Luxembourg's prime minister, Paul Eyschen, died in 1915. Grand Duchess Marie-Adelaide saw his death as an opportunity to become more involved in the political affairs of the Grand Duchy. The Grand Duchess had been brought up with a strict Roman Catholic education and was convinced that she was sovereign by divine right. In the face of opposition, and in spite of accusations that she was acting outside the spirit of the constitution, she appointed a right-wing minority government. Her actions aroused hostility among the socialists, who had been advocating the abolition of the monarchy since 1907.
On the day following the German armistice in 1918, the socialists accused the Grand Duchess of having had a pro-German stance, stemming from her reception of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1914. In January 1919, opposition to the Grand Duchess lead to revolutionary protests in Luxembourg. Grand Duchess Marie-Adelaide was persuaded that she would have to abdicate in order to preserve the monarchy.
Her abdication duly took place on 9 January 1919 and she was succeeded by her sister, Princess Charlotte. Marie-Adelaide left Luxembourg and became a nun, joining the Carmelite Order in Modena, Italy. She died on 24 January 1924 at Hohenburg Castle.
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