have a National Assembly elected, which would decide on the future constitution of the Deutsches Reich and the form of government (monarchy or republic). How events developed at the level of the Reich and in some federal states can be seen from our sources in the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg and the Bundesarchiv.
11/22/1918 The deed of renunciation of the throne by Grand Duke Friedrich II. of Baden
The following happened in Baden: The proclamation of Grand Duke Friedrich II of Baden on November 9, 1918, in which the monarch promised a constitutional reform, was outdated the very next day. That same night a "provisional people's government" was formed, which in turn announced elections to a constituent National Assembly. The Grand Duke, who fled in the meantime from his residence, accepted this only reluctantly. On November 13, after a night-long negotiation with the provisional government, he was persuaded to renounce the government temporarily. But this did not go far enough for the Mannheim Workers' and Soldiers' Council and the parties: they wanted the republic. On November 22, 1918, Frederick II declared the final renunciation of the throne: "I do not want to be an obstacle to the reorganization of the constitutional relations of the Baden state. [...] [I] release the officials, soldiers, and citizens from their oath of allegiance and renounce the throne. God save my dear land of Baden!"
