Editing History of Germany (section)

===French Revolution, 1789–1815===
[[File:Rheinbund 1812, political map.png|thumb|The [[Confederation of the Rhine]], a union of client states of the [[First French Empire]] (1806 to 1813)]]
[[File:Vienna Congress.jpg|thumb|The delegates of the [[Congress of Vienna]]]]

German reaction to the [[French Revolution]] was mixed at first. German intellectuals celebrated the outbreak, hoping to see the triumph of Reason and The Enlightenment. The royal courts in Vienna and Berlin denounced the overthrow of the king and the threatened spread of notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity. By 1793, the [[Execution of Louis XVI|execution of the French king]] and the onset of [[Reign of Terror|the Terror]] disillusioned the Bildungsbürgertum (educated middle classes). Reformers said the solution was to have faith in the ability of Germans to reform their laws and institutions in peaceful fashion.<ref>James J. Sheehan, ''German History, 1770–1866'' (1993) pp. 207–288</ref>

Europe was racked by two decades of war revolving around France's efforts to spread its revolutionary ideals, and the opposition of reactionary royalty. War broke out in 1792 as Austria and Prussia invaded France, but were defeated at the [[Battle of Valmy]] (1792). The German lands saw armies marching back and forth, bringing devastation (albeit on a far lower scale than the [[Thirty Years' War]], almost two centuries before), but also bringing new ideas of liberty and civil rights for the people. Prussia and Austria ended their failed wars with France but (with Russia) partitioned Poland among themselves in 1793 and 1795.

====French consulate suzerainty====
[[French Consulate|France]] took control of the [[Rhineland]], imposed French-style reforms, abolished feudalism, established constitutions, promoted freedom of religion, emancipated Jews, opened the bureaucracy to ordinary citizens of talent, and forced the nobility to share power with the rising middle class. Napoleon created the [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] as a model state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Owen |url=https://archive.org/details/napoleonssatelli0000conn |title=Napoleon's satellite kingdoms |publisher=New York, Free Press |date=1966 |chapter=6}}</ref> These reforms proved largely permanent and modernized the western parts of Germany. When the French tried to impose the French language, German opposition grew in intensity. A [[Second Coalition]] of Britain, Russia, and Austria then attacked France but failed. Napoleon established direct or indirect control over most of western Europe, including the German states apart from Prussia and Austria. The old Holy Roman Empire was little more than a farce; Napoleon simply abolished it in 1806 while forming new countries under his control. In Germany Napoleon set up the "[[Confederation of the Rhine]]", comprising most of the German states except Prussia and Austria.<ref name=raff/>

====Imperial French suzerainty====
Under [[Frederick William II of Prussia|Frederick William II]]'s weak rule (1786–1797) Prussia had undergone a serious economic, political and military decline. His successor king [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] tried to remain neutral during the [[War of the Third Coalition]] and [[First French Empire|French emperor]] [[Napoleon]]'s dissolution of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and reorganisation of the German principalities. Induced by the queen and a pro-war party Frederick William joined the [[War of the Fourth Coalition|Fourth Coalition]] in October 1806. Napoleon easily defeated the Prussian army at the [[Battle of Jena]] and occupied Berlin. Prussia lost its recently acquired territories in western Germany, its army was reduced to 42,000 men, no trade with Britain was allowed and Berlin had to pay Paris high reparations and fund the French army of occupation. [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]] changed sides to support Napoleon and joined the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. Ruler [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus I]] was rewarded with the title of king and given a part of Poland taken from Prussia, which became known as the [[Duchy of Warsaw]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Neil M. |last=Heyman |date=1966 |title=France Against Prussia: The Jena Campaign of 1806 |journal=Military Affairs |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=186–198 |doi=10.2307/1985399 |jstor=1985399}}</ref>

After [[French invasion of Russia|Napoleon's military fiasco in Russia in 1812]], Prussia allied with Russia in the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth Coalition]]. A series of battles followed and Austria joined the alliance. Napoleon was decisively defeated in the [[Battle of Leipzig]] in late 1813. The German states of the Confederation of the Rhine defected to the Coalition against Napoleon, who rejected any peace terms. Coalition forces invaded France in early 1814, [[Battle of Paris (1814)|Paris fell]] and in April Napoleon surrendered. Prussia as one of the winners at the [[Congress of Vienna]], gained extensive territory.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=75, 207–291, 291–323, 324–371, 802–820}}