Abdication of the German Monarchies. Part I

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Armistice, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, German Emperor, German Empire, German Revolution, Hesse and By Rhine, King of Prussia, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Oldenburg, Prince Max of Baden, Wilhelm II, Wilhelm II of Württemberg, World War I

The Armistice ending World War I was agreed upon at 5:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, to come into effect at 11:00 a.m. Paris time (noon German time), for which reason the occasion is sometimes referred to as “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”.

The German Empire consisted of 26 states, each with their own nobility, four constituent kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of Empire’s population and territory, and Prussian dominance had also been constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor (German: Kaiser)

In this post I will give a brief summary of the abdications of the German monarchs at the end of the war. Today I will mention the four kingdoms and 6 grand duchess that made up the German Empire. On November 28th, the anniversary of the abolition of the monarchy, I will summarize the abdication of the 5 Duchies and 7 Principalities that constituted the empire.

Kingdoms

German Emperor and King of Prussia

As the war was nearing its end Wilhelm II’s hope of retaining at least one of his crowns,, that of the Kingdom of Prussia, was revealed as unrealistic when, in the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, Chancellor Prince Max of Baden announced Wilhelm’s abdication of both titles on November 9, 1918.

Wilhelm consented to the abdication only after Ludendorff’s replacement, General Wilhelm Groener, had informed him that the officers and men of the army would march back in good order under Hindenburg’s command, but would certainly not fight for Wilhelm’s throne. The monarchy’s last and strongest support had been broken, and finally even Hindenburg, himself a lifelong monarchist, was obliged, after polling his generals, to advise the Emperor to give up the crown. On November 10, Wilhelm crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands.

Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Kingdom of Bavaria

On November 2, 1918, an extensive constitutional reform was established by an agreement between the royal government and all parliamentary groups, which, among other things, envisaged the introduction of proportional representation. Ludwig III, approved on the same day the transformation of the constitutional into a parliamentary monarchy. On November 7, 1918, Ludwig III fled from the Residenz Palace in Munich with his family and took up residence in Schloss Anif, near Salzburg, for what he hoped would be a temporary stay. He was the first of the monarchs in the German Empire to be deposed. The next day, the People’s State of Bavaria was proclaimed. This effectively dethroned the Wittelsbachs and ended the family’s 738-year rule over Bavaria.

Kingdom of Württemberg

King Wilhelm II of Württemberg finally abdicated on November 30, 1918, ending over 800 years of Württemberg rule. He died in 1921 at Bebenhausen. King Wilhelm II was also the last German ruler to abdicate in the wake of the November Revolution of 1918.

Kingdom of Saxony

Friedrich August III was a member of the House of Wettin, and the last King of Saxony (1904–1918). Though well-loved by his subjects, he voluntarily abdicated as king on November 13, 1918, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. He died in Sibyllenort (now Szczodre) in Lower Silesia and was buried in Dresden.

When the German Republic was proclaimed in 1918, he was asked by telephone whether he would abdicate willingly. He said: “Oh, well, I suppose I’d better.”

Upon abdicating, he is supposed to have said “Nu da machd doch eiern Drägg alleene!” (Saxon for “Well then take care of this crap yourselves!”), but there is no documentation of this.

When cheered by a crowd in a railroad station several years after his abdication, he stuck his head out of the train’s window and shouted “Ihr seid mer ja scheene Demogradn!” (Saxon for “You’re a fine lot of republicans, I’ll say!”).

Grand Duchies

Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine

During World War I, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine served as an officer at German Emperor Wilhelm II’s headquarters. In February, 1917, the February Revolution in Russia forced his brother-in-law, Emperor Nicholas II, to abdicate. Sixteen months later, in July 1918, his two sisters in Russia, Elizabeth, the widow of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and Alexandra, the wife of Nicholas II, were murdered by the Bolsheviks, Alexandra dying alongside her husband and children. At the end of the war, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig lost his throne during the revolution of 1918, after refusing to abdicate.

Wilhelm II, King of Württemberg

Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Following the 1918 suicide of Grand Duke Adolph Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin took up the regency of Strelitz. This happened because the heir presumptive Duke Charles Michael was serving in the Russian Army at the time and had indicated that he wished to renounce his succession rights. Friedrich Franz IV abdicated the grand ducal throne on November 14, 1918 following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I; the Strelitz regency ended at the same time.

Grand Duchy of Baden

Grand Duke Friedrich II of Baden was the last sovereign Grand Duke of Baden, reigning from 1907 until the abolition of the German monarchies in 1918. He abdicated on November 22, 1918, amidst the tumults of the German Revolution of 1918–19 which resulted in the abolition of the Grand Duchy.

