German Confederation

The German Confederation replaced the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe. After the Holy Roman Empire fell, Germany had fallen into over 350 different small kingdoms. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna decided that these weak kingdoms were not strong enough to keep France from trying to conquer them, which it had already done once under Napoleon. The Congress decided to keep the 39 larger countries that Napoleon had created in his Confederation of the Rhine. He joined all those little countries into 39 larger countries, which were still very small compared to the powerful countries of Europe. 

The problem was that the Congress did not want to make them too strong, or they might conquer other countries. So they put the 39 countries into a confederation which meant that they were all separate countries, but they agreed to help defend each other, and in some ways acted like one big country. The Confederation would not be strong enough to attack another country; only strong enough to preserve the European balance of power. 

The German Confederation lasted until 1866, when the members fought each other. The winners formed a new North German Confederation. In 1871 after winning the Franco-Prussian War, Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Prussia, combined all the countries of Germany into the German Empire.

Category:19th century in Austria
Category:19th century in Germany
Category:Former states in Germany
Category:1815 establishments in Europe
Category:1860s disestablishments in Europe
Category:Former federations