states. DISSOLUTION OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. In no country were the effects of Napoleon's policy more striking or important than in Germany. The cession of the Left Bank of the Rhine implied a complete territorial reconstruction of the remainder of Germany, since the dispossessed princes were to be indemnified within the Empire. This led to the great Imperial Recess (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) of 1803. The ecclesiastical states and the free imperial towns were, with few exceptions, incorporated in the neighboring The map of Germany was in this way much simplified, especially as the knights were within a few years illegally deprived of their independence by the newly created" sovereigns" within whose dominions their territories lay. The treaty of Pressburg recognized the rulers of Bavaria and Würtemberg as kings and (article 14) provided that they, with the elector of Baden, should enjoy "the plenitude of sovereignty" and all rights derived therefrom precisely as did the Emperor and the king of Prussia. Nor was the Emperor to hinder in any way any manifestation of this sovereignty. This, by explicitly abolishing the dependence of its members, rendered the existence of the old Imperial union impossible. The Constitution of the Confederation of the Rhine was drawn up at Paris, the future members being allowed very little influence in its formation. Napoleon had no desire to unify Germany but wished to maintain several independent states or groups of states which could be easily controlled. The characteristic document given below was the method taken of informing the Diet of the creation of the new Confederation of the Rhine. This was almost immediately followed by the abdication of the Emperor, who in this way, formally put an end to the most imposing office, with that of the Pope, ever conceived by political thinkers. Droysen's Historischer Handatlas, map 45, gives a clear view of the changes in 1803. Many more changes looking toward a farther simplification of Germany are found in the Act of the Confederation of the Rhine. Häusser Deutsche Geschichte II 657 gives an admirable account of the formation of this union. The best special maps of Würtemberg, Bavaria and Baden before the unification are to be found in the later editions of Putzger's Historischer Handatlas (costing only two marks). THE MESSAGE OF NAPOLEON ANNOUNCING TO THE From the French, Meyer Corpus juris Confœderationis Germanicæ, 2nd. Ed. I, 101 seq., also Martens' Recueil, VIII, 492. The undersigned, chargé d'affaires of His Majesty the Emperor of the French and King of Italy at the general Diet of the German Empire, has received orders from His Majesty to make the following declarations to the diet: Their Majesties the Kings of Bavaria and of Würtemberg, the Sovereign Princes of Regensburg, Baden, Berg, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau, as well as the other leading princes1 of the south and west of Germany have resolved to form a confederation between themselves which shall secure them against future emergencies, and have thus ceased to be states of the Empire. The position in which the Treaty of Pressburg has explicitly placed the courts allied to France, and indirectly those princes whose territory they border or surround, being incompatible with the existence of an empire, it becomes a necessity for those rulers to reorganize their relations upon a new system and to remove a contradiction which could not fail to be a permanent source of agitation, disquiet and danger. France, on the other hand, is directly interested in the maintenance of peace in Southern Germany and yet must apprehend that, the moment she shall cause her troops to recross the Rhine, discord, the inevitable consequence of contradictory, uncertain and ill-defined conditions, will again disturb the peace of the people and reopen, possibly, the war on the continent. Feeling it incumbent upon her to advance the welfare of her allies and to assure them the enjoyment of all the advantages which the Treaty of Pressburg secures them and to which she is pledged, France cannot but regard the confederation that they have formed as a natural result and a necessary sequel to that treaty. For a long period successive changes have, from century to century, reduced the German constitution to a shadow of its former self. Time has altered all the relations in respect to size and importance which originally existed among the various members of the confederation, both as regards each other and the whole of which they have formed a part. The Diet has no longer a will of its own. The sentences of the superior courts can no longer be executed. Everything indicates such serious weakness that the federal bond no longer offers any protection whatever and only constitutes a source of dissension and discord between the powers. The results of three coalitions have increased this weakness to the last degree. An electorate has been suppressed by the annexation of Hanover to Prussia. A king in the north has incorporated with his other lands a province of the Empire' The Treaty of 1 The confederation was joined from time to time by many more German states. 2 This probably refers to the incorporation of Pomerania by the King of Sweden (June 1806). Pressburg assures complete sovereignty to their majesties the Kings of Bavaria and of Würtemberg and to His Highness the Elector of Baden. This is a prerogative which the other electors will doubtless demand, and which they are justified in demanding; but this is in harmony neither with the letter nor the spirit of the constitution of the Empire. His Majesty the Emperor and King is, therefore, compelled to declare that he can no longer acknowledge the existence of the German Constitution, recognizing, however, the entire and absolute sovereignty of each of the princes whose states compose Germany to-day, maintaining with them the same relations as with the other independent powers of Europe. His Majesty the Emperor and King has accepted the title of Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. He has done this with a view only to peace, and in order that by his constant mediation between the weak and the powerful he may obviate every species of dissension and disorder. Having