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The Reorganization of Germany, 1802
Introduction
By: Tom Holmberg
The struggle against France, which began under the Revolution, had profound
effects on Germany and formed the background to the collapse of the
German Empire. The treaty of Leoben (April 1797) and the subsequent
treaty of Campo Formio (Oct. 1797) saw the beginning of the end of the
Holy Roman Empire. In secret articles in the treaty of Campo Formio
Austria ceded to France the left bank of the Rhine. A congress convened
at Rastadt was to work out the details of the cession. Before this could
occur a new war between France and Austria broke out. With Austria once
again defeated, the treaty of Luneville (Feb. 1801) put the last nail
in the Empire's coffin.
The diet of the Empire relinquished the final settlement of compensations
for losses west of the Rhine to the Emperor, who refused to act. They
then appointed an Imperial deputation consisting of the electors of
Mainz, Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburg and Palatinate-Bavaria; the duke
of Württemberg; the landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and the Franconian grandmaster
of the Teutonic Order. Due to foot-dragging by this deputation, Bavaria,
Baden Württemberg, Prussia and Mainz ended up making separate treaties
with France before the deputation's first meeting could even be convoked.
These treaties were arranged in part through the offices of Alexander
I, the new tsar of Russia, who was a co-guarantor of the Empire. In
the end a joint Franco-Russian plan for the reorganization of Germany
was worked out. This plan was accepted with few modifications when the
deputation finally convened.
All the ecclesiastical princes (except two) were dispossessed. The possessions
of the Teutonic Order were preserved largely as an asylum for noblemen
who had lost their Cathedral chapter possessions in the reorganization.
Most of the 48 Imperial free cities lost their autonomy. The remaining,
reorganized states were designed to be large enough to survive on their
own, but too weak to be truly independent. More than 100 small German
states disappeared and the reorganized states remained largely the same
well into the twentieth century.
The Franco-Russian plan was presented at the "Final Recess" of the Imperial
Diet and the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss was adopted on 24
March 1803. On 11 Aug. 1804 Francis II of Austria assumed the title
of Emperor of Austria.
Note: All references of "emperor" or "empire" are to the Holy
Roman Empire with the king of Austria as Emperor. The Grand Duke of
Tuscany, Ferdinand III was from the Hapsburg house -brother of Franz
II of Austria.
Note: "A 'toise' is a traditional French unit of distance
comparable to the British fathom. Like the fathom, the toise
originally represented the distance between the fingertips of a man
with outstretched arms. Introduced by Charlemagne in 790, the toise
is such an ancient unit that toiser has become a verb meaning
"to measure" or "to size up." The toise equals six pieds (French
feet). Feet of different lengths were used in France, but based on the
18th century Paris pied the toise equals 6.395 (English)
feet or 1.949 meters. This unit was widely used in the 19th century
and hasn't died out entirely today."
Source: How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
Copyright © 2001 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html
Placed on the Napoleon
Series May 2001
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