Confederation of the Rhine

 

league of German states formed by Emperor Napoleon I in 1806 after his defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz. Among its members were the newly created kingdoms of Bavaria and Württenberg (see Pressburg, Treaty of), the grand duchies of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Berg, and a number of other principalities. Eventually nearly all the German states except Austria and Prussia joined the confederation. The members disavowed their allegiance to the Holy Roman Empire, and Francis II, already styled emperor of Austria, relinquished the title Holy Roman emperor in 1806. Napoleon attempted to influence the internal as well as the foreign affairs of the confederation, but recurring international crises diverted his efforts. After Napoleon's retreat from Russia (1812–13), its members, by changing sides in the war, caused the collapse of the confederation.

États confédérés du Rhin (fr) Rheinbund (de) Confederation of the Rhine Client of the French Empire ← 1806 – 1813 → Flag Rheinbundmedaille The Confederation of the Rhine in 1812 Capital Frankfurt Political structure Client state "Protector" Napoleon I "Primate"  - 1806-1813 Karl von Dalberg  - 1813 Eugène de Beauharnais Historical era Napoleonic Wars  - Formation 12 July 1806  - Holy Roman Empire dissolved August 6 1806  - Collapse 19 October 1813

The Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation (German: Rheinbund; French: États confédérés du Rhin [officially] Confédération du Rhin [in practice]) lasted from 1806 to 1813 and was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine.

The members of the confederation were German princes (Fürsten) from the Holy Roman Empire, and so technically not heads of state of their states as such. They were later joined by 19 others, altogether ruling a total of over 15 million subjects providing a significant strategic advantage to France on its eastern front.

Formation

On 12 July 1806, on signing the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine (German: Rheinbundakte), 16 states in present-day Germany formally left the Holy Roman Empire and joined together in a confederation (the treaty called it the états confédérés du Rhin). Napoleon was its "protector." On 6 August, following an ultimatum by Napoleon, Francis II gave up his title of Emperor and declared the Holy Roman Empire dissolved. In the years that followed, 23 more German states joined the Confederation; Francis' Habsburg dynasty would rule the remainder of the empire as Austria. Only Austria, Prussia, Danish Holstein, and Swedish Pomerania stayed outside, not counting the west bank of the Rhine and Erfurt, which were annexed by the French empire.

According to the treaty, the confederation was to be run by common constitutional bodies, but the individual states (in particular the larger ones) wanted unlimited sovereignty.

Instead of a monarchical head of state, as the Holy Roman Emperor had been, its highest office was held by Karl Theodor von Dalberg, the former Arch Chancellor, who now bore the title of a Prince-Primate of the confederation. As such, he was President of the College of Kings and presided over the Diet of the Confederation, a parliament-like body that, however, never assembled.

The Confederation was above all a military alliance: the members had to supply France with large numbers of military personnel. In return for their cooperation some state rulers were given higher statuses: Baden, Hesse, Cleves, and Berg were made into grand duchies, and Württemberg and Bavaria became kingdoms. States could also be made larger by incorporating the many smaller "Kleinstaaten," or small former imperial member states.

After Prussia lost to France in 1806, many medium-sized and small states joined the Rheinbund. It was at its largest in 1808, including four kingdoms, five grand duchies, 13 duchies, seventeen principalities, and the Free Hansa towns of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen.

In 1810 large parts of northwest Germany were quickly incorporated into the Napoleonic Empire in order to better monitor the trade embargo with Great Britain, the Continental System.

In 1813, when Napoleon's campaign in the Russian Empire failed and some of its members changed sides, the Confederation of the Rhine collapsed.