thus provided for the dearest interests of his people and of his neighbors, and having assured, so far as in him lay, the future peace of Europe and that of Germany in particular, heretofore constantly the theatre of war, by removing a contradiction which placed people and princes alike under the delusive protection of a system contrary both to their political interests and to their treaties, His Majesty the Emperor and King trusts that the nations of Europe will at last close their ears to the insinuations of those who would maintain an eternal war upon the continent. He trusts that the French armies which have crossed the Rhine have done so for the last time, and that the people of Germany will no longer witness, except in the annals of the past, the horrible pictures of disorder, devastation and slaughter which war invariably brings with it. His Majesty declared that he would never extend the limits of France beyond the Rhine and he has been faithful to his promise. At present his sole desire is so to employ the means which Providence has confided to him as to free the seas, restore the liberty of commerce and thus assure the peace and happiness of the world. Regensburg, August 1, 1806. BACHER. THE ABDICATION OF FRANCIS II. From the German : Meyer Corpus juris Confœderationis Germanicæ, 2 Ed., I. 107 We, Francis the Second, by the Grace of God Roman Emperor Elect, Ever August, Hereditary Emperor of Austria, etc., King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia, Galizia, Lodomeria and Jerusalem; Archduke of Austria, etc. Since the peace of Pressburg all our care and attention has been directed towards the scrupulous fulfillment of all engagements contracted by the said treaty, as well as the preservation of peace so essential to the happiness of our subjects, and the strengthening in every way of the friendly relations which have been happily re-established. We could but await the outcome of events in order to determine whether the important changes in the German Empire resulting from the terms of the peace would allow us to fulfill the weighty duties which, in view of the conditions of our election, devolve upon us as the head of the Empire. But the results of certain articles of the Treaty of Pressburg, which showed themselves immediately after and since its publication, as well as the events which, as is generally known, have taken place in the German Empire, have convinced us that it would be impossible under these circumstances farther to fulfill the duties which we assumed by the conditions of our election. Even if the prompt readjustment of existing political complications might produce an alteration in the existing conditions, the convention signed at Paris, July 12th, and approved later by the contracting parties, providing for the complete separation of several important states of the Empire and their union into a separate confederation, would entirely destroy any such hope. Thus, convinced of the utter impossibility of longer fulfilling the duties of our imperial office, we owe it to our principles and to our honor to renounce a crown which could only retain any value in our eyes so long as we were in a position to justify the confidence reposed in us by the electors, princes, estates and other members of the German Empire, and to fulfill the duties devolving upon us. We proclaim, accordingly, that we consider the ties which have hitherto united us to the body politic of the German Empire as hereby dissolved; that we regard the office and dignity of the imperial headship as extinguished by the formation of a separate union of the Rhenish States, and regard ourselves as thereby freed from all our obligations toward the German Empire; herewith laying down the imperial crown which is associated with these obligations, and relinquishing the imperial government which we have hitherto conducted. We free at the same time the electors, princes and estates and all others belonging to the Empire, particularly the members of the supreme imperial courts and other magistrates of the Empire, from the duties constitutionally due to us as the lawful head of the Empire. Conversely, we free all our German provinces and imperial lands from all their obligations of whatever kind, towards the German Empire. In uniting these, as Emperor of Austria, with the whole body of the Austrian state we shall strive, with the restored and existing peaceful relations with all the powers and neighboring states, to raise them to the height of prosperity and happiness, which is our keenest desire, and the aim of our constant and sincerest efforts. Done at our capital and royal residence, Vienna, August 6, 1806, in the fifteenth year of our reign as Emperor and hereditary ruler of the Austrian lands. [L. 8.] FRANCIS, JOHN PHILIP COUNT OF STADION. DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM. Napoleon's cherished plan of conquering the sea by the land originated with the Directory, which conceived the hope, as early as 1796, of forcing the English people to cry for peace, by ruining their commerce. It was stoutly maintained by the French government at that time that a neutral flag could not protect enemy's goods, and the harshest measures were taken with regard to neutral traders. [See decrees in American State Papers; Foreign Relations, Vol. III, 288, and in the Annual Register; see also Mallet du Pan, Correspondance avec la Cour de Vienne, II, 118 and 150] Napoleon felt, in the exuberance of victory after the battle of Jena, that the time had come for putting his plans for excluding England from the Continent into execution. Prussia in occupying Hanover had issued a proclamation excluding British trade, March 28, 1806. England immediately declared the mouths of the Ems, Weser, Elbe and Trave in a state of blockade (April 8). This was followed by the more comprehensive blockade announced in the first document given below, which was sent to all the representatives of neutral powers then at London. The policy of England served Napoleon as an excuse for his Berlin Decree, although he was undoubtedly actuated by other motives in issuing it. January 7, 1807, England answered with an order in Council prohibiting coast trade between the ports of the enemy or of his allies. This was deemed insufficient after the ministry |