Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg was born in Howenfinow, Brandenburg.!
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Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1856-1921) served as Chancellor of Germany from 1909-17, a period which included much of World War One, and during which he fought to maintain social and political coherency as the increasingly vocal liberal elite clashed with reactionary forces typified by the German military machine and monarchist state.
Bethmann-Hollweg was born in Howenfinow, Brandenburg on 29 November 1856. He studied law at Strasbourg, Leipzig and Berlin before entering the Prussian civil service.
He was appointed in 1905 Prussian Minister of the Interior, followed two years later as state secretary in the Imperial Office of the Interior. He became German Chancellor, succeeding Prince Bernhard von Bulow, following the latter's resignation on 14 July 1909.
Adopting a political outlook somewhat liberal for the time, Bethmann-Hollweg was nevertheless continually confronted by political extremes, left and right,