Kingdom of Westphalia

Coordinates: 51°18′36″N 09°30′00″E / 51.31000°N 9.50000°E / 51.31000; 9.50000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kingdom of Westphalia
Royaume de Westphalie (French)
Königreich Westphalen (German)
1807–1813
Flag of Westphalia
Flag
Coat of arms of Westphalia
Coat of arms
Calvinism
  • Judaism (minority)
    • GovernmentConstitutional monarchy
    King 
    • 1807–1813
    		Jerome Napoleon
    Prime Minister
    		 
    • 1807–1813
    		Joseph Jérôme Siméon
    Legislature
    Treaty of Tilsit
    		7 July 1807
    7 December 1807
    19 October 1813
    Area
    180937,883 km2 (14,627 sq mi)
    181063,652 km2 (24,576 sq mi)
    181245,427 km2 (17,539 sq mi)
    Population
    • 1809
    		1,950,724
    • 1810
    		2,600,000
    • 1812
    		2,065,970
    CurrencyWestphalian frank
    Preceded by    		 Succeeded by
    Electorate of Hanover
    Electorate of Hesse
    Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
    Kingdom of Hanover
    Electorate of Hesse
    Kingdom of Prussia
    Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
    Today part ofGermany

    The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, but this was a misnomer since the kingdom had little territory in common with that area. The region mostly covered territory formerly known as Eastphalia.

    Napoleon imposed the first written modern constitution in Germany, a French-style central administration, and agricultural reform. The kingdom liberated the serfs and gave everyone equal rights and the right to a jury trial. In 1808 the kingdom passed Germany's first laws granting Jews equal rights, thereby providing a model for reform in the other German states. Westphalia seemed to be progressive in immediately enacting and enforcing the new reforms.

    The country was relatively poor but Napoleon demanded heavy taxes and payments and conscripted soldiers. Few of the men who

    Allies and (in 1815) most of its territories became Prussian. Most of the reforms, however, remained in place.[1]

    Formation

    Location of the Kingdom of Westphalia within the Confederation of the Rhine in 1808

    The Kingdom of Westphalia was created by Napoleon in 1807 by merging territories ceded by the

    Wilhelmshöhe, renamed Napoleonshöhe. The state was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine
    .

    Since it was intended as a Napoleonic model state,

    Napoleonic code was enacted, doing away with guilds and providing for the right of capitalism. A metric system
    of weights and measures was introduced.

    Territory

    On its creation, the Kingdom of Westphalia comprised the following territories:[2]

    The new state was divided into departments, districts, and communes, similarly to France.[3] Departments received names based on watercourses (Elbe, Saale, Weser, Fulda, Leine, Oker) and mountains (Harz), regardless of their traditional names. These departments were generally composed of territories taken from a number of petty states. Compared to the departments of France itself, the Westphalian departments were relatively small and sparsely populated.[4]

    While administrative divisions (departments, districts and cantons) were certainly less unequal than the previous territorial divisions, uniformity does not appear to have been a determining factor in their creation.[4] The desire to break from the past, and not just from the random territorial divisions of the former manorial justices, especially influenced the cantonal distribution.[4] In December 1810, the short-lived coastal and northern départements Nord ("North", capital Stade) and Niederelbe ("Lower Elbe", capital Lüneburg) were ceded to the French Empire.

    Departments

    Departments of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1811
    Department Capital Dates Population (1807)[5]
    Elbe [de] Magdeburg 1807-1813 252,507
    Fulda [de] Cassel 1807-1813 254,845
    Harz [de] Heiligenstadt 1807-1813 202,891
    Leine [de] Göttingen 1807-1813 144,350
    Oker [de] Brunswick 1807-1813 270,486
    Saale [de] Halberstadt 1807-1813 240,195
    Werra [de] Marburg 1807-1813 255,237
    Weser [de] Osnabrück 1807-1810 330,213
    Aller [de] Hanover 1810-1813 N/A

    Jews

    Following the French example, Jewish congregations were reorganised and a

    Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel merchant and man of letters, Israel Jacobson, became its consistorial president, assisted by a board of officers. Jacobson did his best to exercise a reforming influence upon the various congregations of the country. He opened a house of prayer in Cassel, with a ritual similar to that introduced in Seesen
    .

    Downfall

    A significant burden on the kingdom was the requirement to supply troops and financial support for the Napoleonic Wars. A Westphalian contingent took part in the Russian campaign of 1812. King Jérôme, reprimended by Napoleon for his poor performance at the Battle of Smolensk, abandoned his command and returned to Wesphalia. By the end of the campaign, his troops had been practically decimated: out of the initial 25,000 soldiers and 800 officers of the Kingdom of Westphalia, only 600 and 18 returned, with 600 others defecting to Russia.[6] In January 1813, revolts against conscription broke out in Düsseldorf and Hanau.[6] Nevertheless, Jérôme managed to raise 27,000 men for the German campaign of 1813, one of the highest mobilisation rates in Europe, and the Westphalian troops fought steadfastly on the French side until the end of the campaign.[7]

    In September 1813, Russian general Alexander Chernyshyov led a raid on Cassel with 1,200 to 2,300 regular cavalrymen and Cossacks, along with four to six artillery pieces. He captured the city by surprise on the night of 28 to 29 September, causing Jérôme and his staff to flee; however, Chernyshyov, lacking the infantry to hold Cassel, evacuated the city with prisoners and loot. The French retook Cassel on 7 October.[8] Prussian troops occupied Westphalia on 26 October, following the French defeat at the Battle of Leipzig on 19 October.[8] The kingdom was then dissolved and the status quo of 1806 was restored, except for the counties of Rietberg and Stolberg-Wernigerode, which were annexed by Prussia.

    Coat of arms

    The arms reflect the incorporated territories. The first quarter shows the silver horse of

    Légion d'honneur
    . Above is Napoleon's star. Typical of Napoleonic heraldry are the crossed sceptres.

    See also

    References

    1. ISBN 9780029066003
      .
    2. ^ Correspondance de Napoléon Ier. Vol. 15. Paris. 1864. p. 508. Archived from the original on 2024-12-30. Retrieved 2024-12-30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    3. ^ Driault, Édouard (1917). Napoléon et l'Europe. Tilsit. France et Russie sous le premier empire. La question de Pologne (1806-1809) (PDF). Paris. p. 245.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    4. ^
      ISBN 978-0-230-24131-2
      .
    5. ^ Hassel, Georg (1809). Geographisch-statistischer Abriß des Königreichs Westphalen.
    6. ^ a b Tulard, Jean (1989). L'Europe de Napoléon. Horvath. pp. 473–485.
    7. ISBN 9781136321429
      .
    8. ^
      ISBN 1-390-84510-9. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help
      )
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