To James Madison from Louis-Marie Turreau, ca. 17 November 1806 (Abstract)
From Louis-Marie Turreau, ca. 17 November 1806 (Abstract)
§ From Louis-Marie Turreau. Ca. 17 November 1806. The undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of His Imperial and Royal Majesty near the President of the United States of America, has the honor to inform Mr. Madison, Secretary of State, of the existence of a treaty of confederation of the States of the Rhine, the necessary effect of which is to change the German Constitution.
For a long time the constitution of the German Empire had undergone such numerous alterations, that it no longer offered any Guaranty to its different members. The former balance of authority no longer existed. In the last war, it was seen that Germany no longer formed a single body and that ever increasing disunion would have allowed a habitual cause of war and disturbance to subsist in the middle of Europe.
All the states of the Confederation of the Rhine felt the need to unite in the defense of their common interests, with links that would be stronger and better suited to their position; & His Majesty the Emperor wanted to ensure, by his approval, the stability of an arrangement the purpose of which was to preserve for South Germany outward peace and internal tranquility.
Their Majesties the Emperor of Austria & the King of Prussia have recognized the Confederation of the Rhine that is executed here. With the two powers of Germany that must take the greatest interest in the affairs of this part of Europe, thus recognizing this new order of things, it cannot be doubted that the other courts in Europe will imitate their example & seize this occasion to give His Majesty the Emperor a new testimony of their sentiments of friendship, for his dispositions in maintaining the peace of the continent.
The German Empire no longer exists; the Emperor of Austria has renounced the title of Emperor of Germany; & that part of Europe is now composed only of independent states, or states confederating in conformity with the clauses of the last treaty.1 The declaration of the court of Vienna & its formal renunciations are complementary to the political act that changes the situation of Europe. France affirms the position that had been assigned for her, she only desires to fill it to consolidate the peace of the continent.
The undersigned, in making this communication to the Honorable Secretary of State, has reason to hope that the federal government will henceforth find it convenient to conform its diplomatic relations with the different sovereigns of Germany to the changes that have occurred in their particular situation, in their titles and in their relations among themselves. The former protocol ceases to fit an order of things that no longer exists.
The undersigned has the honor to pass on to the Honorable Secretary of State a copy of the treaty as well as of the acts that confirm it.2
RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, NFL, France, vol. 2–3). RC 2 pp.; in French; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Turreau. Undated; conjectural date assigned based on Wagner’s docket: “Recd. 17 Novr. 1806.” For enclosures, see n. 2.
1. Turreau referenced the 26 December 1805 Treaty of Pressburg; for the terms of the treaty, see PJM-SS, 10:634 n. 1.
2. Turreau enclosed copies (19 pp.; in French; docketed by Wagner) of 1) the Treaty of Confederation of the States of the Rhine, 12 July 1806; 2) M. Bacher, chargé d’affaires of France, to the Diet of Ratisbonne, 1 Aug. 1806, officially announcing the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine; 3) the declaration sent to the German diet, 1 Aug. 1806, outlining the insufficiency of past German confederations and the need for a new confederation; and 4) François II’s formal renunciation of the title of emperor of Germany, 6 Aug. [1806]. Turreau certified the copies on the final page, below the signature of the renunciation.