Editing House of Wittelsbach (section)

==Kingdom of Bavaria, 1806–1918==
The [[Bavarian Army]] was involved in the Austrian defeat at [[Battle of Hohenlinden|Hohenlinden]], and General [[Jean Victor Marie Moreau]] once more occupied Munich. By the [[Treaty of Lunéville]] (9 February 1801), Bavaria lost the Palatinate and the duchies of [[Palatine Zweibrücken|Zweibrücken]] and [[Duchy of Jülich|Jülich]]. In view of the scarcely disguised ambitions and intrigues of the Austrian court, prime minister [[Maximilian von Montgelas|Montgelas]] now believed that the interests of Bavaria lay in a frank alliance with the [[First French Republic|French Republic]]; he succeeded in overcoming the reluctance of Maximilian Joseph; and, on 24 August, a separate treaty of peace and alliance with France was signed at Paris, which allied Bavaria with France.

The 1805 [[Peace of Pressburg (1805)|Peace of Pressburg]] (now [[Bratislava]]) between Emperor [[Napoleon]] of [[French First Empire|France]] and [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor]], as a consequence of the French victory over the [[Russian Empire|Russians]] and [[Austrian Empire|Austrians]] at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] (2 December), allowed Maximilian to raise Bavaria to the status of a kingdom. Accordingly, Maximilian proclaimed himself king on 1 January 1806. The King still served as an elector until Bavaria seceded from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] on 1 August 1806, joining the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. The [[Duchy of Berg]] was ceded to Napoleon only in 1806.

[[File:Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria 1835-1918.svg|thumb|left|Royal Bavarian coat of arms]]
[[File:Bayern von 1800 bis heute.png|thumb|center|350px|The [[Electorate of Bavaria]] including the [[Electorate of Palatinate]] (light green, in the old borders around 1800); the new [[Kingdom of Bavaria]] (1816, dark green line, with slightly shifted and rounded Palatinate territory and after the loss of the areas of the [[Duchy of Berg]] further north on the Rhine, but expanded to include previously ecclesiastical territories, i.e. [[Franconia]] and areas of [[Swabia]], as well as small areas on the border with Austria in the south); and today's state of Bavaria (black line border).]]

The [[Congress of Vienna]] 1814−15 led to the establishment of significant territorial gains for the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]]. Although the Duchy of Berg remained lost, almost all of [[Franconia]], previously ruled by a number of [[Prince-bishop]]s, as well as parts of [[Swabia]], which had belonged to various [[German mediatisation|mediatised]] secular and ecclesiastic princes, came under Bavarian rule. In both areas a number of formerly [[Free imperial city|free imperial cities]] were also integrated into the kingdom. The previously heavily fragmented Palatinate territory was rounded off and partially moved. Smaller, mostly ecclesiastical territories on the southern border with Austria were also added. In this way, the border of Bavaria, which largely still exists today, was redefined and the state grew by more than a third in size.

Under Maximilian's descendants, Bavaria became the third most powerful German state, behind only [[Prussia]] and [[Austrian Empire|Austria]].  When the [[German Empire]] was formed in 1871, Bavaria became the new empire's second most powerful state after Prussia.  The Wittelsbachs reigned as kings of Bavaria until the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]]. On 12 November 1918 [[Ludwig III of Bavaria|Ludwig III]] issued the ''[[Anif declaration]]'' (German: ''Anifer Erklärung'') at [[Anif Palace]] in Austria,<ref>
[http://www.archontology.org/nations/german/bavaria/00_1806_1918_s.php Germany: Bavaria: Heads of State: 1806–1918] archontology.org, accessed: 14 June 2008
</ref> in which he released his soldiers and officials from their oath of loyalty to him and ended the 738-year rule of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria.<ref>{{BBKL|r/rupprecht_m_l_f|band=22|autor=Manfred Berger|artikel=Rupprecht, Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Kronprinz von Bayern, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, Herzog von Bayern, Franken und in Schwaben usw.|spalten=1173–1186}}</ref> The republican movement thereupon declared a republic.