The Kingdom Of Bavaria: From Past To Present

The Kingdom of Bavaria ceased to exist as an independent nation in 1917 when the US declared war on Imperial Germany. The last king of Bavaria, Otto I, died in 1916 and was never deposed, although he was declared insane. The kingdom was one of the founding states of the German Empire, which was proclaimed on 18 January 1871. The history of the kingdom can be traced back to the ascension of prince-elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach as King of Bavaria in 1805.

Bavaria's foundation as a kingdom in 1805

The Kingdom of Bavaria was founded in 1805 when prince-elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach was permitted to assume the title of King of Bavaria. This was allowed by the 1805 Peace of Pressburg, a treaty between French Emperor Napoleon and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, which elevated several principalities allied to Napoleon to kingdoms. Maximilian's official title became King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, and he was a member of the Wittelsbach branch Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken. Maximilian's ascension to king marked the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, the first being the short-lived Carolingian kingdom of Bavaria almost a thousand years prior.

Maximilian's rule as king began on 1 January 1806, and he continued to serve as an elector until Bavaria seceded from the Holy Roman Empire on 1 August 1806. The Duchy of Berg was ceded to Napoleon in 1806, and the new kingdom faced challenges from the outset, relying on the support of Napoleonic France. The kingdom faced war with Austria in 1809 and lost territory to Württemberg, Italy, and then Austria from 1810 to 1814. In 1808, all relics of serfdom were abolished, and Maximilian issued Bavaria's first written constitution.

During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, about 30,000 Bavarian soldiers were killed in action. With the Treaty of Ried of 8 October 1813, Bavaria left the Confederation of the Rhine and agreed to join the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in exchange for a guarantee of her continued sovereign and independent status. On 14 October, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France. With the defeat of Napoleon's France in 1814, Bavaria was compensated for some of its losses, receiving new territories such as the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, the Archbishopric of Mainz (Aschaffenburg) and parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Finally, in 1816, the Rhenish Palatinate was taken from France in exchange for most of Salzburg, which was then ceded to Austria.

Bavaria's alliance with Napoleon

The alliance was a military one, and Bavaria marched alongside Napoleon on his road to victory over the Austrians. Bavarian troops were also on the victorious side when Napoleon defeated the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz on December 2, 1805. Bavaria's alliance with Napoleon was invoked for the first time in 1805, followed by campaigns against Prussia and Russia in 1806-07, against Austria in 1809, and against Russia again in 1812. In return for military support, Napoleon aided Bavaria's newly minted King Maximilian I Joseph in his quest to create a modern Bavarian state.

In 1808, Bavaria's modern constitution came into being, and all relics of serfdom were abolished. Bavaria also acquired former ecclesiastical domains, imperial cities, and imperial villages, increasing its territory by 5000 km2 and 113,000 subjects. By the end of the Napoleonic era, Bavaria had gained 17,000 km2 and 843,000 subjects. However, the alliance with Napoleon came at a high cost for the Bavarians. Over 50,000 Bavarian soldiers died on battlefields in Prussia, Russia, and France.

The alliance between Bavaria and Napoleon began to disintegrate in 1812, after just 3,000 soldiers returned from the Russian campaign from an original pre-invasion number of 30,000. The final rift came in 1813, when Bavaria signed the Treaty of Ried, terminating its alliance with France and agreeing to join the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon.

Bavaria's territorial changes in the 19th century

Bavaria underwent several territorial changes in the 19th century, with its land area doubling at one point. The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that succeeded the Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. Here is a detailed overview of Bavaria's territorial changes during this period:

Early 19th Century

In 1803, Bavaria received several bishoprics, territories of abbeys, and cities due to Napoleon's suppression of ecclesiastical states and free cities in the Empire. This expansion included the bishoprics of Würzburg, Bamberg, Augsburg, and Freisingen, part of the bishopric of Passau, and territories of twelve abbeys.

In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg allowed Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach to raise Bavaria to the status of a kingdom. Maximilian proclaimed himself King of Bavaria on January 1, 1806, and the country seceded from the Holy Roman Empire on August 1, 1806, joining the Confederation of the Rhine.

Napoleonic Wars

During the Napoleonic Wars, Bavaria's territory fluctuated. In 1806, the Duchy of Berg was ceded to Napoleon. In 1809, Bavaria faced war with Austria and lost territory to Württemberg and Italy from 1810 to 1814. However, after Napoleon's defeat in 1814, Bavaria lost the territories it had gained but received new lands, including the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and the Rhenish Palatinate.

