Council of the People's Deputies
After the Revolution of 1918, Friedrich Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann of the ruling Council of the People's Deputies asked him in early January 1919 to become "Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen" as the successor to Wilhelm Solf, the last person to hold the position under the Empire who had remained in place even as the Council had taken over as the actual government of Germany.