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Georg Michaelis | |
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![]() Michaelis in 1932 | |
Chancellor of the German Empire | |
In office 14 July 1917 – 1 November 1917 | |
Monarch | Wilhelm II |
Deputy | Karl Helfferich |
Preceded by | Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg |
Succeeded by | Georg von Hertling |
Minister President of Prussia | |
In office 14 July 1917 – 1 November 1917 | |
Preceded by | Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg |
Succeeded by | Georg von Hertling |
Personal details | |
Born | Haynau, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia | 8 September 1857
Died | 24 July 1936 Bad Saarow, Province of Brandenburg, Nazi Germany | (aged 78)
Political party | None as Chancellor, later the German National People's Party |
Spouse | Margarete Schmidt |
Children | Elisabeth Charlotte Emma Georg Sylvester Wilhelm Eva Martha |
Signature | ![]() |
Georg Michaelis (8 September 1857 – 24 July 1936) was the chancellor of the German Empire for a few months in 1917. He was the first (and the only one of the German Empire) chancellor not of noble birth to hold the office. With an economic background in business, Michaelis' main achievement was to encourage the ruling classes to open peace talks with Russia. Contemplating that the end of the war was near, he encouraged infrastructure development to facilitate recovery at war's end through the media of Mitteleuropa. A somewhat humourless character, known for process engineering, Michaelis was faced with insurmountable problems of logistics and supply in his brief period as chancellor.