Kingdom of Westphalia

The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of France that existed from 1807 to 1813 in what is now Germany. Although formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was created in 1807 from territories ceded by Prussia in the Peace of Tilsit, together with Hanover, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and the Electorate of Hesse; Cassel, the Hessian capital, became its capital, and the king kept his court at Wilhelmshöhe. The kingdom was intended as a model Napoleonic state. A constitution promulgated in 1807 has often been regarded as the first modern-style constitution in a German monarchy: it granted equality before the law, abolished serfdom, emancipated Jewish subjects, and ended many feudal obligations, while the Napoleonic Code and French-style administration were introduced. The state was poor, however, and Napoleon demanded heavy taxes and soldiers. Of the 25,000 Westphalian troops who marched into Russia in 1812, only about 600 returned. The kingdom was bankrupt by 1812, was overrun by Allied forces in 1813, and most of its territory passed to Prussia in 1815, though many reforms survived.