Following the death of his uncle Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden in 1907, Margrave Maximilian (Max of Baden) became heir to the grand-ducal throne of his cousin Friedrich II, whose marriage remained childless.

in October and November 1918 Maximilian briefly served as the last Chancellor of the German Empire and Minister-President of Prussia. He sued for peace on Germany’s behalf at the end of World War I based on U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, which included immediately transforming the government into a parliamentary system, by handing over the office of chancellor to SPD Chairman Friedrich Ebert and unilaterally proclaiming the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II. Both events took place on November 9, 1918, the beginning of the Weimar Republic.

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Wiemar-Eisenach

In 1901 Charles Alexander was succeeded by his grandson Wilhelm Ernst. In 1903, the Grand Duchy officially changed its name to Grand Duchy of Saxony. However, many people continued to call it Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, to avoid confusion with the neighbouring Kingdom of Saxony.

Wilhelm Ernst abdicated the throne on November 9, 1918, thereby ending the monarchy in the state. It continued as the Free State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, until 1920, when it merged with most of its neighbours to form Thuringia, with Weimar as the state capital.

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg

Friedrich August III began his reign on June 13, 1900, when his father, Grand Duke Peter II, died. His reign came to an end on November 11, 1918, shortly before the German monarchy was formally abolished on November 28, 1918.

Friedrich August and his family took up residence at Rastede Castle, where he took up farming and local industrial interests. A year after his abdication, he asked the Oldenburg Diet for a yearly allowance of 150,000 marks, stating that his financial condition was “extremely precarious.”

July 2, 1849: Birth of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este.

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Archduchess Maria-Theresa of Austria-Este, Duke of Modena., House of Habsburg, House of Wittelsbach, Jacobite Succession, James Francis Stuart, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Luitpold of Bavaria, Queen of England, Regent of Bavaria

Archduchess Maria-Theresa of Austria-Este (Maria Theresa Henriette Dorothee; July 2, 1849 – February 3, 1919) was the last Queen of Bavaria. She was the daughter and only child of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife, Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, the daughter of Palatine Joseph of Hungary (1776–1847) and his third wife Maria Dorothea of Württemberg (1797–1855).

Archduchess Maria-Theresa of Austria-Este

Her father Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este was the second son of Francesco IV Duke of Modena and his niece-consort Maria-Beatrice of Savoy. His paternal grandmother had been heiress to the Duchy of Modena, because her father Ercole III d’Este had no sons.

On February 20, 1868 she married Prince Ludwig of Bavaria eldest son of Bavaria’s Prince Regent Luitpold, in the Augustinerkirche in Vienna. Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried; 1845-1921) was the last king of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918. He served as regent and de facto head of state from 1912 to 1913, ruling for his cousin, Otto.

He was the son of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and of his wife, Archduchess Augusta of Austria (daughter of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany). He was a descendant of both Louis XIV of France and William the Conqueror. Hailing from Florence, Augusta always spoke in Italian to her four children. Ludwig was named after his grandfather, King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

The couple had fallen in love during a visit of Ludwig at Pfingsten in Austria to attend the burial of Archduchess Mathilda and their decision to marry initially angered the Emperor Franz-Joseph, who had wished for her to marry Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The chief witness was Count Antonius Schaffgotsch.

Leopold III, King of Bavaria

The family mostly lived on their farms at Leutstetten south of Munich, where Maria-Theresa cultivated rose gardens.
Maria-Theresa became queen consort of Bavaria in 1913 when her husband the reigning Prince Regent proclaimed himself king as King Ludwig III in place of his living but insane cousin King Otto.

She became the first Catholic Queen in Bavaria since Bavaria was made a kingdom 1806. She spoke German, Hungarian, Czech, French, and Italian.

In 1914, she hosted festivities during the royal Bavarian jubilee. She appeared with her husband when war was announced. During World War I, she visited wounded soldiers and encouraged the women of Bavaria to support the troops by providing food and clothes, including with the donations references to legendary heroines.

On November 7, 1918 Ludwig III was forced to abdicate the Bavarian throne, and Maria-Theresa fled Munich with her family to Wildenwart Castle near Frasdorf, in order to escape from the Bolsheviks. The health of the Queen soon declined and she died there on February 3, 1919, being buried at the local chapel. On November 5, 1921 her remains were transferred to the cathedral of Munich along with those of her husband, who died less than a month before.

