Editing German Confederation (section)

==Historical context==
Between 1806 and 1815, [[Napoleon]] organized the German states, aside from Prussia and Austria, into the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], but this collapsed after his defeats in 1812 to 1815. The German Confederation had roughly the same boundaries as the Empire at the time of the [[French Revolution]] (less what is now [[Belgium]]). It also kept intact most of Confederation's reconstituted member states and their boundaries. The [[List of German Confederation member states|member states]], drastically reduced to 39 from more than 300 (see {{Lang|de|[[Kleinstaaterei]]}}) under the [[Holy Roman Empire]], were recognized as fully sovereign. The members pledged themselves to mutual defense, and [[fortresses of the German Confederation|joint maintenance of the fortresses]] at [[Fortress Mainz|Mainz]], the city of [[Luxembourg City|Luxembourg]], {{Lang|de|[[Rastatt]]|italics=unset}}, {{Lang|de|[[Ulm]]|italics=unset}}, and {{Lang|de|[[Landau]]|italics=unset}}.

The only organ of the Confederation was the [[Bundesversammlung (German Confederation)|Federal Assembly]] (officially {{Lang|de|Bundesversammlung}}, often called {{Lang|de|Bundestag}}), which consisted of the delegates of the states' governments. There was no head of state, but the Austrian delegate presided over the Assembly (according to the Bundesakte). Austria did not have extra powers, but consequently the Austrian delegate was called {{Lang|de|Präsidialgesandther}} and Austria the {{Lang|de|Präsidialmacht}} (presiding power). The Assembly met in Frankfurt.

The Confederation was enabled to accept and deploy ambassadors. It allowed ambassadors of the European powers to the Assembly, but rarely deployed ambassadors itself.

During the revolution of 1848/49 the Federal Assembly was inactive. It transferred its powers to the {{Lang|de|[[Provisorische Zentralgewalt]]|italics=unset}}, the revolutionary German Central Government of the [[Frankfurt National Assembly]]. After crushing the revolution and illegally disbanding the National Assembly, the Prussian King failed to create a German nation state by himself. The Federal Assembly was revived in 1850 on Austrian initiative, but only fully reinstalled in the Summer of 1851.

Rivalry between Prussia and Austria grew more and more, especially after 1859. The Confederation was dissolved in 1866 after the [[Austro-Prussian War]], and was succeeded in 1866 by the Prussian-dominated [[North German Confederation]]. Unlike the German Confederation, the North German Confederation was in fact a true state. Its territory comprised the parts of the German Confederation north of the river [[Main (river)|Main]], plus Prussia's eastern territories and the Duchy of {{Lang|de|[[Schleswig]]|italics=unset}}, but excluded Austria and the other southern German states.

Prussia's influence was widened by the [[Franco-Prussian War]] resulting in the proclamation of the [[German Empire]] at {{Lang|fr|[[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]]|italics=unset}} on 18 January 1871, which united the North German Federation with the southern German states. All the constituent states of the former German Confederation became part of the {{Lang|de|Kaiserreich}} in 1871, except Austria, [[Luxembourg]], the [[Duchy of Limburg (1839–67)|Duchy of Limburg]], and [[Liechtenstein]].