Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Matthias Erzberger
Matthias Erzberger (September 20, 1875 - August 26, 1921) was a German political figure.
He was born in Wurttemberg, the son of a craftsman. He became a journalist working for the Deutsches Volksblatt. Erzberger joined the (Catholic) Center Party and was elected to the Reichstag in 1903. Initially supporting Germany's involvement in World War I, by 1917 he called for a negotiated end to the war. He supported the World War I armistice , which he signed at Compiègne with French representative Ferdinand Foch, as the head of the German delegation on November 11, 1918. Erzberger became finance minister in June 1919, endorsing the Treaty of Versailles. He was forced from office in March 1920, and was later murdered in Baden by members of the Freikorps. Erzberger's assasins fled Germany and were prosecuted only after WWII.
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