The Jacobite succession

Upon the extinction of the Royal Stuart line with the death of Henry, Cardinal of York, and applying male-preference primogeniture unaltered by the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession would have passed to the individuals named in the table below. However, unlike the Stuart pretenders, none of them has claimed the British throne (or the thrones of England, Scotland or Ireland) or incorporated the arms of these countries in their coats-of-arms. Nevertheless, since the 19th century, there have been small groups advocating the restoration of the Jacobite succession to the throne.

As a granddaughter of Maria Beatrice of Savoy who was known as Queen Mary III-II to the Jacobite supporters and niece of Francesco V, Duke of Modena (King Francis I. to the Jacobites) she was recognised by the Jacobites as “Princess of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland”.

Since Maria-Theresa was the niece and heir of the childless Francesco V, Duke of Modena who had been, at the time of his death, the Jacobite heir-general to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland; as such, she became the heir after his death in 1875. Neither she, nor any of her Jacobite forebears since 1807, ever seriously pursued this claim. To Jacobites Maria-Theresa was Queen Mary IV-III England, Scotland, France, and Ireland.

Maria-Theresa was the first Jacobite heir-general since James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766) who could (but for her religion) also have claimed to be a natural-born citizen of Great Britain. While she was not born on British soil, as James had been, Maria-Theresa was a descendant of the Electress Sophia of Hanover.

Under the terms of the Sophia Naturalization Act 1705, the Electress Sophia and all “issue of her body” were declared to be natural-born British subjects, regardless of the actual place of their birth, unless they were Roman Catholics. The 1705 Act was not repealed until 1948 and, consequently, Maria-Theresa would have been covered by its provisions.

Following her death in 1919, Maria-Theresa’s son Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria inherited the Jacobite claim. Like his mother, he and his descendants have not pursued a claim to the British thrones.

The tragic death of Archduchess Mathilde of Austria (1849-1867)

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Archduchess Maria Theresia, Archduchess Mathilde of Austria, Archduchess of Austria, Archduke Albert of Austria, Austria, Austrian Empire, Duke of Teschen, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Princess Hildegard of Bavaria, Umberto I of Italy

From the Emperor’s desk: in my post about King Umberto I of Italy I mentioned the short life and tragic death of Archduchess Mathilde of Austria. Here is her biography.

Archduchess Mathilde of Austria (Mathilde Marie Adelgunde Alexandra; January 25, 1849 – June 6, 1867) was an Austrian noblewoman. She was the second daughter of Archduke Albrecht of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Princess Hildegard of Bavaria.

Archduchess Mathilde of Austria

Family

Her father, Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (1817 – 1895) a grandson of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, was the eldest son of Archduke Charles of Austria, (who defeated French Emperor Napoleon I at Aspern, 1809), and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. Archduke Albrecht was the nephew of the Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, and first cousin to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria’s father, Archduke Franz Charles of Austria, and he also served under Emperor Franz Joseph.

Archduke Albrecht of Austria, Duke of Teschen

Her mother, Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (1825–1864) was the seventh child and fourth daughter of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. On May 1, 1844 in Munich, Hildegard married Archduke Albert of Austria, Duke of Teschen. She thereafter became known as Archduchess Hildegard. She and her husband had 3 children.

Princess Hildegard of Bavaria

Archduchess Mathilde‘s forenames were derived from her mother’s sisters, Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria, Grand Duchess of Hesse (1813–1862), Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria Duchess of Modena (1823–1914) and Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (1826–1875), with whom Hildegard had a very close relationship.

Archduchess Mathilde had two elder siblings: Archduchess Maria Theresia (1845–1927), who married Duke Philipp of Württemberg (1838–1917) in 1865 and her only brother Archduke Charles Albrecht died of smallpox at the age of 18 months.

Archduchess Mathilde (right) and her sister Archduchess Maria Theresia (left)

Life

In 1847 after the death of his father, Archduke Albrecht inherited the Weilburg Palace in Baden bei Wien, that Archduke Charles had built for his wife Princess Henrietta of Weilburg (1797–1829). Albrecht and his family usually spent summers there, Archduchess Hildegard being especially fond of its renowned public baths. Because of his charity, he was popularly named Engelsherz (Angel’s Heart). During the winter, the family lived in Vienna. Archduchess Mathilde‘s family was very close to the Austrian imperial family, and Empress Elisabeth of Austria greatly enjoyed the company of her cousin Archduchess Hildegard.

Among Mathilde’s circle of friends was the Archduchess Marie Therese (1849–1919), later Queen of Bavaria, (wife of King Ludwig III of Bavaria) who was of the same age and also the stepdaughter of Karl Ferdinand (1818–1874), Mathilde’s uncle.

