Confederation of the Rhine: Difference between revisions

Confederation of the Rhine
*Rheinbund* (de)
*États confédérés du Rhin* (fr)
Confederation of the Rhine Rheinbund (de); États confédérés du Rhin (fr)
1806–1813
	Alleged flag (probably unofficial)
	The Confederation of the Rhine in 1812.
Status	Confederation of client states; of the French Empire
Capital	Frankfurt
Common languages	German, French
Protector
• 1806–1813	Napoleon I
Prince-Primate
• 1806–1813	Karl von Dalberg
• 1813	Eugène de Beauharnais
Legislature	Diet of the Confederation
Historical era	Napoleonic Wars
• Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine	12 July 1806
• Holy Roman Empire dissolved	6 August 1806
• Battle of Leipzig	4 November 1813
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Holy Roman Empire
German Confederation
Today part of	Austria; Czech Republic; Germany; Italy; Liechtenstein; Poland

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The Confederation of the Rhine (German: Rheinbund; French: États confédérés du Rhin, officially "Confederated States of the Rhine", but in practice Confédération du Rhin) was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria and Russia in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine. It lasted from 1806 to 1813.^[1]

The members of the confederation were German princes (Fürsten) from the Holy Roman Empire. They were later joined by 19 others, all together ruling a total of over 15 million subjects providing a significant strategic advantage to the French Empire on its eastern front. Prussia and Austria were not members.

Napoleon sought to consolidate the modernizing achievements of the revolution, but he wanted the soldiers and supplies these subject states could provide for his wars. The most important accomplishments include the introduction of the Napoleonic Code, the establishment of religious toleration (especially for Jews), and the abolition of feudal rights. It used a constitution written along French lines. Napoleon required it to supply 63,000 troops to his army. The success of the Confederation depended on Napoleon's success in battle; it collapsed when he lost the battle of Leipzig in 1813.

Formation

On 12 July 1806, on signing the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine (German: Rheinbundakte) in Paris, 16 states in present-day Germany joined together in a confederation (the treaty called it the états confédérés du Rhin, with a precursor in the League of the Rhine). Napoleon was its "protector". On 1 August, the members of the confederation formally seceded from the Holy Roman Empire, and on 6 August, following an ultimatum by Napoleon, Francis II declared the Holy Roman Empire dissolved. Francis' Habsburg dynasty continued as emperors of Austria.

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.^[1] 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, designed to be a parliament-like body though it never actually assembled.^[1] The President of the Council of the Princes was the Prince of Nassau-Usingen.

The Confederation was above all a military alliance: the members had to maintain substantial armies for mutual defense and 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 were also made larger by incorporating the many smaller "Kleinstaaten", or small former imperial member states. As events played out, however, the members of the confederation found themselves more subordinated to Napoleon than they had been to the Habsburgs.

After Prussia lost to France in 1806, Napoleon cajoled most of the secondary states of Germany into the Rheinbund. Eventually, an additional 23 German states joined the Confederation. It was at its largest in 1808, when it included 36 states—four kingdoms, five grand duchies, 13 duchies, seventeen principalities, and the Free Hansa towns of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen.^[1] Only Austria, Prussia, Danish Holstein, and Swedish Pomerania stayed outside, not counting the west bank of the Rhine and Principality of Erfurt, which were annexed by the French empire.

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

The Confederation of the Rhine collapsed in 1813, with the aftermath of Napoleon's failed campaign against the Russian Empire. Many of its members changed sides after the Battle of Leipzig, when it became apparent Napoleon would lose the War of the Sixth Coalition.

Member monarchies

The following table shows the members of the confederation, with their date of joining, as well as the number of troops provided, listed in parentheses.^[2]

The College of Kings

Member monarchy	Year joined	Notes
Grand Duchy of Baden	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; former margraviate (8,000)
Kingdom of Bavaria	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; former duchy (30,000)
Grand Duchy of Berg	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; absorbed Cleves, both formerly Duchies (5,000)
Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; former landgraviate (4,000)
Principality of Regensburg	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; formerly Prince-Archbishopric and Electorate; after 1810 the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt (968 of 4,000)
Kingdom of Saxony	11 Dec 1806	Former duchy (20,000)
Kingdom of Westphalia	15 Nov 1807	Napoleonic creation (25,000)
Kingdom of Württemberg	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; former duchy (12,000)
Grand Duchy of Würzburg	23 Sep 1806	Napoleonic creation (2,000)

