Confederation of the Rhine

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.

Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13) A grouping of middle and south German states. After Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz (1805) he announced the creation of a Confederation of the Rhine, whose members were obliged to abdicate from the old Holy Roman Empire, which was then declared dissolved. After the defeat of Prussia at Jena (1806) other princely states and cities joined. Napoleon had annexed for France all the left bank of the Rhine, but the new Confederation gradually extended from the Rhine to the Elbe. It was at first welcomed by the German people as a step towards unity, but it was really a barrier against Prussian and Austrian power, and as the CONTINENTAL SYSTEM began to result in economic hardship, it became less popular. It contributed a contingent to Napoleon's campaigns of 1813. After his defeat at Leipzig, however, the Confederation broke up; one by one the German states and cities made peace and supported the QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE of Prussia, Britain, Russia, and Austria. A new GERMAN CONFEDERATION was to emerge from the Congress of VIENNA.