Kingdom of Westphalia

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Kingdom of Westphalia Royaume de Ouestphalie (French) Königreich Westphalen (German)
1807–1813
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Character und Aufrichtigkeit (German for 'Character and Honesty')
The Kingdom of Westphalia in 1812
Status	Client state of the French Empire
Capital	Kassel
Recognised regional languages	Low German
Common languages	German French (official)
Religion	Roman Catholicism Lutheranism Calvinism Judaism (minority)
Government	Constitutional monarchy
King
• 1807–1813	Jérôme Bonaparte
Prime minister
• 1807–1813	Joseph Jérôme, Comte Siméon
Legislature	Imperial Estate
Historical era	Napoleonic Wars
• Treaty of Tilsit	7 July 1807
• Constitution adopted	7 December 1807
• Battle of Leipzig	19 October 1813
Area
1809	37,883 km2 (14,627 sq mi)
1810	63,652 km2 (24,576 sq mi)
1812	45,427 km2 (17,539 sq mi)
Population
• 1809	1,950,724
• 1810	2,600,000
• 1812	2,065,970
Currency	Westphalian frank
Preceded by Succeeded by Electorate of Hanover Electorate of Hesse Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Kingdom of Hanover Electorate of Hesse Kingdom of Prussia Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Today part of	Germany

The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, but this was a misnomer since the kingdom had little territory in common with that area. The region mostly covered territory formerly known as Eastphalia.

Napoleon imposed the first written modern constitution in Germany, a French-style central administration, and agricultural reform. The kingdom liberated the serfs and gave everyone equal rights and the right to a jury trial. In 1808 the kingdom passed Germany's first laws granting Jews equal rights, thereby providing a model for reform in the other German states. Westphalia seemed to be progressive in immediately enacting and enforcing the new reforms.

The country was relatively poor but Napoleon demanded heavy taxes and payments and conscripted soldiers. Few of the men who marched into Russia with Napoleon in 1812 returned. The kingdom was bankrupt by 1812. When Napoleon was retreating in the face of Allied advances in 1813, the kingdom was overrun by the Allies and (in 1815) most of its territories became Prussian. Most of the reforms, however, remained in place.^[1]