Wilhelm Groener
With the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, Prince Maximilian announced Wilhelm's abdication of both crowns on 9 November 1918. Maximilian himself was forced to resign later the same day when it became clear that only Ebert could effectively exert control. Later that day, one of Ebert's secretaries of state (ministers), Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann, proclaimed Germany to be a republic. General Wilhelm Groener, Ludendorff's replacement, then informed Wilhelm that the army definitely would not fight to keep him on the throne. Army commander and lifelong royalist Paul von Hindenburg felt obliged, and with some embarrassment, to advise Wilhelm to give up the crown. That was when Wilhelm finally consented to the abdication. On 10 November, Wilhelm boarded a train and went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral throughout the war.