Member monarchies (alphabetically)

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• Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Arenberg co-founder 25 July 1806
• Grand Duchy of Baden co-founder 25 July 1806
• Kingdom of Bavaria co-founder 25 July 1806, formerly a duchy
• Grand Duchy of Berg co-founder 25 July 1806 (absorbs Cleves, both formerly duchies)
• Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt co-founder 25 July 1806, formerly a landgraviate
• Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen co-founder 25 July 1806
• Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen co-founder 25 July 1806
• Principality of Isenburg-Birstein co-founder 25 July 1806
• Principality of Leyen co-founder 25 July 1806 (formerly countship or graviate)
• Principality of Liechtenstein co-founder 25 July 1806
• Principality of Lippe-Detmold joined 15 December 1806
• Archbishopric of Mainz (Mayence) co-founder 25 July 1806, formerly Prince-Archbishopric and Electorate; after 1810 the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Nassau (Usingen and Weilburg) resulting from the union* of the Principalities of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg, co-founders (25 July 1806) **
• Duchy of Oldenburg joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Reuss-Ebersdorf joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Reuss-Greiz joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Reuss-Lobenstein joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Reuss-Schleiz joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Salm (Salm-Salm and Salm-Kyrburg) co-founders 25 July 1806 **
• Duchy of Saxe-Coburg joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Saxe-Gotha joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen joined 15 December 1806
• Duchy of Saxe-Weimar joined 15 December 1806
• Kingdom of Saxony joined 11 December 1806
• Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen joined 15 December 1806
• Principality of Waldeck joined 15 December 1806
• Kingdom of Westphalia last to join, 15 November 1807
• Kingdom of Württemberg co-founder 25 July 1806
• Grand Duchy of Würzburg joined 15 September 1806

Aftermath

After the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine, the only attempt at political coordination in Germany until the creation on 21 October 1813 of the German Confederation was a body called the Central Administration Council (German: Zentralverwaltungsrat); its President was Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (1757 – 1831). It was dissolved on 20 June 1815.

On 30 May 1814 the Treaty of Paris declared the German states independent.

In 1815 the Congress of Vienna redrew the continent's political map. In fact, only minor changes were made to inner-German borders, and the resulting German Confederation consisted more or less of the same members as the Confederation of the Rhine.

See also

• History of Germany
• West Germany
• List of German monarchs

Sources, references and external links

• Confederation of the Rhine on Napoleon Guide.com
• Confederation of the Rhine on World Statesmen.org

Client states of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815)
French client republics	Alba · Ancona · Batavia · Bergamo · Bologna · Boulon · Brescia · Cisalpinia · Cispadania · Cisrhenia · Connaught · Crema · Danzig · Etruria · Helvetia · Illyria · Italy · Lemania · Liguria · Mainz · Parthenopaea · Pescara · Rauracia · Rhodania · Rome · Subalpinia · Tiberina · Transpadania
Other Napoleonic creations	Germany Confederation of the Rhine · Kingdom of Westphalia · Grand Duchy of Berg · Grand Duchy of Frankfurt · Grand Duchy of Würzburg · Principality of Leyen Italy Etruria · Italy · Naples Netherlands Holland Poland Duchy of Warsaw

States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13)
Rank elevated by Napoleon	Kingdoms: Bavaria | Saxony | Württemberg Grand Duchies: Baden | Hesse
States created	Kingdoms: Westphalia Grand Duchies: Berg | Frankfurt‡ | Würzburg Principalities: Aschaffenburg† | Leyen | Regensburg†
Pre-existing states	Duchies: Anhalt: Bernburg, Dessau, Köthen | Arenberg | Mecklenburg: Schwerin, Strelitz | Nassau | Oldenburg | Saxony: Coburg-Saalfeld, Gotha-Altenburg, Hildburghausen, Meiningen, Weimar*, Eisenach*, Weimar-Eisenach** Principalities: Hohenzollern: Hechingen, Sigmaringen | Isenburg-Birstein | Liechtenstein | Lippe-Detmold | Reuß: Ebersdorf, Greiz, Lobenstein, Schleiz | Salm: Kyrburg, Salm | Schaumburg-Lippe | Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen | Waldeck
* until 1809     ** from 1809       † until 1810     ‡ from 1810

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