 In August 1917, Capelle banned socialist literature from the fleet, in the aftermath of several disturbances. On 9 October 1917, in a speech to the Reichstag, he accused the radical, independent branch of the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD – Social Democratic Party) of knowingly supporting these revolutionary actions, which drove moderate SPD members closer to the radical independent faction. This led to the toppling of Chancellor Georg Michaelis, who was replaced by Georg von Hertling. On 9 January 1918, Capelle was awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest military award. By August 1918, Scheer and a group of prominent commanders in the High Seas Fleet had convinced Wilhelm II that the senior officers in the naval high command needed to be replaced by more dynamic individuals. To this end, Wilhelm II requested the resignation of Capelle, Henning von Holtzendorff, the Admiralty Chief, and Karl Alexander von Müller, the head of the Naval Cabinet. Capelle resigned from the Navy in October 1918, shortly before the end of the war. His deputy, Paul Behnke, briefly replaced him but was also forced out due to his opposition to Scheer, who had by this time been promoted to the Seekriegsleitung (Chief of Naval Staff).
