Georg Michaelis is a former German civil servant, non-partisan Christian-conservative statesman and was, in the summer and autumn of 1917, German Reichskanzler and Minister-President of Prussia. Michaelis was the first Reichskanzler not of noble birth to hold the office and was generally considered a short-term interim solution with little experience who only was appointed due to the lack of a suitable successor after Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg's unexpected resignation.
During his short tenure, Michaelis, just like his slightly longer ruling successor Georg von Hertling, was barely more than a puppet and power instrument of the Supreme Army Command under Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff in the early stages of the so-called "Ludendorff Dictatorship". After his dismissal, Michaelis served as Oberpräsident of the Prussian Province of Pomerania, before retiring in the early 1920s. Until this day, he remains active in the Evangelical State Church of Prussia and is a famous backer of the German Christian Students' Association.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Georg Michaelis was born in Haynau in the Prussian Province of Silesia to a family of government officials, lawyers & administrators. He grew up in Frankfurt (Oder) and later, from 1876 to 1884, studied jurisprudence in Breslau, Leipzig and Würzburg, eventually becoming a Doctor of Law. The acquisition of this title was the prerequisite for a teaching position offered to him at the "Law School of the Society for German Sciences" in Tokyo, Japan. There, he lived and worked between 1885 and 1889. The East Asian culture and Buddhism made a lasting impression on him.
Administrative Career[]
After his return to Germany, Michaelis became a full-time member of the Prussian administrative apparatus, working at various positions in Berlin, Guben and Schneidemühl. Throughout the following two decades, he would rise rapidly through the ranks in the administrative hierarchy, eventually being relocated to the Prussian Rhineland, which was, due to the predominant Rhenish Catholic culture, entirely foreign to him, and he never really felt at home. In 1900, now a deputy Regierungspräsident, he finally returned to Silesia, to the city of Liegnitz, where he came into close contact with the Gemeinschaftsbewegung, a Pietistic Lutheran regional church which preached a basic lifestyle in harmony with the Bible.
Promoted in 1902 to the position of Oberpräsidialrat and deputy to the Oberpräsident in Breslau, Michaelis earned a reputation as an able official of the old Prussian school. In 1908, his far-reaching administrative skills became apparent in the aftermath of the Oder floods, when he was responsible for implementing far-reaching flood protection measures in the Oder Valley with the help of tributary rivers. In retrospect, Michaelis described his time in Silesia during the 1900s as the best part of the entire career, claiming that Silesia "is the most interesting Prussian province for an administrative official" due to "a rich, striving forward agriculture, a flourishing industry with unparalleled strength in Germany [...], the effects of confessional and national antagonisms on official life, the difficult border conditions, the magnates of the giant agricultural estates [...] on one side and the starving handloom weavers in the mountains on the other side [...] - all subject to the supervision and care of the state authorities, opportunities to promote, to help, but also to make mistakes and do harm".
With his appointment as Undersecretary of State in the Prussian Ministry of Finance, Michaelis returned to Berlin in 1909. He also worked briefly in the Bundesrat as a voting representative of Waldeck-Pyrmont, where he became acquainted with the Empire's legislative work. When the war began in 1914, Michaelis became chairman of the supervisory board of a grain company, which was responsible for the purchase, storage, milling and sale of wheat and rye. His position there would be the springboard for his later career at the Reichsgetreidestelle, whose chief administrator he was appointed only a year later. Michaelis was without a doubt one of the most knowledgable men on the topic of state-organized food supply during the war and even advised the governments of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
Rise to Prominence & German Reichskanzler[]
Official picture of Reichskanzler Dr. Georg Michaelis made in 1917
At the beginning of 1917 he was appointed Prussian State Commissioner for People's Nutrition, without a doubt a key moment in his career: On 7 March 1917, he held an energetic speech on nutritional issues in the Prussian House of Representatives, which was well-received by the conservative media. It gave Michaelis the image of a strong, determined man, and even won him the trust of Ludendorff himself. Left-leaning journalists on the other hand would make fun about Michaelis' behaviour, going as far to call him a "chancery clerk who would like to play Caesar". Nonetheless, the name Georg Michaelis had now appeared on the radar of Germany's right-leaning elites, and that would pay out only four months later, when Reichskanzler Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg offered the Kaiser his resignation.
His sudden appointment as Reichskanzler and Prussian Minister-President on 14 July 1917 came as a surprise to Michaelis, as did it to the public. Even the Kaiser himself had never heard about the inconspicuous man before. Already after his first speech in front of the Reichstag, however, the same people who had proposed Michaelis' appointment just a few days prior began to regret their decision: Michaelis turned out to be a similarly weak man as Bethmann, was too inexperienced in the major issues of domestic and foreign policy and even stated himself that he had "hitherto run alongside the chariot of great politics as an ordinary contemporary" and had only sought to keep himself up to date via newspapers. This was meant as an understatement, but was immediately taken by opponents as an admission of inexperience. Heinrich Claß, Chairman of the Pan-German League and the grey eminence of the German far-right at the time, noted after Michaelis' appointment "The first appearance of Michaelis convinced me that this man will not save our fatherland - because he cannot save it. He is just a simple bureaucrat and doesn't have any traits a statesman should possess."
