During the Civil War in Finland Paasikivi stood firmly on the side of the White government. As prime minister from May until November 1918, he strove for a continued constitutional monarchy with Frederick Charles of Hesse, a German Prince, as king, intending to ensure German support for Finland against Bolshevist Russia. However, as Germany lost the World War, the monarchy had to be scrapped for a republic more in the taste of the victorious Entente. Paasikivi's "Senate" resigned, and he returned to the KOP bank.