Napoleonic Newsdesk

German States Study Group

by Paul Chamberlain

If you are interested in Napoleon and his wars, then you might like to join a small friendly group of pen friends who are especially interested in the history of the German States of this period. You do not need to be a great expert, and you don't even need any knowledge of the German language.

The period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a time of great change for the states of Germany. At the start of the Imperial War in 1793 most of these states were part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire came to an end in 1806 and many of the states became independent. A new federal body was formed in 1806 - the Confederation of the Rhine - but this never drew in all the German States. This federation fell apart in 1813 and was replaced by a German Federation under the presidency of Austria. In 1793 there were a few hundred German states, by 1815, less than fifty.

This period of almost continuous war saw a very large increase in the number of troops raised by the German princes and cities. In contrast, the German federal regiments were of little importance during this period, though they still make for an interesting study. As well as the regular troops, a host of volunteer and militia formations appeared, often briefly. The sheer variety of organisations and uniforms make research into the armies of the German states particularly interesting.

In the German States Study Group we help each other out with information and references. We usually exclude Austria and Prussia from our studies as they tend to be covered well elsewhere. A small information circular is sent out four times a year, and aside from that we correspond with each other. We would like to expand our activities and ideas would be welcome.

If you would like to join the German States Study Group then please write to the Co-ordinator: John Henderson. 118 Milton Road, Hartlepool, Co. Durham. Please enclose a SAE for reply. John sent the above text to me. I can vouch for the high standard of the research that members of this Group perform, and the information circular contains a lot of interesting and original information.

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