Electorate of Hesse

This article is about the specific polity Electorate of Hesse and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

During the Napoleonic reorganisation of the Empire in 1803, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel was elevated to an Electorate. In 1807, with the Treaties of Tilsit, the area was annexed to the Kingdom of Westphalia, but in 1814, the Congress of Vienna restored the Electorate. The state was annexed by Prussia in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War.

Establishment

February 1803: Simultaneously with the conclusion of the main imperial deputation in 1803 and the secularization of the clergy, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Wilhelm IX, became elector.

February 1803: Reichsdeputationsschluss: the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Empire. The law secularized nearly 70 ecclesiastical states and abolished 45 imperial cities to compensate numerous German princes for territories to the west of the Rhine that had been annexed by France as a result of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.

January 1804: Gelnhausen was annexed to Hesse-Cassel.

January 1807: Sayn-Wittgenstein-Karlsburg passes to the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

January 1808: Hanau was detached from Hesse-Kassel and given to Karl Theodor von Dalberg.

January 1808: In 1806, William I, Elector of Hesse, was dispossessed by Napoleon Bonaparte for supporting Prussia. Kassel became the capital of the new Kingdom of Westphalia, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jerome.

1.1.War of the Sixth Coalition

Was a war between France and a a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States. The coalition emerged after the decimation of the French army in the French invasion of Russia. The coalition ultimately invaded France and forced Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile.

October 1813: Following Napoleon's defeat in 1813, the elector was restored. The rulers of the Electorate of Hesse became the only Prince-Electors in the German Confederation, even though there was no longer a Holy Roman Emperor for them to elect.

1.2.Congress of Vienna

Was a series of international diplomatic meetings after the end of the Napoleonic wars whose aim was a long-term peace plan for Europe. It redraw the borders of Europe and partially restored the Monarchies of the pre-revolutionary period.

June 1815: This decision was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna. The lands of the principality were divided between the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt and the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel).

June 1815: With the Congress of Vienna, the Duchy of Nassau received: from Mainz, Höchst, Königstein, Cronberg, Lahnstein and the Rheingau; from Cologne some districts on the east bank of the Rhine; from Bavaria, the sub-district of Kaub; from Hesse-Darmstadt, the lordship of Eppstein, Katzenelnbogen, and Braubach; from Prussia, Sayn-Altenkirchen, Sayn-Hachenburg; and several cloisters were received from Mainz.

June 1815: Fulda fell to Hanover with the Congress of Vienna.

June 1815: The "Electorate of Hanover" was enlarged with the addition of other lands and became the kingdom of Hanover in 1814 at the peace conferences of Vienna.

2. German Unification Wars

Were a series of wars that resulted in the creation of the German Empire under Prussian leadership in 1871.

2.1.Austro-Prussian War

Was a war between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire over the dominance of the German states. The war resulted in a Prussian victory. The German confederation was abolished and in 1871 Prussia united all the German states but Austria in the German Empire.

2.1.1.Peace Treaties (Austro-Prussian War)

Were a series of treaties that ended the Austro-Prussian War. Prussia annexed the Austro-Prussian condominium of Schleswig and Holstein and several other territories. The German Confederation was dissolved, and a Prussian domained Northern German Confederation, that excluded the southern German states, was created.

September 1866: The peace treaty of September 3, 1866 with the Grand Duchy of Hesse resulted in territorial gains for the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, specifically acquiring the territories of Rumpenheim und Amt Dorheim. This treaty was signed following the Austro-Prussian War, which ended with the defeat of Austria and its allies by Prussia and its allies.

September 1866: Hessen-Kassel was annexed by Prussia in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War.