Maximilian Maria Karl Desiderius Graf von Montgelas
(23.05.1860 - 04.02.1938)
place of birth:  St. Petersburg, Russia
Königreich Bayern:  AK-Stabschef,  Div-Kdr,  General der Infanterie ch.


Royal Bavarian general officer Max Graf Montgelas was born in St. Petersburg, Russia as the son of Bavarian diplomat Ludwig von Montgelas. His grandfather, also named Maximilian, served as Bavaria's Foreign Affairs Minister (Bavarian Head of Staff) from 1799 to 1817. Max von Montgelas entered military service in 1879, and as a battalion commander in 1900-03 took part in the quelling of the Boxer Rebellion in China. He additionally served as the German military attaché in Peking during that time.

Upon returning to Nürnberg, von Montgelas worked as Chief of Staff at General von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen's III. Armee-Korps headquarters. He was promoted to Generalleutnant on 25.05.1911 conferring him the title of Exzellenz (Excellency.)  Montgelas functioned as Senior Quarter-Master General (Oberquartiermeister) at Imperial Germany's Great General Staff Headquarters in Berlin from 1910 through 1912, before being selected to replace Ritter von Fasbender as Bavaria's 4. Infanterie-Division commander. He nonetheless continued to remain a key advisor to Chief of General Staff Helmuth von Moltke. After the Great War broke out, Montgelas was a very outspoken critic of Germany's incursion on Belgian neutrality, and in 1915 succumbed to pressure from his chain of command to retire from active military service. 

Instead of returning to Bavaria, Graf von Montgelas immigrated to Switzerland for the remainder of the War and became an ardent pacifist. After the Armistice, Montgelas became part of the so-called Committee of Four, including Albrecht Mendelssohn Batholdy, Hans Delbrück, and Max Weber. The group formulated a response which brought into question the victorious Allies' accusation of Germany being solely responsible for initiating the War. The War Guilt thesis became a central point of Montgelas' research as a military historian. Published works included the Kausky Documents and The Case for the Central Powers: An Impeachment of the Versailles Verdict. General von Montgelas passed away in Munich in 1938.

	General der Infanterie	16.01.1917  (charakter)
	China-Denkmünze	Ostasiatisches Expeditionskorps  1900-01
	Verdst-Ord Bayr-Krone	12.10.1906  Ritter