The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingdom became a federated state of the new empire and was second in size, power, and wealth only to the leading state, the Kingdom of Prussia.
The polity's foundation dates back to the ascension of Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach as King of Bavaria in 1806. The crown continued to be held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom came to an end in 1918. Most of the border of modern Germany's Free State of Bavaria was established after 1814 with the Treaty of Paris, in which the Kingdom of Bavaria ceded Tyrol and Vorarlberg to the Austrian Empire while receiving Aschaffenburg and Würzburg.
In 1918, Bavaria became a republic after the German Revolution, and the kingdom was thus succeeded by the current Free State of Bavaria.
History
Foundation and expansion under Maximilian I (1777–1818)
On 30 December 1777, the Bavarian line of the Wittelsbachs became extinct, and the Electorate of Bavaria passed to Charles Theodore, the Elector Palatine. After a separation of four and a half centuries, the Electoral Palatinate, to which the duchies of Jülich and Berg had been added, was thus reunited with Bavaria. In 1793, the French Revolutionary Army overran the Palatinate; in 1795, the French, under Moreau, invaded Bavaria itself, advanced to Munich — where they were received with joy by the long-suppressed Liberals — and laid siege to Ingolstadt. Charles Theodore, who had done nothing to prevent the war or to resist the invasion, fled to Saxony, leaving a regency, the members of which signed a convention with Moreau, by which he granted an armistice in return for a heavy contribution (7 September 1796). Between the French and the Austrians, Bavaria was now in a bad situation. Before the death of Charles Theodore (16 February 1799), the Austrians had again occupied the country, in preparation for renewing the war with France.
Maximilian IV Joseph (of Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken), the new elector, succeeded to a difficult inheritance. Though his own sympathies, and those of his all-powerful minister, Maximilian von Montgelas, were, if anything, French rather than Austrian, the state of the Bavarian finances, and the fact that the Bavarian Army was scattered and disorganized, left him helpless in the hands of Austria; on 2 December 1800, the Bavarian Army was involved in the Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden, and Moreau once more occupied Munich. By the Treaty of Lunéville (9 February 1801), Bavaria lost the Palatinate and the duchies of Zweibrücken and Jülich. In view of the scarcely disguised ambitions and intrigues of the Austrian court, Montgelas now believed that the interests of Bavaria lay in a frank alliance with the French Republic; he succeeded in overcoming the reluctance of Maximilian Joseph, and on 24 August, a separate treaty of peace and alliance with France was signed at Paris.
The 1805 Peace of Pressburg allowed Maximilian to raise Bavaria to the status of a kingdom. Accordingly, Maximilian proclaimed himself king on 1 January 1806 as Maximilian I. The king still served as an elector until Bavaria seceded from the Holy Roman Empire on 1 August 1806, joining the Confederation of the Rhine. The Duchy of Berg was ceded to Napoleon only in 1806. The new kingdom faced challenges from the outset of its creation, relying on the support of Napoleonic France. The kingdom was forced to give Napoleon conscripts for the Peninsular War, faced war with Austria in 1809 and from 1810 to 1814 lost territory to Württemberg and Italy. In 1808, all relics of serfdom were abolished. In the same year, Maximilian promulgated Bavaria's first written constitution. Over the next five years, it was amended numerous times in accordance with Paris’s wishes.
During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, about 30,000 Bavarian soldiers were killed in action. With the Treaty of Ried of 8 October 1813, Bavaria left the Confederation of the Rhine and agreed to join the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in exchange for a guarantee of her continued sovereign and independent status. On 14 October, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France. The treaty was passionately backed by Crown Prince Ludwig and by Marshal Karl Philipp von Wrede. The Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 ended the German Campaign with the Coalition nations as the victors, in a complete failure for the French, although they achieved a minor victory when a Bavarian army attempted to block the retreat of the French Grande Armée at Hanau.
With the defeat of Napoleon's France in 1814, Bavaria lost the territories it had gained from Austria, but was compensated for some of its losses, receiving new territories such as the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt and parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Finally, the Rhenish Palatinate was given to Bavaria by the Treaty of Munich. It was the second largest and second most powerful state south of the Main, behind only Austria. In Germany as a whole, it ranked third behind Prussia and Austria.
Between 1799 and 1817, the leading minister Count Montgelas followed a strict policy of modernisation and laid the foundations of administrative structures that survived even the monarchy and are (in their core) valid until today. On 1 February 1817, Montgelas was dismissed and Bavaria entered a new era of constitutional reform.
Second Constitution (1818–1825)
On 26 May 1818, Bavaria's second constitution was proclaimed. The constitution established a bicameral Parliament (Landtag). The upper house (Kammer der Reichsräte, meaning "House of Councillors") comprised the aristocracy and noblemen, including the royal princes, holders of the crown offices, archbishops, members of the Mediatized Houses in Bavaria and hereditary and lifelong nominees of the crown. The lower house ("Kammer der Abgeordneten", meaning "House of Representatives"), would include representatives of landowners, the three universities, clergy (Catholic and Protestant), the towns and the peasants. Without the consent of both houses, no law could be passed and no tax could be levied. The rights of Protestants were safeguarded in the constitution with articles supporting the equality of all religions, despite opposition by supporters of the Roman Catholic Church. The initial constitution almost proved disastrous for the monarchy, with controversies such as the army having to swear allegiance to the new constitution. The monarchy appealed to both Prussia and Austria for advice; the two refused to take action on Bavaria's behalf, but the disturbances lessened and the state stabilized with the accession of Ludwig I to the throne following the death of Maximilian in 1825.
