The ''(Deutsche) Fürstenbund'' (, " ermanLeague of Princes") was an alliance of mostly

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

princes in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

formed in 1785 under the leadership of Frederick the Great of Prussia. The alliance, which initially comprised the three major northern states of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, was set up officially to safeguard the constitutional integrity and territorial status quo of the Empire, but more immediately to oppose the long-cherished ambition of Joseph II to add

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

to the Habsburg domains.

Attempt to take over Bavaria

Soon after he became sole ruler of the Habsburg lands at the death of his mother

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

in 1780, Joseph II revived an old ambition and entered into negotiations with Elector Karl Theodor of the Palatinate and Bavaria with the aim of trading Bavaria for the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

. Had the plan been brought to fruition, the Habsburgs would have augmented their core domains with a large contiguous German-speaking territory while at the same time getting rid of far-away provinces that has proven to be difficult and costly to defend whenever Austria had been at war with France. For Karl Theodor, his interest in the projected deal was mostly a matter of prestige as he envisioned himself as the ruler, possibly with the title of king, of a reconstructed

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

composed of the Southern Netherlands plus his existing possessions in the Lower and Upper Rhine region, such as the Palatinate of the Rhine and the duchy of Berg-Jülich.

Opposition to Joseph II

The rumored deal proved unpalatable both to the ambitious Frederick II, who saw himself as the foremost German monarch, and to the Electors of Hanover and Saxony who were disturbed by the far-reaching political and strategic implications of the projected territorial swap. Once they publicly declared their opposition though the creation of a ''Deutsche Fürstenbund'', the rulers of lesser Protestant states, including Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel,

Saxe-Gotha Saxe-Gotha () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin, Wettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate of Thuringia. The ducal residence was erected at Gotha (town), Gotha. History The duch ...

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of W ...

, Mecklenburg, Baden and Brandenburg-Ansbach, soon joined them. The Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Archchancellor of the Empire, eventually gave his support, not least because it was known that Karl Theodor and Joseph II also mulled over the possible secularization of the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

, inconveniently wedged between Bavaria and Austria.John G. Gagliardo, ''Reich and Nation, The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality, 1763–1806'', Indiana University Press, 1980, pp. 74–75.

Disintegration of the alliance

Joseph II was taken aback by the suddenness and strength of the opposition to his plan and after some minor sabre-rattling suspended his project. Having attained its true objective, the ''Fürstenbund'' gradually disintegrated and disappeared altogether after the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 and the death of Joseph II the year after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenbund 1785 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1790 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1785 in politics 1785 in Prussia Organizations established in 1785 Organizations disestablished in 1790 Politics of Prussia Frederick the Great Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor