A close-up on: the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, 12 July, 1806

After having sketched out his ideas regarding France and German lands in a letter to Talleyrand (Minister of Foreign Affairs) dated October 1805, Napoleon went further in the spring of 1806, creating a confederation of small western German states grouped around the three “principal” allies, Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Baden. This (essentially defensive) bastion was later to serve as a springboard for offensive manoeuvres against Prussia, Austria and also Russia.

– Treaty creating the Confederation of the Rhine (Paris, 12 July, 1806) in French
– Treaty creating the Confederation of the Rhine (Paris, 12 July, 1806) in German (external link, on the German web site Verfassungen der Welt)
– Treaty creating the Confederation of the Rhine (Paris, 12 July, 1806) in English

– Peter Hicks: The Confederation of the Rhine

– From the Holy Roman Empire to the Germanic Confederation

– Karl Friedrich von Baden-Durlach (1728-1811), Grand Duke of Baden
– Jerome Bonaparte (1784–1860), king of Westphalia
– Princess Catherine of Württemberg (1783-1835), second wife of Jerome
– C. Th. von Dalberg (1744-1817), Prince primat of the Confederation of the Rhine
– Francis II (1768-1835), emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor of Austria
– Graf von Haugwitz (1752–1832), Prussian minister of foreign affairs
– King Maximilian I of Bavaria (1756 –1825)
– Count von Montgelas (1759-1838), Bavarian minister
– Frederick I of Württemberg (1754 – 1816), Elector

– Meeting between Napoleon and Baron Karl von Dalberg at Aschaffenburg, 2 October, 1806 by Bourgeois du Castelet
– Page of the treaty (external link on the site of the French ministry of Foreign Affairs)
– Map of Europe in 1806

– Selection of works on the Confederation of the Rhine (1806-1815)