M.P. Friis became
cand.jur. from the
University of Copenhagen in 1883. From 1904 to 1911 was head of department in the Ministry of Justice. He was from 1911 to 1923 he was the public trustee of Denmark. On 29 March
King Christian X had dismissed Prime Minister
Carl Theodor Zahle and replaced him with
Otto Liebe, but this use of power by the king triggered the
Easter Crisis of 1920 (
Påskekrisen 1920) and Otto Liebe resigned 5 days later. Michael Pedersen Friis was then appointed head of a caretaker cabinet (
forretningsministerium) to lead Denmark until elections could be held and a new government appointed. Under Michael Pedersen Friis, the necessary changes were made to integrate the land acquired in the
Schleswig Plebiscite into the election rules, and new elections were held. On 5 May 1920
Niels Neergaard became the new prime minister in a government consisting only of the Liberal party (
Venstre). ==References==