| Flag of Arenberg (1803 - 1810).svg |
The Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation ({{lang-de|Rheinbund}}; {{lang-fr|États confédérés du Rhin officially and Confédération du Rhin in practice }}) was a client stateClient state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal...
of the First French EmpireThe French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...
. It was formed initially from 16 German states by NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
after he defeated Austria's Francis IIFrancis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
and Russia's Alexander IAlexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania.He was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later...
in the Battle of AusterlitzThe Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...
. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the creation of the Confederation of the RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. It lasted from 1806 to 1813.
The members of the confederation were German princes (Fürstis a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, which is referred to as Prinz...
en) from the Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
, and so technically not heads of state of their states as such. 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.
Formation
On 12 July 1806, on signing the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine ({{lang-de|Rheinbundakte}}), 16 states in present-day Germany formally left the Holy Roman Empire and joined together in a confederationA confederation is an association of sovereign member states, that by treaty have delegated certain of their competences to common institutions, in order to coordinate their policies in a number of areas, without however constituting a new state on top of the member states...
(the treaty called it the {{lang|fr|états confédérés du Rhin}}, with a precursor in the League of the RhineThe League of the Rhine was a defensive union of more than 50 German princes and their cities along the River Rhine, formed in 14 August 1658 by Louis XIV of France and negotiated by Cardinal Mazarin , Hugues de Lionne and Johann...
). Napoleon was its "protectorProtector may refer to:* Protector , a title or part of various historical titles of heads of state and others in authority, especially:** Lord Protector, two high positions in the history of the British political system...
." On 6 August, following an ultimatum by Napoleon, Francis IIFrancis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
gave up his title of Emperor and declared the Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
dissolved. In the years that followed, 23 more German states joined the Confederation; Francis's HabsburgThe House of Habsburg or Hapsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empire and several other countries...
dynasty would rule the remainder of the empire as Austria. Only Austria, PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
, Danish HolsteinHolstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
, and Swedish PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
stayed outside, not counting the west bank of the Rhine and Principality of ErfurtThe Principality of Erfurt existed from 1806 to 1814 and included Erfurt and the surrounding land, including the Grafschaft Blankenhain...
, 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 sovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
.
Instead of a monarchical head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind 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 DietIn politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from the Latin dies, "day". The word came to be used in this sense because assemblies met on a daily basis which is reflected in the German language use of Tagung and -tag...
of the Confederation, designed to be a parliament-like body though it never actually assembled. 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 supply France with large numbers of military personnel. In return for their cooperation some state rulers were given higher statuses: Baden, HesseHesse is a state of Germany with an area of and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main.Hesse contributes the largest share to the Rhine Main Area....
, Cleves, and Berg were made into grand duchiesA grand duchy is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess.-The title and origins of grand duchies:...
, and WürttembergWürttemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
and BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
became kingdoms. States were also made larger by incorporating the many smaller "Kleinstaaten is a German word, mainly used for the political situation in Germany and neighbouring regions during the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation...
," 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 duchiesA duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era...
, seventeen principalitiesA principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
, and the Free HansaThe Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period...
towns of HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
, Lübeck, and BremenThe Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 Federal States . A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
.
In 1810 large parts of northwest Germany were quickly incorporated into the Napoleonic Empire in order to better monitor the trade embargo with Great BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
, the Continental SystemThe Continental System was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars...
.
The Confederation of the Rhine collapsed in 1813, with the aftermath of Napoleon's failed campaign against the Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Much of its members changed sides after the Battle of the Nations, when it became apparent Napoleon would lose the War of the Sixth CoalitionIn the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers joined Russia,...
.
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 parenthesis.