Post-Napoleonic Era

The Treaty of Paris in 1814 established most of modern Germany's Free State of Bavaria's borders. With this treaty, Bavaria ceded Tyrol and Vorarlberg to the Austrian Empire while receiving Aschaffenburg and Würzburg. The Kingdom of Bavaria was the second-largest and second most powerful state south of the Main, behind Austria.

In 1816, Bavaria ceded the northern Tyrol and Vorarlberg to Austria and received additional territories, including parts of Salzburg, the Innviertel and Hausruck, and the principalities of Bayreuth and Regensburg.

In 1818, Bavaria's second constitution was proclaimed, establishing a bicameral Parliament (Landtag).

Austro-Prussian War

In the mid-19th century, Bavaria's focus shifted towards preserving its independence and resisting the influence of Prussia and Austria. However, in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Bavaria sided with Austria and suffered defeats at the hands of the Prussians, including the Battle of Kissingen and the Battle of Roßbrunn.

As a result of the Austro-Prussian War, Bavaria lost territories to Prussia, including Gersfeld, Bad Orb, and Kaulsdorf. This marked a shift towards Prussia's sphere of influence over Bavaria.

Franco-Prussian War

In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Bavaria joined forces with Prussia against France, which was seen as the greatest threat to a united Germany. The combined German forces defeated France, and in 1871, Bavaria became a federated state of the newly formed German Empire.

Post-Unification

With the unification of Germany, Bavaria's status changed. While it retained some autonomy, such as maintaining its diplomatic body and army during peacetime, it now had to fall under Prussian command during wartime. Bavaria's entry into the German Empire marked a shift in sentiment, with initial jubilation over France's defeat giving way to dismay due to the direction taken by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

In summary, Bavaria's territorial changes in the 19th century were characterized by expansions and losses due to Napoleonic Wars, post-war treaties, and the eventual unification of Germany. The kingdom's focus on preserving its independence and resistance to the influence of Prussia and Austria also shaped its territorial trajectory during this period.

Bavaria's role in the 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 as a replacement for the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved in 1806 due to the Napoleonic Wars. Bavaria was one of the six major states with one vote each in the Federal Assembly. The others were the Kingdom of Saxony, the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Electorate of Hesse, the Grand Duchy of Baden, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

The Confederation had only one organ, the Federal Convention (also Federal Assembly or Confederate Diet). The Convention consisted of the representatives of the member states. The most important issues had to be decided on unanimously. The Convention was presided over by the representative of Austria, though this was a formality as the Confederation did not have a head of state.

The German Confederation was a strong alliance between its member states because federal law was superior to state law. Additionally, the Confederation had been established for eternity and was impossible to dissolve (legally), with no member states being able to leave it. On the other hand, the Confederation was weakened by its very structure and member states, partly because the most important decisions in the Federal Convention required unanimity and the purpose of the Confederation was limited to only security matters.

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 was dissolved on 12 July 1848, but was re-established in 1850 after the revolution was crushed by Austria, Prussia, and other states.

The Confederation was 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 favour of Prussia, 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, including Bavaria, remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed and proclaimed as the "German Empire" in 1871, as the unified Germany (aside from Austria) with the Prussian king as emperor (Kaiser) after the victory over French Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

The end of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1918

The Kingdom of Bavaria ceased to exist as an independent nation in 1918, bringing an end to 738 years of rule by the House of Wittelsbach. The last King of Bavaria, Ludwig III, reigned from 1913 until he was deposed in 1918.

The end of the kingdom came about as World War I was drawing to a close. In 1917, the United States severed diplomatic relations with the German Empire, which included Bavaria, and declared war in April of that year. As the war progressed, the German Revolution broke out in Bavaria, and on November 7, 1918, King Ludwig III fled Munich with his family, taking up residence in Austria. A week later, on November 13, 1918, Ludwig III was deposed, becoming the first monarch in the German Empire to meet this fate.

The Kingdom of Bavaria had been formed in 1805 when prince-elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach was raised to the status of king. This elevation was formalized on January 1, 1806, when Maximilian officially became King Maximilian I Joseph. The kingdom was one of the largest German states, after Austria and Prussia, and played a role in the process of German unification during the mid-19th century. In 1871, Bavaria became one of the founding states of the German Empire, and from this point forward, the foreign policy of the German Empire was made in Berlin.

The territory of Bavaria underwent several changes during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, experiencing both losses and expansions. In 1791, Bavaria began to cede its Palatine territories on the Rhine and the Lower Rhine, a process that continued until 1803. However, through a series of treaties, large parts of Franconia and territories in eastern Swabia were awarded to Bavaria, resulting in significant expansions. These developments were closely tied to the upheavals initiated by Napoleon, which led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and a reorganization of Europe.

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