Hermann Müller (18 May 1876 – 20 March 1931; ) was a German Social Democratic politician who served as the Foreign minister (1919–1920), and twice as the Chancellor of Germany (1920, 1928–1930) in the Weimar Republic. In his capacity as Foreign Minister, he was one of the German signatories of the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919). Early life Hermann Müller was born on 18 May 1876 in Mannheim, the son of Georg Jakob Müller (born 1843), a producer of sparkling wine and wine dealer from Güdingen near Saarbrücken, and his wife Karoline (née Vogt, born 1849, died after 1931), originally from Frankfurt am Main. Müller attended the Realgymnasium at Mannheim and after his father moved to Niederlößnitz in 1888 at Dresden. After his father died in 1892, Müller had to leave school due to financial difficulties and began an apprenticeship (kaufmännische Lehre) at Frankfurt. He worked in Frankfurt and Breslau, and in 1893 joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Hermann Müller, a Social Democrat heavily influenced by his father, an advocate of Ludwig Feuerbach's views, is the only German chancellor who was not a member of any religion. Political career Before 1918 From 1899 to 1906, Müller worked as an editor at the Socialist newspaper Görlitzer Volkswacht. He was member of the local parliament (Stadtverordneter, 1903 to 1906) and a party functionary (Unterbezirksvorsitzender). August Bebel nominated him in 1905 (without success) and 1906 (successfully) for membership of the board of the national SPD. At that time, Müller changed from a left-wing Social Democrat to a "centrist", who argued against both the "revisionists" and against the radical left around Rosa Luxemburg. Together with Friedrich Ebert, Müller succeeded in 1909 in creating the Parteiausschuss that was to deal with internal arguments in between the party conventions. Known for his calm, industriousness, integrity, and rationality, Müller lacked charisma. In 1909, he tried but failed to prevent Otto Braun's election to the board, laying the foundation for a long-running animosity between the two. As a result of his foreign language skills, Müller was the representative of the SPD at the Second International and at the conventions of socialist parties in other countries in western Europe. In late July 1914, Müller was sent to Paris to negotiate with the French socialists over a common stance towards the respective countries' war loan proposals. No agreement was reached, however, and before Müller was able