German Confederation Established

After the defeat of Napoleon, the great powers met at the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815 to reorganize Europe and restore stability. The old Holy Roman Empire, abolished in 1806, was not revived. In its place the diplomats created a looser association to manage relations among the numerous German states and to provide collective security in central Europe.

The German Confederation, established in 1815, comprised 39 sovereign member states, ranging from the major powers of Austria and Prussia to small principalities and free cities. A federal diet meeting at Frankfurt, presided over by Austria, coordinated common affairs. Its chief purpose was mutual defense and the preservation of the existing order, rather than the creation of a unified national state.

The Confederation deliberately preserved the independence of its members and frustrated the aspirations of nationalists who sought German unification. Dominated by the rivalry between Austria and Prussia, it became a vehicle for conservative restraint, particularly under Metternich's influence. It survived until 1866, when the Austro-Prussian War dissolved it, clearing the way for Prussian-led unification of Germany in 1871.