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| Context | Failed congress to compensate the German princes dispossessed by theWar of the First Coalition. |
|---|---|
| Drafted | 1797–1799 |
| Location | Rastatt |
| Parties | |
TheSecond Congress of Rastatt, which began its deliberations in November 1797, was intended to negotiate a general peace between theFrench Republic and theHoly Roman Empire, and to draw up a compensation plan to compensate those princes whose lands on the left bank of theRhine had been seized by France[1] in theWar of the First Coalition. Facing the French delegation was a 10-member Imperial delegation made up of delegates from the electorates ofMainz,Saxony,Bavaria,Hanover, as well as the secular territories ofAustria,Baden,Hesse-Darmstadt, thePrince-Bishopric of Würzburg, and theimperial cities ofAugsburg andFrankfurt.[2] The congress was interrupted when Austria andRussia resumed war against France in March 1799 at the start of theWar of the Second Coalition, thus rendering the proceedings moot. Furthermore, as the French delegates attempted to return home, they were attacked by Austrian cavalrymen or possibly French royalists masquerading as such. Two diplomats were killed and a third seriously injured. The congress was held atRastatt nearKarlsruhe.
Widespread disagreement among the German delegates precluded the drawing up of a compensation plan but two important results were nevertheless achieved during the first months of the congress: the official recognition of the loss of the entire left bank to France, and the recognition that any compensation plan should be based on the secularization of the ecclesiastical states of the Empire.[3] It is on this basis that deliberations on a compensation plan would resume after the signing of theTreaty of Lunéville in February 1801.
As the three French representatives were leaving the town in April 1799 they were waylaid by a group ofHungarianhussars. Two of them were assassinated, whileJean Debry received thirteensabre slashes but escaped. The origin of this outrage remains shrouded in mystery, but the balance of evidence seems to show that the Austrian authorities had commanded their men to seize the papers of the Frenchplenipotentiaries in order to avoid damaging disclosures about Austria's designs on Bavaria, and that the soldiers had exceeded their instructions. On the other hand, some authorities think that the deed was the work ofFrench Émigrés, or of the party in France in favour of war.[1]
Since it was expected that a major territorial reorganization of the Empire would result from the congress, it was followed with considerable interest, even passion, throughout Germany. Although indecisive from a diplomatic point of view the Congress brought high society to the area of Baden and was responsible for resurgence of interest in the spa town ofBaden-Baden.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rastatt".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 913–914.