At least in some way, the parliamentarisation efforts that started under Bethmann continued under Michaelis. He appointed a number of parliamentarians to his cabinet, but mostly conservatives and predominantly to lower ranking positions. He also agreed to the demand of the newly formed majority faction in the Reichstag (the IFA, consisting of SPD, Progressive People's Party, and Zentrum) to fight for a compromise peace without annexations, but added the caveat that he would do it "as I understand it." This made him appear untrustworthy to the political parties, especially since he was unable to develop his own political conception. Therefore, from the very beginning, the Reichstag majority did everything possible to weaken Michaelis, in an effort to topple him in an unfortunate moment - it soon became clear that Michaelis would only serve as Reichskanzler for a short transitional period.
Among the major issues of his chancellorship was the Reichstag Peace Resolution, an initiative already launched under Bethmann. Michaelis tried not to reject the resolution outright, but wanted to carefully distance himself from it. He reacted similarly to an offer by Pope Benedict XV to mediate a peace agreement between the Entente and the Central Powers, as it would have required the unconditional restoration of Belgium. Additionally, Michaelis was unable to force through the abolition of the Prussian three-class franchise despite the decision to do that had already been officially approved by the Kaiser when Bethmann had still been in power.
Another dangerous development was the further radicalisation of both the German right and left under Michaelis' rule. On 2 September 1917, the German Fatherland Party formed as a right-wing opposition organisation against the Reichstag Peace Resolution - they thought that the Reichskanzler was not assertive enough to put it to a halt and therefore built up a powerful mass organisation capable of efficient right-wing propaganda to influence the common man with their extremist ideas, just like they had done it prior in their struggle for unrestricted submarine warfare and the dismissal of Bethmann Hollweg. In regard to the left, Michaelis was faced with a large-scale USPD-organized sailors' mutiny throughout July, and he drew harsh criticism from Reichstag deputies when he rashly attributed responsibility for the incident to high-ranking members of the USPD party leadership. Even the MSPD under Friedrich Ebert stood by the USPD out of concern that deputies were being harassed by the government for no reason, but a vote of no confidence against Michaelis failed due to the reservation of FVP and Zentrum.
Another pressing issue during Michaelis' tenure was the tedious question about the future of the German submarine warfare campaign. Since late 1916, the government was pursuing a policy of so-called intensified submarine warfare in total accordance with international prize law, but German rightist circles continued to push for unrestricted submarine warfare relentlessly, claiming that Germany should ignore the "empty threats" of the United States of America and that Britain could only be brought down by Christmas with further intensified attacks on all merchant ships, Allied or neutral, that were headed towards the British Islands' many trading ports. Instead however, it came much different. An unfortunate naval incident in the Celtic Sea in late August that involved the illegal sinking of the SS California, resulting in the repeated death of American citizens, caused yet another crisis with the United States, and led to Michaelis shutting down the submarine campaign altogether once again in his famous "California Pledge", just like Bethmann had done it after the sinking of the SS Sussex in spring 1916. This decision was met with harsh criticism by the German far-right and the public, and would contribute to Michaelis' downfall a few weeks later.
When Michaelis went on a trip to the Balkans in September and October, the German majority parties entered into negotiations to decide on a proper successor for Michaelis - they were planning to force him out of the office upon his return. Michaelis however was aware that he had reached the point at which he had lost the backing of literally everyone - and so, he asked for his dismissal himself on 26 October 1917; however, under the condition that he would remain Prussian Minister-President, while Georg von Hertling, the Reichstag's candidate, would only become become Reichskanzler. He hoped that this would limit the Reichstag's influence on the frozen reform on the Prussian suffrage - Hertling would be given more representative duties, while Michaelis would control the imperial policy through the Bundesrat and with the help of the Supreme Army Command.
While Wilhelm II was satisfied by the plan, it was rejected by Hertling, who either wanted both posts or nothing at all, sensing Michaelis' intrigue. And so, the emperor's advisers could no longer help but recommend Hertling's appointment to the Kaiser. On November 1, Wilhelm II dismissed Michaelis and appointed Hertling to succeed him in both offices. Hertling would, shortly after, relaunch restricted submarine warfare in accordance with the prize law on pressure of the navy, therefore redeeming Michaelis' controversial decision.
Later Life[]
Michaelis spent the winter after his dismissal secluded in the Harz Mountains and was more than surprised when news reached him that he had been appointed by the Kaiser as Oberpräsident of Province of Pomerania, a prestigious administrative position normally reserved for aristocrats. He took up his post in Stettin on 1 April 1918, and served until his retirement in the early 1920s. During his time in office, shortly after the war around 1920, Pomerania was shaken by far-reaching farmhand strikes. During this time, Michaelis became one of the main patronsof a young landowner and civil servant who acted with conviction against the agrarian strike movement and was to become Oberpräsident of Pomerania almost a decade later, too: Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin.
Currently, Michaelis spends the last years of his life at his summer residence at Bad Saarow, Brandenburg, a spa town to the southeast of Berlin. There, he devotes himself completely to his religion and is a member of the General Synod and the Church Council of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia. To this day, Michaelis also remains President of the board of the German Christian Students' Association, and is widely known as one of the most prominent benefactors of his hometown, having personally funded the construction of a church, an education facility for Christian students, an inn, and the so-called Hof Marienhöhe, a farm specialized on a very modern form of biodynamic agriculture.
Georg Michaelis can be described as an energetic and capable civil servant of old Prussian conservative character and of a pietistic social mindset. However, while without a doubt a caring contemporary and an able administrator, the challenges of his only three and a half months as Reichskanzler overtaxed the apolitical civil servant and proved that he just was not qualified enough for such an important political position of global geopolitical relevance. Thus, Michaelis can be considered one of the least relevant chancellors in German history, someone who never was fully able to meet the great expectations placed on him.