In 1918, shortly before Germany's unconditional surrender to the Western Allies, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and went into exile. The German monarchy, and its nobility as a legally-defined class, were abolished, and Germany was proclaimed a republic with the adoption of the Weimar Constitution. This was done because US President Woodrow Wilson had implied that Wilhelm's abdication would be a prerequisite for any armistice or surrender.
But what if the Allies accepted German surrender without requiring Wilhelm's abdication? Or, what if Wilhelm himself abdicated in favour of one of his heirs?
The House of Hohenzollern, especially Wilhelm II, were in a crisis of legitimacy in 1918, and faced growing dissent. But they still had institutional as well as popular support. The landed aristocracy, the military leadership, and German industrialists supported them -- but all of these institutions would be significantly weakened by the post-war circumstances, with the Treaty of Versailles, the German Debt Crisis, etc. Now, I don't believe that the public outrage against the monarchy was so intense that it'd be overthrown in dramatic fashion (like the Russian or Ottoman monarchies), but there would certainly be a growing Leftist movement which the German Empire would have to deal with.
What do you all think? How would a surviving German Empire deal with the conditions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, with foreign debt, with post-war international relations (e.g., the Danzig Question or the existence of the USSR), and the spread of Leftist movements like the Spartakusbund?
But what if the Allies accepted German surrender without requiring Wilhelm's abdication? Or, what if Wilhelm himself abdicated in favour of one of his heirs?
The House of Hohenzollern, especially Wilhelm II, were in a crisis of legitimacy in 1918, and faced growing dissent. But they still had institutional as well as popular support. The landed aristocracy, the military leadership, and German industrialists supported them -- but all of these institutions would be significantly weakened by the post-war circumstances, with the Treaty of Versailles, the German Debt Crisis, etc. Now, I don't believe that the public outrage against the monarchy was so intense that it'd be overthrown in dramatic fashion (like the Russian or Ottoman monarchies), but there would certainly be a growing Leftist movement which the German Empire would have to deal with.
What do you all think? How would a surviving German Empire deal with the conditions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, with foreign debt, with post-war international relations (e.g., the Danzig Question or the existence of the USSR), and the spread of Leftist movements like the Spartakusbund?