Cisrhenian Republic, 1797-1803






In German the Cisrhenanian, Cisrhenian, Rhenian or Rhenish Republic is referred to as RHEINISCHE REPUBLIK

In 1794/1795 French troops occupied German territory on the left bank of the Rhine. In the PEACE OF BASEL 1795 Prussia ceded her territories located on the west bank. On August 28th 1797 the CISRHENIAN REPUBLIC was founded on territory covering the entire German left bank, thus the PRINCEBISHOPRICS OF TRIER, MAINZ, COLOGNE, the ELECTORATE PALATINE, the DUCHIES OF JUELICH and KLEVE respectively their territories on the left bank, and numerous smaller territories. French General HOCHE was the republic's protector; he died in 1797. The republic was of very short duration; already in November 1797 (the TREATY OF CAMPO FORMIO) she was taken under direct French administration; officially annexed on September 23rd 1802.
In 1798 French Commissioner General Rudler reorganized her territory the departements Roer, Rhin-et-Moselle, Sarre and Mont Tonnerre. In the TREATY OF LUNEVILLE (Feb. 9th 1801) French rule over the Rhineland received the recognition of the Emperor. In 1802/1803 negotiations of German princes lead to the REICHSDEPUTATIONSHAUPTSCHLUSS, in which German princes who had owned territory on the left bank were compensated with secularized or confiscated territory on the right bank of the Rhine.

In 1815 the territory, for the most part, was annexed by PRUSSIA; BAVARIA was given the (newly created) PALATINE (in Ger.: Pfalz) and OLDENBURG the tiny county of BIRKENFELD.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Biography of Johann Joseph Goerres, from Catholic Encyclopedia, does not even mention that he, as well as his future father-in-law, was briefly head of state of the Cisrhenanian Republic. Another biography from the Goerres Gymnasium, in German. Goerres later became an anti-French German patriot.
Die Politische Entwicklung des Rheinlandes 1792 - 1871, from RWTH Aachen, in German
1794 - 1815. Die Verwaltung des Rheinlands in der Franzosenzeit, from DHM, in German
Biography of Louis Lazare Hoche, from Columbia Encyclopedia
Weissenthurm, burial site of and monument to General Hoche, built 1798
DOCUMENTS Flag of the Cisrhenian Republic, from fotw, also from FOTW (mislabelled as Rhine Republic 1806),
List of Heads of the Central Bureau of the Cisrhenanian Republic, from World Statesmen by Ben Cahoon
Treaty of Campo Formio, 1797, from napoleonseries.org
Treaty of Luneville, 1801, from napoleonseries.org
REFERENCE Krause, Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins : Eighteenth Century 1701-1800, 2nd ed., 1997, does neither list coins of the Cisrhenanian or of a Rhenian Republic



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 3rd 2002, last revised on November 11th 2004

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics