Rheinbundakte
| Confederated States of the Rhine Confederation of the Rhine |
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Rheinbund (German) Confédération du Rhin (French) |
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Confederation of client states of the French Empire |
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.svg) The Confederation of the Rhine in 1812
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| Capital | Frankfurt | |||||||||
| Languages | German, French | |||||||||
| Religion |
Roman Catholicism Protestantism |
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| Political structure | Confederation of French client states | |||||||||
| Protector | ||||||||||
| • | 1806–13 | Napoleon I | ||||||||
| Prince-Primate | ||||||||||
| • | 1806–13 | 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 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Austria Germany Italy Liechtenstein Poland
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The Confederation of the Rhine (German: Rheinbund; French: officially États confédérés du Rhin ["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.
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. 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.
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 Rhinelande, 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 and his Habsburg dynasty continued as emperors of Austria.
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Wikipedia