A distant cousin, Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria (1847–1915), of the Italian Habsburg line, fell in love with Mathilde and sought to marry her, but they never became engaged. Mathilde was intended to become Queen of Italy as the wife of Umberto of Savoy (1844–1900) in order to improve the already tense relations between Austria-Hungary and Italy.

During her stay in Munich for the funeral of her brother King Maximilian II (1811–1864) in March 1864, Mathilde’s mother became ill with a lung inflammation and pleurisy, and died; Mathilde was then 15 years old.

Death

Mathilde died at the age of 18 in Schloss Hetzendorf, the Viennese home of Empress Elisabeth, on June 6, 1867. The archduchess had put on a gauze dress to go to the theatre. Before leaving for the theatre, she wanted to smoke a cigarette but shortly thereafter her father, who had forbidden smoking, approached her, and she hid the cigarette behind her dress, immediately setting light to its very flammable material and giving her second and third-degree burns. Her death was witnessed by her whole family.

Archduchess Mathilde was buried in the imperial vault in the Imperial Crypt beside her mother and her brother Charles Albrecht.

In doing research on Archduchess Mathilde I learned she was a great-great granddaughter of King Carlos III of Spain (1734-1759) and through him a descendant King Louis XIV of France and Navarre (1743-1715).

November 7, 1918: King Ludwig III of Bavaria is deposed.

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Deposed, German Chancellor and Prime Minister of Prussia, German Empire, Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom of Prussia, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Maria Theresa of Austria, World War I

Unlike the majority of German Monarchs that abdicated at the end of World War I, Ludwig III of Bavaria was deposed.

In 1917, when Germany’s situation had gradually worsened due to World War I, Bavarian Prime Minister Georg von Hertling became German Chancellor and Prime Minister of Prussia and Otto Ritter von Dandl was made Minister of State of the Royal Household and of the Exterior and President of the Council of Ministers on 11 November 1917, a title equivalent to Prime Minister of Bavaria. Accused of showing blind loyalty to Prussia, King Ludwig III became increasingly unpopular during the war. As the war drew to a close, the German Revolution broke out in Bavaria.

On November 2, 1918, an extensive constitutional reform was established by an agreement between the royal government and all parliamentary groups, which, among other things, envisaged the introduction of proportional representation. Ludwig III, approved on the same day the transformation of the constitution into a parliamentary monarchy. For the first time on November 3, 1918, initiated by the USPD, a thousand people gathered to protest on the Theresienwiese for peace and demanded the release of detained leaders.

On November 7, 1918, Ludwig III fled from the Residenz Palace in Munich with his family and took up residence in Schloss Anif, near Salzburg Austria for what he hoped would be a temporary stay. He was the first of the monarchs in the German Empire to be deposed. The next day, the People’s State of Bavaria was proclaimed.

On November 12, 1918, a day after the Armistice, Prime Minister Dandl went to Schloss Anif to see the King. Ludwig gave Dandl the Anif declaration (Anifer Erklärung) in which he released all government officials, soldiers and civil officers from their oath of loyalty to him. He also stated that as a result of recent events, he was “no longer in a position to lead the government.” The declaration was published by the newly formed republican government of Kurt Eisner when Dandl returned to Munich the next day.

Ludwig III’s declaration was not a statement of abdication, as Dandl had demanded. However, Eisner’s government interpreted it as such and added a statement that Ludwig and his family were welcome to return to Bavaria as private citizens as long as they did not act against the “people’s state.” This statement effectively dethroned the Wittelsbachs and ended the family’s 738-year rule over Bavaria.

Final years

Ludwig III returned to Bavaria. His wife, Maria Theresia, died 3 February 1919 at Wildenwart Castle/Chiemgau. In February 1919, Eisner was assassinated; fearing that he might be the victim of a counter-assassination, Ludwig fled to Hungary, later moving on to Liechtenstein and Switzerland. He returned to Bavaria in April 1920 and lived at Wildenwart Castle again. There he remained until September 1921 when he took a trip to his castle Nádasdy in Sárvár in Hungary. He died there on October 18.

On November 5, 1921, Ludwig’s body was returned to Munich together with that of his wife. In spite of fears a state funeral might spark a move to restore the monarchy, the pair were honored with one in front of the royal family, Bavarian government, military personnel, and an estimated 100,000 spectators. Burial was in the crypt of the Munich Frauenkirche alongside their royal ancestors. Prince Rupprecht did not wish to use the occasion of the passing of his father to reestablish the monarchy by force, preferring to do so by legal means. Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich, in his funeral speech, made a clear commitment to the monarchy while Rupprecht only declared that he had stepped into his birthright.

November 5, 1913: Ludwig III of Bavaria assumes the Crown.

