at their next, reacting to rightist backlash. Nonetheless, he supported the government's policy, so on 1 December 1925 the Locarno Treaties were signed, a significant step in restoring Germany's position in Europe. The right was infuriated because the Treaty accepted the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, though it mandated the withdrawal of the Allied troops occupying the Rhineland. The president always was lobbied intensely by visitors and letter writers. Hindenburg countered demands to restore the monarchy by arguing that restoring a Hohenzollern would block progress in revising Versailles. He accepted the republic as the mechanism for restoring Germany's position in Europe, though Hindenburg was no Vernunftrepublikaner (republican by reason) because democracy was incompatible with the militaristic volksgemeinschaft (national community) that would unite the people into one for future conflicts. The Treaty ended Luther's government, so Hindenburg had to assemble its replacement. The president could not command, but had to practice politics in the raw: painstakingly listening to and negotiating with party leaders to put together a bloc with a majority. Occasionally he was able to seal a deal as the revered, old field marshal by appealing to patriotism. After weeks of negotiations, Luther formed a new government with a cabinet drawn from the middle-of-the road parties, retaining Stresemann, which the Reichstag approved when threatened that otherwise the president would call new elections. That government was toppled by dispute over flying the old imperial flag alongside of the Weimar colors, which symbolically downgraded the republic. Marx was recalled as chancellor in a government that continued the dual flag policy. The next major issue was the properties of the former kings now held by the states: the question was whether former rulers should receive some compensation or none. More than 12 million voters petitioned for a referendum on this issue, meanwhile the Reichstag was debating an expropriation bill. Hindenburg's impulse was to resign so that he might express his opposition, but instead Meissner persuaded him to write a personal letter, which appeared in the newspapers, opposing expropriation. The referendum on 20 June 1926 rejected expropriation. Hindenburg urged the states to reach fair settlements promptly, otherwise he would resign. Stresemann's position in successive governments was solidified when he shared the Nobel Peace Prize for 1926. The next crisis came in the autumn of 1926 when Reichswehr commander Seeckt, without consulting the Reichswehr minister, invited the eldest son of the ex-crown prince to attend