By 9 November 1918 the German emperor William II had abdicated and Germany was declared a republic. Two days later, on 11 November 1918, the armistice between the belligerents of World War I was signed. Little is known of the Allied powers' view regarding the possibility of a German-born prince as the King of Finland. However, warnings received from the West convinced the Finnish government of Prime Minister Lauri Ingmana monarchist himselfto ask Prince Frederick Charles to give up the crown, which he had not yet come to wear in Finland.