{{History_of_Germany}}
| Flag |
Member monarchy |
Year joined |
Notes |
| Flag of Anhalt Duchies.png |
{{sort|Anhalt-Bernburg|Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a German principality whose capital was Bernburg, and existed until 1863. The principality was created in 1252 when the Principality of Anhalt was partitioned between Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst. After the ruling family became extinct in 1468,...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(700) |
| Flagge Herzogtum Anhalt.svg |
{{sort|Anhalt-Dessau|Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau Anhalt-Dessau was a principality and later a duchy located in Germany. It was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst. The capital of the state was Dessau. Anhalt-Dessau experienced a number of partitions throughout its existence with Anhalt-Köthen being...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(700) |
| Flag of Anhalt Duchies.png |
{{sort|Anhalt-Köthen|Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen Anhalt-Köthen has existed on two separate occasions. The first state was created in 1396 when the Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. The first creation lasted until 1552 when it was inherited by Anhalt-Dessau....
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(700) |
| Flag of Arenberg (1803 - 1810).svg |
The Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation ({{lang-de|Rheinbund}}; {{lang-fr|États confédérés du Rhin officially and Confédération du Rhin in practice }}) was a client stateClient state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal...
of the First French EmpireThe French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...
. It was formed initially from 16 German states by NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
after he defeated Austria's Francis IIFrancis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
and Russia's Alexander IAlexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania.He was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later...
in the Battle of AusterlitzThe Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...
. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the creation of the Confederation of the RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. It lasted from 1806 to 1813.
The members of the confederation were German princes (Fürstis a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, which is referred to as Prinz...
en) from the Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
, and so technically not heads of state of their states as such. 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.
Formation
On 12 July 1806, on signing the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine ({{lang-de|Rheinbundakte}}), 16 states in present-day Germany formally left the Holy Roman Empire and joined together in a confederationA confederation is an association of sovereign member states, that by treaty have delegated certain of their competences to common institutions, in order to coordinate their policies in a number of areas, without however constituting a new state on top of the member states...
(the treaty called it the {{lang|fr|états confédérés du Rhin}}, with a precursor in the League of the RhineThe League of the Rhine was a defensive union of more than 50 German princes and their cities along the River Rhine, formed in 14 August 1658 by Louis XIV of France and negotiated by Cardinal Mazarin , Hugues de Lionne and Johann...
). Napoleon was its "protectorProtector may refer to:* Protector , a title or part of various historical titles of heads of state and others in authority, especially:** Lord Protector, two high positions in the history of the British political system...
." On 6 August, following an ultimatum by Napoleon, Francis IIFrancis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
gave up his title of Emperor and declared the Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
dissolved. In the years that followed, 23 more German states joined the Confederation; Francis's HabsburgThe House of Habsburg or Hapsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empire and several other countries...
dynasty would rule the remainder of the empire as Austria. Only Austria, PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
, Danish HolsteinHolstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
, and Swedish PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
stayed outside, not counting the west bank of the Rhine and Principality of ErfurtThe Principality of Erfurt existed from 1806 to 1814 and included Erfurt and the surrounding land, including the Grafschaft Blankenhain...
, 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 sovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
.
Instead of a monarchical head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind 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 DietIn politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from the Latin dies, "day". The word came to be used in this sense because assemblies met on a daily basis which is reflected in the German language use of Tagung and -tag...
of the Confederation, designed to be a parliament-like body though it never actually assembled. 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 supply France with large numbers of military personnel. In return for their cooperation some state rulers were given higher statuses: Baden, HesseHesse is a state of Germany with an area of and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main.Hesse contributes the largest share to the Rhine Main Area....
, Cleves, and Berg were made into grand duchiesA grand duchy is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess.-The title and origins of grand duchies:...
, and WürttembergWürttemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
and BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
became kingdoms. States were also made larger by incorporating the many smaller "Kleinstaaten is a German word, mainly used for the political situation in Germany and neighbouring regions during the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation...
," 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 duchiesA duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era...
, seventeen principalitiesA principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
, and the Free HansaThe Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period...
towns of HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
, Lübeck, and BremenThe Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 Federal States . A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
.
In 1810 large parts of northwest Germany were quickly incorporated into the Napoleonic Empire in order to better monitor the trade embargo with Great BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
, the Continental SystemThe Continental System was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars...
.
The Confederation of the Rhine collapsed in 1813, with the aftermath of Napoleon's failed campaign against the Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Much of its members changed sides after the Battle of the Nations, when it became apparent Napoleon would lose the War of the Sixth CoalitionIn the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers joined Russia,...
