Editing History of Hesse (section)

==1789–1815==
[[File:Grandduchy of Hesse HD 1812.png|thumb|upright|The Grand Duchy of Hesse and surrounding states {{circa|1812}}]]
During the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] the [[French First Republic|French Republic]] annexed the [[left bank of the Rhine]], including most of Hanau-Lichtenberg.

Following the [[German mediatization|reorganization of the German states]] of 1803 – the {{lang|de|[[Reichsdeputationshauptschluss]]}} – Landgrave William IX of Hesse-Kassel was elevated to [[prince-elector]], taking the title [[William I, Elector of Hesse]]. His state thus became the [[Electorate of Hesse]] ({{langx|de|Kurfürstentum Hessen|links=no}}, commonly shortened to {{lang|de|Kurhessen}}), although it is still often referred to as Hesse-Kassel.

Hesse-Darmstadt gained a great deal of territory from the {{lang|de|Reichsdeputationshauptschluss}}: the [[Duchy of Westphalia]], formerly owned by the [[Electorate of Cologne]], was significant, as were the acquisitions from the [[Electorate of Mainz]] and the [[Prince-Bishopric of Worms]].

Hesse-Darmstadt left the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and joined Napoleon's [[Confederation of the Rhine]] on 12 July 1806. Hesse-Darmstadt was enlarged through the annexation of territories including Hesse-Homburg, {{ill|House of Erbach|lt=Erbach|de|Erbach (Adelsgeschlecht)}}, {{ill|House of Solms|lt=Solms|de|Solms (Adelsgeschlecht)}} and {{ill|Wittgensteiner Land|lt=Wittgenstein|de|Wittgensteiner Land}} and was elevated to the [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]].

On 17 July [[Nassau-Usingen]] and [[Nassau-Weilburg]] joined the Confederation and on 30 August united into the [[Duchy of Nassau]].

On 6 August 1806 the [[dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Empire was dissolved]].

In late 1806 William I was dispossessed by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] for his support of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]. In 1807 Kassel became the capital of a new [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] with Napoleon's brother [[Jérôme Bonaparte]] as king. Hesse-Hanau was granted to [[Prince-primate]] [[Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg]] and was incorporated into the [[Grand Duchy of Frankfurt]] in 1810, along with Frankfurt, [[Principality of Aschaffenburg|Aschaffenburg]], [[Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda|Fulda]] and [[Wetzlar]]. The right-bank parts of the {{ill|Lower County of Katzenelnbogen|de|Niedergrafschaft Katzenelnbogen}} (Hesse-Rotenburg) were annexed to the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] as the {{lang|fr|{{ill|Pays réservé de Catzenellenbogen|de}}}}.

The elector was restored following Napoleon's defeat in 1813, and although the Holy Roman Empire was now defunct, William retained his title of Prince-Elector, as it gave him pre-eminence over his cousin, the Grand Duke of Hesse. At the [[Congress of Vienna]], the Grand Duke was forced to cede Westphalia to Prussia. In exchange for this he received a piece of territory on the left bank of the Rhine, including the important fortress at [[Mainz]]; the Grand Duchy changed its official name to the ''Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine'' in 1816. Nassau's borders were significantly redrawn: it gained Lower Katzenelnbogen and the former possessions of {{ill|Nassau-Dietz|de}}/[[Principality of Orange-Nassau|Orange-Nassau]] (around Dillenburg and Hadamar) which had been under [[Grand Duchy of Berg|Berg]] from 1806; it lost the [[Siegerland]] (to Prussian [[Province of Westphalia|Westphalia]]) and [[County of Wied|Wied]] (to the Prussian [[Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine]] – the [[Rhine Province]] from 1822). Wetzlar and lands around it became {{ill|Kreis Wetzlar|de}} and, until 1822 {{ill|Kreis Braunfels|de}}, collectively an exclave of the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine. The Congress also partitioned [[Principality of Isenburg|Isenburg]] between the electorate and grand duchy, reinstated the [[Free City of Frankfurt]] and Hesse-Homburg as independent states and granted Fulda to the electorate. The Hessian states were now independent countries and, after 1815, members of the [[German Confederation]].