Within the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Palatinate enjoyed a special legal and administrative position, as the Bavarian government maintained substantial achievements of the French period. The German historian Heiner Haan described the special status of the Palatinate within Bavaria as a relation of Hauptstaat (main state, i.e. Bavaria) and Nebenstaat (alongside state, i.e. the Palatinate).
Ludwig I, Maximilian II and the Revolutions (1825–1864)
In 1825, Ludwig I ascended the throne of Bavaria. Under Ludwig, the arts flourished in Bavaria, and Ludwig personally ordered and financially assisted the creation of many neoclassical buildings and architecture across Bavaria. Ludwig also increased Bavaria's pace towards industrialization under his reign. In foreign affairs under Ludwig's rule, Bavaria supported the Greeks during the Greek War of Independence with his second son, Otto being elected King of Greece in 1832. As for politics, initial reforms advocated by Ludwig were both liberal and reform-oriented. However, after the Revolutions of 1830, Ludwig turned to conservative reaction. The Hambacher Fest in 1832 showed the discontent of the population with high taxes and censorship. Bavaria joined the Zollverein in 1834. In 1835, the first German railway was constructed in Bavaria, between the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg.
In 1837, the Roman Catholic-supported clerical movement, the Ultramontanes, came to power in the Bavarian parliament and began a campaign of reform to the constitution, which removed civil rights that had earlier been granted to Protestants, as well as enforcing censorship and forbidding the free discussion of internal politics. This regime was short-lived due to the demand by the Ultramontanes of the naturalization of Ludwig I's Irish mistress, Lola Montez, a notorious courtesan and dancer, which was resented by Ludwig, and the Ultramontanes were pushed out.
During the Revolutions of 1848, Ludwig abdicated on 20 March 1848 in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian II. The revolutions also brought amendments to the constitution, including changes to the lower house of the Landtag with equal suffrage for every male who paid a direct tax. Maximilian II responded to the demands of the people for a united German state by attending the Frankfurt Parliament, which intended to create such a state. However, when Maximilian II rejected the Frankfurt Constitution in 1849, there was an uprising in the Bavarian Palatinate under Joseph Martin Reichard, which was put down with the support of Prussian forces. However Maximilian II stood alongside Bavaria's ally, the Austrian Empire, in opposition to Austria's enemy, Prussia. This position was resented by many Bavarian citizens, who wanted a united Germany. In the end Prussia declined the crown offered by the Frankfurt Parliament as the proposed constitution of a German state was perceived to be too liberal and not in Prussia's interests.
In the aftermath of the failure of the Frankfurt Parliament, Prussia and Austria continued to debate over which monarchy had the inherent right to rule Germany. A dispute between Austria and the Elector of Hesse-Kassel was used by Austria and its allies (including Bavaria) to promote the isolation of Prussia in German political affairs. This diplomatic insult almost led to war when Austria, Bavaria, and other allies moved troops through Bavaria towards Hesse-Kassel in 1850. However, Prussia backed down to Austria and accepted its political leadership of Germany. This event was known as the Punctation of Olmütz but also known as the "Humiliation of Olmütz" by Prussia. This event solidified the Bavarian kingdom's alliance with Austria against Prussia. When the project to unite the German middle-sized powers under Bavarian leadership against Prussia and Austria (the so-called Trias) failed, Minister-President von der Pfordten resigned in 1859. Attempts by Prussia to reorganize the loose German Confederation were opposed by Bavaria and Austria, with Bavaria taking part in its own discussions with Austria and other allies in 1863, in Frankfurt, without Prussia attending.
Austro-Prussian War (1864–1866)
In 1864, Maximilian II died early, and his eighteen-year-old son, Ludwig II, became King of Bavaria as tensions between Austria and Prussia escalated steadily. Prussian Minister-President Otto von Bismarck, recognizing the immediate likelihood of war, tried to keep Bavaria neutral. Ludwig II refused Bismarck's offers and continued Bavaria's alliance with Austria. In 1866, the Austro-Prussian War began. Bavaria and most of the south German states allied with Austria, but contributed far less to the war against Prussia.
Prussia quickly defeated the Kingdom of Hanover, then won the Battle of Königgrätz (3 July 1866) against Austria, which sued for peace shortly afterward. The states of the German Confederation had not agreed on a common strategy in the war. Their separate armies were therefore defeated in succession by Prussia.
The Bavarian Army was defeated in Lower Franconia at the Battle of Kissingen (10 July 1866). Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria took command, but the Bavarians were decisively beaten at Roßbrunn (26 July 1866).
Austria was defeated, and the German Confederation was dissolved, ending Austria's influence over the lesser German states. Bavaria lost Gersfeld, Bad Orb and Kaulsdorf to Prussia; former two became part of the new Province of Hesse-Nassau whereas the latter became part of Province of Saxony. From this time, Bavaria steadily progressed into Prussia's sphere of influence.