The College of Princes

Member monarchy	Year joined	Notes
Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg	11 Apr 1807	(700)
Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau	11 Apr 1807	(700)
Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen	11 Apr 1807	(700)
Duchy of Arenberg	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; mediatized 13 December 1810 (379 of 4,000)
Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder (97 of 4,000)
Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder (193 of 4,000)
Principality of Isenburg-Birstein	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder (291 of 4,000)
Principality of Leyen	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder; former countship or graviate (29 of 4,000)
Principality of Liechtenstein	12 Jul 1806	Co-founder (40 of 4,000)
Principality of Lippe-Detmold	11 Apr 1807	(650)
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	22 Mar 1808	(1,900)
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz	18 Feb 1808	(400)
Duchy of Nassau (Usingen and Weilburg)	12 Jul 1806*	Union of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg, both co-founders (1,680 of 4,000)
Duchy of Oldenburg	14 Oct 1808	annexed by France 13 December 1810 (800)
Principality of Reuss-Ebersdorf	11 Apr 1807	(400)
Principality of Reuss-Greiz	11 Apr 1807	(400)
Principality of Reuss-Lobenstein	11 Apr 1807	(400)
Principality of Reuss-Schleiz	11 Apr 1807	(400)
Principality of Salm (Salm-Salm and Salm-Kyrburg)	25 Jul 1806	Co-founder; annexed by France 13 December 1810 (323 of 4,000)
Duchy of Saxe-Coburg	15 Dec 1806	(Saxon duchies total 2,000)
Duchy of Saxe-Gotha	15 Dec 1806
Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen	15 Dec 1806
Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen	15 Dec 1806
Duchy of Saxe-Weimar	15 Dec 1806
Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe	11 Apr 1807	(650)
Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt	11 Apr 1807	(650)
Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen	11 Apr 1807	(650)
Principality of Waldeck	11 Apr 1807	(400)

Aftermath

The allies opposing Napoleon dissolved the Confederation of the Rhine 4 November 1813. After its demise, the only attempt at political coordination in Germany until the creation on 8 June 1815 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, most surviving members had only minor border changes, and the resulting German Confederation consisted more or less of the same members as the Confederation of the Rhine, with the important addition of the two German great powers of Austria and Prussia.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hans A. Schmitt. Germany Without Prussia: A Closer Look at the Confederation of the Rhine. German Studies Review 6, No. 4 (1983), pp 9-39.
^ Creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, 12 July, 1806

Sources and external links

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

50°07′N 8°41′E / 50.117°N 8.683°E / 50.117; 8.683

[Schmitt-1] Hans A. Schmitt. Germany Without Prussia: A Closer Look at the Confederation of the Rhine. German Studies Review 6, No. 4 (1983), pp 9-39.

[2] Creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, 12 July, 1806

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 The members of the confederation were German princes (''[[Fürst]]en'') from the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. They were later joined by 19 others, all together ruling a total of over 15 million subjects providing a significant strategic advantage to the French Empire on its eastern front. Prussia and Austria were not members.
-Napoleon sought to consolidate the modernizing achievements of the revolution, but he wanted the soldiers and supplies these subject states could provide for his wars.  The most important accomplishments include the introduction of the [[Napoleonic Code|Napoleon code]], the establishment of religious toleration (especially for Jews), and the abolition of feudal rights.  It used a constitution written along French lines. Napoleon required it to supply 63,000 troops to his army. The success of the Confederation depended on Napoleon's success in battle; it collapsed when he lost the [[battle of Leipzig]] in 1813.
+Napoleon sought to consolidate the modernizing achievements of the revolution, but he wanted the soldiers and supplies these subject states could provide for his wars.  The most important accomplishments include the introduction of the [[Napoleonic Code]], the establishment of religious toleration (especially for Jews), and the abolition of feudal rights.  It used a constitution written along French lines. Napoleon required it to supply 63,000 troops to his army. The success of the Confederation depended on Napoleon's success in battle; it collapsed when he lost the [[battle of Leipzig]] in 1813.
 ==Formation==