.
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 parenthesis.
{{History_of_Germany}}
| Flag |
Member monarchy |
Year joined |
Notes |
| Flag of Anhalt Duchies.png |
{{sort|Anhalt-Bernburg|Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a German principality whose capital was Bernburg, and existed until 1863. The principality was created in 1252 when the Principality of Anhalt was partitioned between Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst. After the ruling family became extinct in 1468,...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(700) |
| Flagge Herzogtum Anhalt.svg |
{{sort|Anhalt-Dessau|Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau Anhalt-Dessau was a principality and later a duchy located in Germany. It was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst. The capital of the state was Dessau. Anhalt-Dessau experienced a number of partitions throughout its existence with Anhalt-Köthen being...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(700) |
| Flag of Anhalt Duchies.png |
{{sort|Anhalt-Köthen|Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen Anhalt-Köthen has existed on two separate occasions. The first state was created in 1396 when the Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. The first creation lasted until 1552 when it was inherited by Anhalt-Dessau....
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(700) |
| Flag of Arenberg (1803 - 1810).svg |
{{sort|Arenburg|Duchy of Arenberg {{otheruses2|d'Arenberg}}{{otheruses2|d'Arenberg}}{{otheruses2|d'Arenberg}}{{otheruses2|d'Arenberg}}{{otheruses2|d'Arenberg}}{{otheruses2|d'Arenberg}}{{Infobox Former Country|native_name = Grafschaft Arenberg...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder (4000) |
| Coat of arms of Baden.svg |
{{sort|Baden|Grand Duchy of BadenThe Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; former margraviate (8000) |
| Flag of Bavaria (striped).svg |
{{sort|Bavaria|Kingdom of BavariaThe Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806–1918. Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; former duchy A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era...
(30,000) |
| Flag of the Grandduchy of Berg (1806-1808).svg |
{{sort|Berg|Grand Duchy of BergThe Grand Duchy of Berg was established by Napoleon Bonaparte after his victory over the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon appointed his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, as the first Grand Duke of Berg.-History:...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; absorbed ClevesThe Duchy of Cleves was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in present Germany and the Netherlands . Its territory was part of the Low Countries, situated on both sides of the river Rhine, around its capital Cleves and roughly covering today's districts of Cleves, Wesel and the city of Duisburg...
, both formerly Duchies (2000) |
| Flagge Großherzogtum Hessen ohne Wappen.svg |
{{sort|Hesse|Grand Duchy of Hesse-DarmstadtThe Grand Duchy of Hesse was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German monarchies were overthrown...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; former landgraviate Landgrave was a title only used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...
(4000) |
| Flag of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Sigmaringen.png |
{{sort|Hohenzollern-Hechingen|Principality of Hohenzollern-HechingenHohenzollern-Hechingen was a county and principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to a branch of the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty.-History:...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder (4000) |
| Flag of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Sigmaringen.png |
{{sort|Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen|Principality of Hohenzollern-SigmaringenThe House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is the cadet branch of the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty, less known than the Franconian branch which became Burgraves of Nuremberg and later ruled Brandenburg-Prussia and the German Empire...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder (4000) |
| Flag of Isenburg County.svg |
{{sort|Isenburg|Principality of Isenburg-Birstein Isenburg was a region of Germany located in southern present-day Hesse, located in territories north and south of Frankfurt. The states of Isenburg emerged from the Niederlahngau , which partitioned in 1137 into Isenburg-Isenburg and Isenburg-Limburg-Covern...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder (4000) |
| Flag of the Principality of Leyen (1806-1813).svg |
{{sort|Leyen|Principality of LeyenThe Principality of Leyen was a Napoleonic German state which existed 1806–1814 in Hohengeroldseck, in the west of modern Baden-Württemberg. The family of Leyen had acquired many districts in western Germany, and eventually these were inherited by the Leyen line of Counts at Adendorf. In 1797,...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; former countship Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
or graviate (4000) |
| Flag of Liechtenstein (1719-1852).svg |
{{sort|Liechtenstein|Principality of LiechtensteinThe Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over 160 km² and it has an estimated population of 35,000...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder (4000) |
| Wappen Deutsches Reich - Fürstentum Lippe.png |
{{sort|Lippe|Principality of Lippe-Detmold}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(650) |
| Banner of the Electorate of Mainz.svg |
{{sort|Mainz|Archbishopric of MainzThe Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; formerly Prince-Archbishopric and ElectorateThe Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....
