The+Germanic+Confederation

=The Germanic Confederation - 1815-66 =



The German Confederation or the "Bund" was simply the linking and organisation of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna to replace the destroyed "__Holy Roman Empire__" (which had been destroyed during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars) in 1815. It consisted of 39 states aiming to guarantee the external and internal peace of Germany and the independence of the member states. This Linked onto the idea of members within states to pledged to provide mutual aid in case of an attack. However, certain prices were exempt from this including: This is because the confederation was a little more than a loose union (a not a very ordered unite).
 * The King of England, as king of Hanover;
 * The King of the Netherlands, as duke of Luxembourg;
 * The King of Denmark, as duke of Holstein and Lauenburg.

The size and influence of the individual states varied greatly:
 * The Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia were the largest and by far the most powerful members of the Confederation. Large parts of both countries were not included in the Confederation, nor had the greater parts of their armed forces been incorporated in the federal army. As a result both states essentially continued to act as independent countries. For example, during the wars against Denmark, they did not fight under the banner of the German Confederation. Each of them had one vote in the Federal Assembly.
 * Three member states were ruled by foreign monarchs: the King of Denmark, the King of the Netherlands, and the King of Great Birtian (until 1837) were members of the German Confederation as Duke of Holstein, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and King of Hanover, respectively. Each of them had one vote in the Federal Assembly.
 * Six other greater states had one vote each in the Federal Assembly: the King of Bavaria, the King of Saxony, the King of Wurttemberg, the Prince-Elector of Hesse, the Grand Duke of Baden and the Grand Duke of Hesse.
 * 23 smaller and tiny member states shared five votes in the Federal Assembly.
 * The four free cities Lubeck, Frankfurt, Bremen and Hamburg shared one vote in the Federal Assembly.



Delegates met in a central diet that continuously viewed and maintained the Confederation. They met at Frankfurt within Austria, functioning themselves as a "diplomatic" (skilled in dealing with sensitive matters or people) conference. The diet had been ineffective and eventually failed because an unanimous majority was required for most decisions and in voting the delegates were bound to follow instructions from their own governments.



During the first stages of reform and economic changes, a strong reactionary (a reaction, especially opposition to progress or liberalism; extremely conservative) influence of the Austrian Statesman __Metternich__, backed by Prussia, dominated the confederation until 1848 until liberal revolutionist movements within Germany had resulted into the creation of the Frankfurt Parliament. This meant that the Germanic Confederation never became an instrument for German unity and was not even able to enforce decisions made at the Congress of Vienna to which was to introduce limited constitutions to German states, yet, by 1815, constitutions were introduced to some German states but most German Rulers, including the **King of Prussia** had ignored the idea. In 1819 __Metternich__ still continued to influence the Germanic Confederation by persuading the Confederation's Princes to pass the repressive Carlsbad Decrees. In doing so, __Metternich__ was able to lead the federal diet in passing additional measures to eliminate Liberalism and Nationalism. The Germanic Confederation was therefore inactive and was revived in 1850 under Austrian Presidency. This resulted in Prussia and Austria rivalry to grow. The formation of the Zollverein and The Revolutions during 1848 had undermined the confederation and was resolved with The Austro-Prussian War in 1866 and Prussia had establishment the North German Confederation.