Editing History of Germany (section)

====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/>