; after 1810 the Grand Duchy of FrankfurtThe Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishops of Mainz along with the Imperial city of Frankfurt itself....
|
| Wappen Mecklenburg-Schwerin.png |
{{sort|Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Duchy of Mecklenburg-SchwerinMecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany from 1348 on, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1808|mar|22}} |
(1900) |
| Grosses wappen MSTRELITZ.jpg |
{{sort|Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Duchy of Mecklenburg-StrelitzMecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy and later grand duchy in northern Germany, roughly consisting of the present day district of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , bordering areas of modern-day Brandenburg with the town of Fürstenberg and the area around Ratzeburg in modern Schleswig-Holstein.-History:It was...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1808|feb|18}} |
(400) |
| Flagge Herzogtum Nassau (1806-1866).svg |
{{sort|Nassau|Duchy of Nassau (Usingen and Weilburg)}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}}* |
Union of Nassau-Usingen Nassau-Usingen was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Upper Rhenish Circle that became a principality in 1688.The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602....
and Nassau-Weilburg, both co-founders (4000 each) |
| Flag of Oldenburg.svg |
{{sort|Oldenburg|Duchy of Oldenburg Oldenburg is a historical state in today's Germany named for its capital, Oldenburg. Oldenburg existed from 1180 until 1918 as a county, duchy and grand duchy. It was located near the mouth of the River Weser...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1808|oct|14}} |
(800) |
| Flagge Fürstentum Reuß jüngere Linie.svg |
{{sort|Reuss-Ebersdorf|Principality of Reuss-Ebersdorf Reuss-Ebersdorf was a county and from 1806 a principality located in Germany. The Counts of Reuss-Ebersdorf belonged to the Reuss Junior Line...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(400) |
| Flagge Fürstentum Reuß ältere Linie.svg |
{{sort|Reuss-Greiz|Principality of Reuss-Greiz}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(400) |
| Flag of Reuss-Lobenstein.svg |
{{sort|Reuss-Lobenstein|Principality of Reuss-Lobenstein Reuss-Lobenstein was a state located in the German part of the Holy Roman Empire. The members of Reuss-Lobenstein family belonged to the Reuss Junior Line. Reuss-Lobenstein has existed on two different occasions, it was firstly created in 1425 as a lordship with Heinrich II, Lord of...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(400) |
| Flagge Fürstentum Reuß jüngere Linie.svg |
{{sort|Reuss-Schleiz|Principality of Reuss-Schleiz}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(400) |
| Flag of Salm principalities (1798-1811).svg |
{{sort|Salm|Principality of SalmThe Principality of Salm was a short-lived client state of Napoleonic France located in Westphalia.-History:Salm was created in 1802 as a state of the Holy Roman Empire in order to compensate the princes of Salm-Kyrburg and Salm-Salm, who had lost their states to France in 1793-1795...
