Editing German Confederation (section)

===Background===
{{Further|Napoleonic Wars}}
The [[War of the Third Coalition]] lasted from about 1803 to 1806. Following defeat at the [[Battle of Austerlitz|Battle of {{Lang|de|Austerlitz|nocat=y|italics=unset}}]] by the French under [[Napoleon]] in December 1805, [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]]  abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor on 6 August 1806, thus dissolving the [[Holy Roman Empire|Empire]]. In the aftermath of the [[Peace of Pressburg (1805)|Treaty of {{Lang|de|Pressburg|nocat=y|italics=unset}}]] Napoleon created the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] in July 1806, joining sixteen of France's allies among the German states (including Bavaria and {{Lang|de|Württemberg|italics=unset}}). After the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt|Battle of {{Lang|de|Jena–Auerstedt|nocat=y|italics=unset}}]] of October 1806 in the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], various other German states, including Saxony and Westphalia, also joined the Confederation. Only Austria, Prussia, Danish {{Lang|de|Holstein|italics=unset}}, [[Swedish Pomerania]], and the French-occupied [[Principality of Erfurt]] stayed outside the Confederation of the Rhine. The [[War of the Sixth Coalition]] from 1812 to winter 1814 saw the defeat of Napoleon and the liberation of Germany. In June 1814, the famous German patriot [[Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein|Heinrich vom Stein]] created the Central Managing Authority for Germany (''Zentralverwaltungsbehörde'') in Frankfurt to replace the defunct Confederation of the Rhine. However, plenipotentiaries gathered at the [[Congress of Vienna]] were determined to create a weaker union of German states than that envisaged by Stein.