During the Napoleonic Wars, the map of Germany, as well as the whole of Europe, was significantly redrawn. This country was not united under the authority of one state. Instead, there were many principalities, duchies, and kingdoms on German lands. All of them formally belonged to 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 there an “ideal state” in the image of France.
Background
Austria for Bonaparte was one of the most implacable opponents. The Habsburgs were part of all coalitions against revolutionary France, but over and over again their armies were defeated. Napoleon conceived the Rhine Union 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 rebelled against Austria. The authorities of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria joined Napoleon. Although they hesitated for a long time and were unreliable allies, the emperor of France generously awarded them. Electors of Bavaria and Württemberg received royal titles. The ruler of Baden refused such an honor, realizing that his modest possessions did not pull him up, and, together with the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, remained the Grand Duke.
German allies of Napoleon
Before the Rhine Union loyal to Napoleon was created, the Allies cut off a significant part of their lands from the Habsburgs. Württemberg was content with the acquisition of part of Swabia, Baden received Breisgau and several other cities. The Kingdom of Bavaria has annexed Augsburg and Tyrol.
The process of this redistribution of Germany ended in 1806. By this time, the few remaining free cities from the Middle Ages - Frankfurt, Augsburg and Nuremberg - had lost their independence. The same thing happened with the spiritual orders, counts, barons and imperial knights. Representatives of the most eminent German aristocratic clans who presented Europe with famous military leaders and politicians lost their inheritance plots. Creating the Rhine Union, Napoleon did not get rid of all of them. Some even acquired something new after the arrival of the French. So the emperor gained himself loyal supporters, whose well-being now depended on the fate of the patron.
Union creation
In July 1806, the Rhine Union was established. First, it included 16 states in the south and west of Germany, and later another 23 small principalities joined them. The most important members were the kings of Württemberg and Bavarian. Formally, an “eternal union” was concluded on the equal rights of all states. In fact, the new entity became a satellite of France. Bonaparte did not give anything for nothing. Giving his supporters new titles and freedom from the Habsburgs, he made them his vassals.
In fact, the alliance turned out to be the short-lived military machine needed by France while the Napoleonic Wars continued throughout Europe. According to the charter, at the first Paris request, the emperor was to receive 63 thousand fresh German soldiers, ready to defend his interests.
Prussia Counterweight
After the defeat of Prussia at the Battle of Jena in October 1806 and the conclusion of the Tilsit Peace with Alexander I in the summer of 1807, new states entered into an alliance. On their territory, Napoleon created the new Kingdom of Westphalia with its capital in Kassel. The ruler there was his brother Jerome Bonaparte. Also the royal title was received by Frederick Augustus I of Saxony. After that, the population of the Rhine Union began to count 16 million inhabitants, and the size of its army ranged from 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 observe the Prussian king, the emperor created the great duchy of Berg with the capital in Dusseldorf, where his son-in-law Joachim Murat was seated on the throne .
Kingdom of westphalia
In November 1807, the kingdom of Westphalia was created. Like the great duchy of Berg, it was created as a headache for Prussia. This Bonaparte experiment was his boldest decision in Germany. In the heart of German lands, a state subordinate to the French dynasty was created. The Kingdom of Westphalia was uncertain both in population and territory. It included lands scattered in different provinces. Many enclaves appeared with completely different inhabitants.
Why did the German population so dutifully endure the experiments and improvisations of the Frenchman? Historians are still building a variety of theories. Bonaparte's military genius, his amazing charm, affected. 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 unified national consciousness. Residents of various small principalities had many accounts with each other and did not dare to step over their mutual insults in order to resist Napoleon.
Bonaparte's brainchild
The Rhine Union of 1806 created by Napoleon was largely an artificial entity. The emperor wanted to establish in his states a constitutional system with freedoms and human rights in the likeness of French law. But it was impossible to create a single system for the entire union. Large states like Bavaria did not want to equalize with small neighbors.
In 1812, Napoleon went east to Russia. He took the best German troops with him - his army was very mottled in its nationality. In Germany, there were only a few recruits, veterans and the disabled. The Germans could overthrow the actual French rule, but did not. The Rhine Union (1806-1813) could boast of calm and loyalty, even when the emperor was defeated in Russia.
Decay
Nevertheless, the fate of this confederation was a foregone conclusion. After Bonaparte was defeated in the “battle of the peoples” in the vicinity of Leipzig, the union broke up. Germany was again divided, and its borders were determined by foreign powers at the Vienna Congress. German fragmentation has survived. At the same time, the Holy Roman Empire was never restored.
But even despite the failure of the experiment, the Rhine Union, 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.