(Salm-Salm and Salm-Kyrburg)}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|25}} |
Co-founder (4000) |
| Armoiries Saxe.svg |
{{sort|Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Duchy of Saxe-Coburg The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in the 17th century, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line in...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|dec|15}} |
(part of 2000 for Saxe duchies) |
| Armoiries Saxe.svg |
{{sort|Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Duchy of Saxe-Gotha The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in the 17th century, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line in...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|dec|15}} |
(part of 2000 for Saxe duchies) |
| Armoiries Saxe.svg |
{{sort|Saxe-Hildburghausen|Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen was an Ernestine duchy in what is now southern Thuringia, Germany. Its territory was similar to that of the modern Hildburghausen district.- History :...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|dec|15}} |
(part of 2000 for Saxe duchies) |
| Wappen Deutsches Reich - Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen (Grosses).png |
{{sort|Saxe-Meiningen|Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen The Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty.-History:Established in the 1681, the Saxe-Meiningen line lasted, without much distinction, until the end of the German monarchies in 1918...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|dec|15}} |
(part of 2000 for Saxe duchies) |
| Wappen Deutsches Reich - Grossherzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach.png |
{{sort|Saxe-Weimar|Duchy of Saxe-WeimarSaxe-Weimar was a duchy in Thuringia, Germany. The chief town and capital was Weimar.- History :In the 15th century much of what is now Thuringia, including the area around Weimar, was in the hands of the Wettin dynasty, the Electors of Saxony. In 1485 the Wettin lands were divided, with the lands...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|dec|15}} |
(part of 2000 for Saxe duchies) |
| State flag of Saxony before 1815.svg |
{{sort|Saxony|Kingdom of SaxonyThe Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|dec|11}} |
Former duchy A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era...
(20,000) |
| Flagge Fürstentum Schaumburg-Lippe.svg |
{{sort|Schaumburg|Principality of Schaumburg-LippeSchaumburg-Lippe was a small state in Germany, in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bückeburg.- History :With the death of Count Wilhelm in 1777 the junior Schaumburg-Lippe-Alverdissen inherited the County thereby reuniting Schaumburg-Lippe with...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(650) |
| Wappen Deutsches Reich - Fürstentum Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.jpg |
{{sort|Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Principality of Schwarzburg-RudolstadtSchwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small state in Germany, in the present-day state of Thuringia.-History:Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was formed in a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty family lands, with its capital originally in the castle at Schwarzburg, but later, for most of its existence as a polity...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(650) |
| Wappen Deutsches Reich - Fürstentum Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.jpg |
{{sort|Schwarzburg-Sondershausen|Principality of Schwarzburg-SondershausenSchwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with capital at Sondershausen.-History:...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(650) |
| Flag of Waldeck before 1830.svg |
{{sort|Waldeck|Principality of WaldeckWaldeck was a sovereign principality in the German Empire and German Confederation and, until 1929, a constituent state of the Weimar Republic. It comprised territories in present-day Hesse and Lower Saxony, ....
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|apr|11}} |
(400) |
| Flag of the Kingdom of Westphalia.svg |
{{sort|Westphalia|Kingdom of WestphaliaThe Kingdom of Westphalia was a historical state that existed from 1807-1813 in parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoléon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, but had little territory in common...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1807|nov|15}} |
Napoleonic creation (25,000) |
| Flag of Württemberg before 1809.svg |
{{sort|Württemberg|Kingdom of WürttembergThe Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|jul|12}} |
Co-founder; former duchy A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era...
(12,000) |
| Flag of the Grandduchy of Wurzburg.svg |
{{sort|Würzburg|Grand Duchy of WürzburgThe Grand Duchy of Würzburg was a grand duchy of the Confederation of the Rhine. Its capital was Würzburg, now in Bavaria, Germany.As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in 1803 and granted to Bavaria. In the same year Ferdinand III, former...
}} |
{{dts|format=dmy|1806|sep|23}} |
Napoleonic creation (2000) |
Aftermath
The alliesIn the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers joined Russia,...
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 ({{lang-de|Zentralverwaltungsrat}}); its President was Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum SteinHeinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein , commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced reforms that paved the way for the unification of Germany...
(1757 – 1831). It was dissolved on 20 June 1815.
On 30 May 1814 the Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May, 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition.The Treaty of Paris of 1814 was one of two which ended the wars of the Napoleonic era...
declared the German states independent.
In 1815, the Congress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November, 1814 to June, 1815. Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
redrew the continent's political map. In fact, most surviving members had only minor border changes, and the resulting German ConfederationThe German Confederation was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had been abolished in 1806. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to...
consisted more or less of the same members as the Confederation of the Rhine.
Sources and external links
{{Client states of the Great French War}}
{{States of the Confederation of the Rhine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Confederation Of The Rhine}}
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