German Confederation


The German Confederation was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to replace the Holy Roman Empire, which dissolved in 1806 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.
The Confederation had only one organ, the Bundesversammlung, or Federal Convention. The Convention consisted of the representatives of the member states. The most important issues had to be decided unanimously. The Convention was presided over by the representative of Austria, but this was a formality, as the Confederation had no head of state, since it was not a state.
The Confederation was a strong alliance among its member states because federal law was superior to state law. Additionally, the Confederation had been established for eternity and was impossible to dissolve, with no member states able to leave it and no new member able to join without universal consent in the Federal Convention. But the Confederation was weakened by its very structure and member states, partly because its most important decisions required unanimity and the purpose of the Confederation was limited to security matters. Moreover, the functioning of the Confederation depended on the cooperation of the two most populous member states, Austria and Prussia, which were often in opposition.
The German revolutions of 1848–1849, motivated by liberal, democratic, socialist, and nationalist sentiments, attempted to transform the Confederation into a unified German federal state with a liberal constitution. The Federal Convention dissolved on 12 July 1848 but was reestablished in 1850 after the revolution was crushed by Austria, Prussia, and other states.
The Confederation finally dissolved after the victory of the Kingdom of Prussia in the Seven Weeks' War over the Austrian Empire in 1866. The dispute over which had the inherent right to rule German lands ended in Prussia's favour, leading to the creation of the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867, to which the eastern portions of the Kingdom of Prussia were added. A number of South German states remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed and proclaimed as the German Empire in 1871, as the unified Germany with the Prussian king as emperor after the victory over French Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
Most historians consider the Confederation to have been weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state. This weakness was part of its design, as the European Great Powers, including Prussia and especially Austria, did not want it to become a nation-state. But the Confederation was not a loose tie between the German states, as it was impossible to leave, and as Confederation law stood above the law of the aligned states. Its constitutional weakness lay in the principle of unanimity in the Diet and the limits of the Confederation's scope: it was essentially a military alliance to defend Germany against external attacks and internal riots. The War of 1866 proved its ineffectiveness, as it was unable to combine the federal troops to fight the Prussian secession.

History

Background

The War of the Third Coalition lasted from about 1803 to 1806. Following defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz by the French under Napoleon in December 1805, Francis II abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor on 6 August 1806, thus dissolving the Empire. In the aftermath of the Treaty of Pressburg Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine in July 1806, joining 16 of France's allies among the German states. After the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt of October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition, various other German states, including Saxony and Westphalia, also joined the Confederation. Only Austria, Prussia, Danish Holstein, Swedish Pomerania, and the French-occupied Principality of Erfurt stayed outside the Confederation of the Rhine. The War of the Sixth Coalition from 1812 to winter 1814 saw Napoleon's defeat and Germany's liberation. In June 1814, the German patriot Heinrich vom Stein created the Central Managing Authority for Germany in Frankfurt to replace the defunct Confederation of the Rhine, but plenipotentiaries gathered at the Congress of Vienna were determined to create a weaker union of German states than Stein envisaged.

