During the Napoleonic Wars, the map of Germany, like the whole of Europe, was significantly redrawn. This country was not united under the rule of one state. Instead, there were many principalities, duchies and kingdoms in the German lands. All of them were formally part of the Holy Roman Empire, but the emperor, who was primarily the ruler of Austria, had almost no power over its members. Napoleon, having captured Germany, completely changed the balance of power in it, trying to create an “ideal state” there in the image of France.
Prerequisites for appearance
Austria for Bonaparte was one of the most implacable opponents. The Habsburgs were part of all coalitions against revolutionary France, but time after time their armies were defeated. Napoleon conceived the Confederation of the Rhine as an alternative to the former state system in Germany. He considered the existence of the Holy Roman Empire and the nominal primacy of Vienna to be obsolete atavism.
For the first time, Bonaparte announced his plans after the victory of the French over the Russian-Austrian army in 1805. Then most of the rest of the German states took up arms against Austria. The authorities of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria joined Napoleon. Although they are longhesitated and were unreliable allies, the emperor of France generously rewarded them. The electors of Bavaria and Württemberg received royal titles. The ruler of Baden refused such an honor, realizing that his modest possessions did not pull on a “promotion”, and, together with the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, remained the Grand Duke.
Napoleon's German allies
Before the Confederation of the Rhine loyal to Napoleon was created, the allies cut off a significant part of their lands from the Habsburgs. Württemberg was content with acquiring part of Swabia, Baden received Breisgau and several other cities. The Kingdom of Bavaria annexed Augsburg and Tyrol.
The process of this redistribution of Germany ended in 1806. By this time, the few free cities remaining from the Middle Ages - Frankfurt, Augsburg and Nuremberg - had lost their independence. The same happened to spiritual orders, counts, barons and imperial knights. Representatives of the most eminent German aristocratic families, who gave Europe famous military leaders and politicians, lost their hereditary allotments. By creating the Confederation of the Rhine, Napoleon did not get rid of all of them. Some even acquired something new after the arrival of the French. So the emperor recruited loyal supporters, whose well-being now depended on the fate of the patron.
Forging an alliance
In July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established. First, it included 16 states in the south and west of Germany, and later 23 more small states joined them.principalities. The most important members were the kings of Württemberg and Bavaria. Formally, the "eternal union" was concluded on the equal rights of all states. In fact, the new formation became a satellite of France. Bonaparte gave nothing for nothing. By giving his supporters new titles and freedom from the Habsburgs, he made them his vassals.
In reality, the alliance proved to be the short-lived war machine France needed as the Napoleonic Wars continued throughout Europe. According to the charter, at the first request in Paris, the emperor was to receive 63,000 fresh German soldiers ready to defend his interests.
Counterweight to Prussia
After the defeat of Prussia in the Battle of Jena in October 1806 and the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit with Alexander I in the summer of 1807, new states entered the union. On their territory, Napoleon created a new Westphalian kingdom with its capital in Kassel. His brother Jerome Bonaparte became the ruler there. Frederick Augustus I of Saxony also received the royal title. After that, the population of the Confederation of the Rhine began to number 16 million inhabitants, and the size of its army fluctuated within 120 thousand soldiers.
If Austria was already defeated, then Prussia was still trying to resist the influence of Bonaparte. The Napoleonic Wars seriously shook the position of Frederick William III. To oversee the Prussian king, the emperor created the Grand Duchy of Berg with its capital in Düsseldorf, where his son-in-law Joachim Murat was placed on the throne.
Kingdom of Westphalia
In November 1807, the Kingdom of Westphalia was created. Like the Grand Duchy of Berg, it was created as a headache for Prussia. This experiment of Bonaparte was his most daring decision in Germany. In the heart of the German lands, a state subordinate to the French dynasty was created. The Kingdom of Westphalia was uncertain in both population and territory. It included lands scattered across different provinces. Many enclaves with completely different inhabitants have appeared.
Why did the German population so humbly endure the experiments and improvisations of the Frenchman? Historians are still building a variety of theories. The military genius of Bonaparte, his amazing charm, had an effect. With his victories, he paralyzed all his potential opponents who could lead a protest against the emperor. In addition, the Germans still do not have a single national consciousness. Residents of different small principalities had many accounts with each other and did not dare to step over their mutual grievances in order to oppose Napoleon.
The brainchild of Bonaparte
The 1806 Confederation of the Rhine created by Napoleon was largely an artificial formation. The emperor wanted to establish in his states a constitutional system with freedoms and human rights in the likeness of French law. But it turned out to be impossible to create a single system for the entire union. Large states like Bavaria did not want to be equalized with small neighbors.
In 1812, Napoleon went toeast to Russia. With him he took the best German troops - his army was very motley in its national character. Only a few recruits, veterans and the disabled remained in Germany. The Germans could have overthrown de facto French rule, but they did not. The Confederation of the Rhine (1806-1813) boasted calmness and loy alty even when the emperor was defeated in Russia.
Decomposition
Nevertheless, the fate of this confederation was sealed. After Bonaparte was defeated in the "battle of the nations" in the vicinity of Leipzig, the alliance broke up. Germany was again divided, and its borders were determined by foreign powers at the Congress of Vienna. German fragmentation persisted. However, the Holy Roman Empire was never restored.
But even though the experiment failed, the Confederation of the Rhine, whose constitution was adopted in the likeness of the French, proved to be an important experience. Later, other alliances of German states appeared in Germany, and they adopted some features of this Napoleonic brainchild.
