Editing Bavaria (section)

===Electorate of Bavaria===
{{Further|Electorate of Bavaria}}

In 1623, the Bavarian duke replaced his relative of the Palatinate branch, the [[Electorate of the Palatinate]] in the early days of the [[Thirty Years' War]] and acquired the powerful [[prince-elector]] dignity in the [[Holy Roman Empire]], determining its Emperor thence forward, as well as special legal status under the empire's laws. During the early and mid-18th century the ambitions of the Bavarian prince electors led to several wars with Austria as well as occupations by Austria ([[War of the Spanish Succession]], [[War of the Austrian Succession]] with the election of a Wittelsbach emperor instead of a Habsburg).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The War of Austrian Succession {{!}} History of Western Civilization II |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-war-of-austrian-succession/ |access-date=28 June 2024 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref>

To mark the unification of Bavaria and the [[Electoral Palatinate]], both being principal Wittelsbach territories, Elector [[Maximilian IV Joseph]] was crowned king of Bavaria. King Maximilian Joseph was quick to change the coat of arms. The various heraldic symbols were replaced and a classical Wittelsbach pattern introduced. The white and blue [[Lozenge (heraldry)|lozenge]]s symbolized the unity of the territories within the Bavarian kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Bee and the Eagle: Napoleonic France and the End of the Holy Roman Empire, 1806 | editor1=  Alan Forrest | editor2= Peter H. Wilson |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan UK| year=2008| isbn=9780230236738| pages=98–99}}</ref>

The new state also comprised the [[Duchy of Jülich]] and [[Berg (state)|Berg]] as these on their part were in personal union with the Palatinate.<ref>{{cite book |last=Köbler |first=Gerhard |title=Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder: Die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=1995 |isbn=3406398588 |edition=5th |location=Munich |page=650 |language=de |trans-title=Historical Dictionary of the German Territories: The German Territories from the Middle Ages to the Present}}</ref>