Establishment

The German Confederation was created by the 9th Act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris, ending the War of the Sixth Coalition.
The Confederation was formally created by a second treaty, the Final Act of the Ministerial Conference to Complete and Consolidate the Organization of the German Confederation. This treaty was not concluded and signed by the parties until 15 May 1820. States joined the German Confederation by becoming parties to the second treaty. The states designated for inclusion in the Confederation.
In 1839, as compensation for the loss of part of the province of Luxemburg to Belgium, the Duchy of Limburg was created and became a member of the German Confederation until the dissolution of 1866. In 1867 the duchy was declared an "integral part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands". The cities of Maastricht and Venlo were not included in the Confederation.
The Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia were the Confederation's largest and most powerful members. Large parts of both were excluded from the Confederation because they had not been part of the former Holy Roman Empire, nor were the greater parts of their armed forces incorporated in the federal army. Austria and Prussia each had one vote in the Federal Assembly.
Six other major states had one vote each in the Federal Assembly: the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Saxony, the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Electorate of Hesse, the Grand Duchy of Baden, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse.
Three foreign monarchs ruled member states: the King of Denmark as Duke of Holstein and Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg; the King of the Netherlands as Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Duke of Limburg; and the King of the United Kingdom as King of Hanover were members of the German Confederation. Each had a vote in the Federal Assembly. At its foundation in 1815, four member states were ruled by foreign monarchs, as the King of Denmark was Duke of both Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg.
The four free cities of Bremen, Free City of Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Free City of Lübeck shared one vote in the Federal Assembly.
The 23 remaining states shared five votes in the Federal Assembly:
There were therefore 17 votes in the Federal Assembly.
Status and coutryFlagCapitalNotes
Kingdoms ---
BavariaMunich-
HanoverHanoverAnnexed by Prussia 20 September 1866
PrussiaBerlinThe Province of Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Posen were only federal territory in 1848–1850
SaxonyDresden-
WürttembergStuttgart-
Empire ---
AustriaViennaOnly a part that included the Crown of Bohemia – Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia – and Austrian lands – Austria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Littoral except Istria; the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator, part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, were also members in 1818–1850
Electorate ---
HesseKasselAlso known as Hesse-Kassel; annexed by Prussia 20 September 1866
Grand Duchies ---
BadenKarlsruhe-
Hesse and by RhineDarmstadtAlso known as Hesse-Darmstadt
LuxembourgLuxembourgWith the Dutch King being the Grand Duke
Mecklenburg-SchwerinSchwerin-
Mecklenburg-StrelitzNeustrelitz-
OldenburgOldenburg-
Saxe-Weimar-EisenachWeimar-
Duchies ---
AnhaltDessauwas creat in 1863 after 2 anhalt unade
Anhalt-BernburgBernburgInherited by the Duke of Anhalt-Dessau in 1863
Anhalt-DessauDessauRenamed the Duchy of Anhalt in 1863
Anhalt-KöthenKöthenInherited by the Duke of Anhalt-Dessau in 1847; merged with Anhalt-Dessau in 1853
Bremen and VerdenStadea Hanoverian Crown and in 1823 it was merged with Hanover
BrunswickBrunswick-
HolsteinGlückstadtHeld by Danish kings in personal union since the 15th century as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire; on 28 November 1863, the Federal Assembly removed the Danish delegate pending resolution of the succession issue and the naming of a new delegate from a government recognized by the Assembly; Denmark subsequently ceded it and Sleswig jointly to Austria and Prussia on 30 October 1864 as a result of the Second Schleswig War; the duchy technically remained in the Confederation pending final resolution of its status; Sleswig did not become a member in the short time between this war and the dissolution of the Confederation; both duchies were annexed by Prussia on 24 December 1866
LimburgMaastrichtWith the Dutch King being the Duke
NassauWiesbadenAnnexed by Prussia 20 September 1866
Saxe-AltenburgAltenburgjoin in 1826 after Partitioned of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Saxe-Coburg and GothaGotha and Coburgjoin in 1826 after Partitioned of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Saxe-Coburg-SaalfeldCoburgBecame Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1826
Saxe-Gotha-AltenburgGothaPartitioned and became Saxe-Altenburg in 1826
Saxe-HildburghausenHildburghausenDuchy partitioned and ruler became Duke of Saxe-Altenburg in 1826
Saxe-LauenburgRatzeburgHeld by Denmark since 1815; by the Treaty of Vienna, King Christian IX of Denmark abdicated as duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and ceded the duchy to Prussia and Austria; In September 1865 William I of Prussia acceded as duke in personal union, following the Gastein Convention and a vote of the Estates of Lauenburg
Saxe-MeiningenMeiningen-
Landgraviate ---
Hesse-BarchfeldBarchfeld-
Hesse-PhilippsthalPhilippsthal-
Hesse-RotenburgRotenburg-
Hesse-HomburgBad HomburgJoined in 1817; inherited by the grand-duke of Hesse-Darmstadt in March 1866; annexed by Prussia 20 September 1866
Principalities ---
Hohenzollern-HechingenHechingenBecame part of Prussia in 1850
Hohenzollern-SigmaringenSigmaringenBecame part of Prussia in 1850
LiechtensteinVaduz-
LippeDetmold-
Reuss-EbersdorfEbersdorfBecame part of Reuss-Gera in 1824
Reuss-GreizGreiz-
Reuss-GeraGera-
Reuss-LobensteinLobensteinBecame part of Reuss-Gera in 1824
Reuss-SchleizSchleiz-
Schaumburg-LippeBückeburg-
Schwarzburg-RudolstadtRudolstadt-
Schwarzburg-SondershausenSondershausen-
Waldeck and PyrmontArolsen-
Free Cities ---
BremenBremen-
FrankfurtFrankfurt am MainAnnexed by Prussia 20 September 1866
HamburgHamburg-
LübeckLübeck-