All the Little Germanies: Difference between revisions

[[File:PrussiaAndAllThatLot.jpg|frame|Die Gedanken sind frei]]

When Francis II abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor in 1804 and assumed the title of Francis I of the Empire of Austria, the implied acceptance of the death of the [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation]], though dictated by Napoleon, was simply a recognition of reality. Napoleon, however, having shattered German unity legally, ironically went a good way toward re-establishing it politically by amalgamating the tiny imperial states into larger units; Bavaria and Württemberg became Kingdoms on January 1, 1806, Saxony followed on December 20, and Westphalia was created as a Kingdom for Napoleon's youngest brother Jérôme in 1807. After the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 ratified most of Napoleon's foundations (Westphalia being a notable exception) while restoring some of the larger earlier units such as Hanover (now also raised to a Kingdom). [[Prussia]] increased dramatically in size, having been awarded substantial territories in the Rhineland, in recognition of the magnitude of her efforts against Napoleon - and of her army.<ref>This included the restoration of the territories west of the Elbe that had belonged to Prussia until 1806 and was in part considered a compensation for those territories in the east that were not restored to Prussia but used to form the Russian-controlled new Kingdom of Poland.</ref> After the Empire itself ceased, the run-up to the establishment of the ''[[Imperial Germany|Deutsches Reich]]'' may be considered the period of '''All the Little Germanies''' (or, as the Germans called it, the 'Biedermeier' period).