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Archduchess of Austria-Este, Holy Roman Emperor, Kingdom of Bavaria, Ludwig II of Bavaria, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Luitpold of Bavaria, Maria Theresia, Neuschwanstein Castle, Prince Regent

Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried; January 7, 1845 – October 18, 1921) was the last king of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918.

Ludwig was born in Munich, the eldest son of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and his wife, Archduchess Augusta of Austria (daughter of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany and Princess Maria Anna of Saxony). He was a descendant of both King Louis XIV of France and Navarre and King William I “the Conqueror” of England. King Ludwig III was named after his grandfather, King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Because his mother was raised in Florence, Archduchess Augusta always spoke in Italian to Leopold and his three siblings.

Ludwig III, King of Bavaria

In June 1867, Ludwig visited Vienna to attend the funeral of his cousin, Archduchess Mathilde of Austria (daughter of his father’s sister Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria, the seventh child and fourth daughter of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen). While there, Ludwig met Mathilde’s eighteen-year-old step-cousin Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este, the only daughter of the late Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este (1821–1849) and of his wife Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (1831–1903).

Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este

The couple had fallen in love during this visit and their decision to marry initially angered Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungry who had wished for her to marry Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Once permission to wed was obtained Ludwig married Maria Theresa on February 20, 1868, at St. Augustine’s Church in Vienna.

Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este

The couple shared common descent from Holy Roman Emperor Franz I and Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel). Leopold III and Maria Theresa had thirteen children. The family mostly lived on their farms at Leutstetten south of Munich, where Maria Theresa cultivated rose gardens.

Succession

To begin the story of how Ludwig became the King of Bavaria we must begin with the deposition and death of his kinsman, King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig II was heavily in debt due to his extravagant spending on the construction of two lavish palaces, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee, along with the resplendent Neuschwanstein Castle.

Ludwig II, King of Bavaria

Ludwig was also a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Ludwig spent all his royal revenues (although not state funds as is commonly thought) on these projects, borrowed extensively, and defied all attempts by his ministers to restrain him. This extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, an accusation which has since come under scrutiny.

Feeling harassed and irritated by his ministers, Ludwig considered dismissing the entire cabinet and replacing them with fresh faces. The cabinet decided to act first. Seeking a cause to depose Ludwig by constitutional means, the rebelling ministers decided on the rationale that he was mentally ill, and unable to rule. They asked Ludwig’s uncle, Prince Luitpold, to step into the royal vacancy once Ludwig was deposed. Luitpold agreed, on condition the conspirators produced reliable proof that the king was in fact helplessly insane.

A team of doctors had Ludwig had and his only brother and successor, Prince Otto, declared insane, providing a convenient basis for the claim of hereditary insanity. At 4 a.m. on June 10, 1886, a government commission including Drs Holnstein and Gudden arrived at Neuschwanstein to deliver the document of deposition to the king formally and to place him in custody. That same day, the Government under Minister-President Johann von Lutz publicly proclaimed Luitpold as Prince Regent.

On the afternoon of June 23, 1886, Dr. Gudden accompanied Ludwig on a stroll in the grounds of Berg Castle. They were escorted by two attendants. The two men were last seen at about 6:30 PM; they were due back at 8 PM but never returned. After searches were made for more than two hours by the entire castle staff in a gale with heavy rain, at 10:30 PM that night, the bodies of both the King and von Gudden were found, head and shoulders above the shallow water near the shore. (I will be doing a blog entry on the mysterious death of Ludwig II in the near future).

The King was succeeded by his brother Otto, but since Otto was considered incapacitated by mental illness due to a diagnosis by Dr. Gudden, the king’s uncle Luitpold remained regent. Luitpold maintained the regency until his own death in 1912 at the age of 91. He was succeeded as regent by his eldest son, Ludwig.

King of Bavaria

Almost immediately after becoming Regent, certain elements in the press and other groups in society called for Ludwig to take the throne himself. The Bavarian Legislature was not, however, currently in session, and did not meet until September 29, 1913. On November 4, 1913, the Legislature amended the constitution of Bavaria to include a clause specifying that if a regency for reasons of incapacity had lasted for ten years with no prospect of the king ever being able to reign, the regent could proclaim the end of the regency and assume the crown himself, with such action to be ratified by the Legislature.

The amendment received broad party support in the Lower Chamber where it was carried by a vote of 122 in favour, and 27 against. In the Senate there were only six votes against the amendment. The next day, November 5, 1913, Ludwig proclaimed the end of the regency, deposed his cousin and proclaimed his own reign as Ludwig III. The Legislature duly ratified this action, and Ludwig took his oath on November 8.

More on Ludwig III of Bavaria this Thursday.