Georg Michaelis

Life and work

The story behind the role.

German civil servant and chancellor (1857-1936).

Georg Michaelis (8 September 1857 – 24 July 1936) was the imperial chancellor of the German Empire for a few months in 1917 during the First World War. He was the first (and, in the German Empire, the only) commoner to hold the post, though the Supreme Army Command under Paul von Hindenburg had de facto control over the country. After graduating from law school, Michaelis moved to Tokyo where he taught at the German Studies Society School. Upon his return to Germany, he joined the Prussian civil service. He was appointed undersecretary of state in the Prussian Finance Ministry in 1909, and from 1915 on he headed he headed the Imperial Grain Office and was responsible for food procurement in Prussia during the First World War. When Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg was forced to resign as chancellor by the Reichstag and the Supreme Army Command, Michaelis was chosen as his successor. His government was wholly dependent on the support of the Supreme Army Command. Shortly after his appointment the Reichstag passed Matthias Erzberger's Peace Resolution for a "a peace without annexations or indemnities", which he refused to fully endorse. Following the summer 1917 naval mutinies at Wilhelmshaven, Michaelis sought to place the blame on the socialists in the Reichstag. The Reichstag in turn forced his resignation as chancellor in favor of Georg von Hertling. He made an attempt to retain his role as minister-president of Prussia but was unsuccessful. From 1918 to 1919, Michaelis headed the provincial government of Pomerania. After the war he was engaged in economic lobbying, projects for student welfare and Protestant church organizations.

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