The Empire on the Eve of the French Revolution 1789

The Holy Roman Empire was formed in 800 as a medley of independent Christian kingdoms under one ‘Holy Roman’ emperor. The empire on the eve of the French Revolution 1789 was quiescent after spending the first half of the century embroiled in conflicts with several European countries, including Spain, Poland and Prussia. However, after the French ancien régime came to an end in 1789, the empire came into conflict with revolutionary France, under Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1789, the empire included northwestern Italy, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Hanover, Saxony, Bavaria, Bohemia, western Germany, West Prussia and a number of small German states. Between 1795–1806 the empire was dissolved and Napoleon had turned it into France’s satellite.