The Kingdom of Westphalia was formed of territories hat were taken from Prussia, through the merger of three historical German areas into one state after the signing of the Tilsit Treaty.
The Kingdom united in it some Prussian Westphalia land, the part of Berg, the part of Munster and the part of East Frisia. Also Hessen - Kassel, Braunschweig and a part of Hanover joined there.
By the Decree of November 15 1807, Napoleon secured the throne for his younger brother Jerome Bonaparte. The city of Kassel was the capital of the new state. The north- eastern border of the kingdom passed on the river Elbe. The State joined the Confederation of the Rhine.
The Army of the Kingdom of Westphalia was created as a benchmark for other German states. The French army was created by the system, but the officer corps was drawn from the former army officers of the United States. The basis of the army was amounted by the Hessians, but the French were at the higher command positions.
However, it should be noted that not all of the officers of the attached lands passed to the army of the created state. Most of the officers of the army of Hanover went to the UK and joined the Royal German legion that was created there.
The core of the model army was the disbanded parts of Hessen - Kassel, there were Germans of mostly not Prussian descent who were captured by the French in 1806. But most of the army was recruited by conscripts and volunteers.
Napoleon intended to establish the Kingdom of Westphalia (as, indeed, from other European countries that were under his control) the ideal state. On December 7, 1807 King Jerome Bonaparte adopted a constitution of the new state and became the king of Westphalia.
According to this constitution all men of Westphalia were granted by equal rights, and serfdom was abolished (54 years earlier than in Russia). On the territory of the Kingdom the Code of Napoleon began to operate. It ended the era of guilds and gave everyone the right for free enterprise. There was introduced the metric system of weights and measures. At the same time Napoleon was introduced the press censorship.
In 1812 for the campaign to Russia there was formed a Corps with perfectly equipped and trained soldiers. The King Jerome Bonaparte became the commander of the 8th (Westphalian) Corps. However, he did not have the leadership talent of his brother Napoleon, so Major-General of the French service Domenic Joseph R.Vandam helped him (and in fact commanded the troops).
The Kingdom of Westphalia (Königreich Westphalen) – the state that existed in 1807-1813 on the territory of modern Germany, and was actually created for Napoleon's brother - Jerome. The modern receiver of this state is German federal state of North Rhine -Westphalia.
As the war wasn’t virtually ceased, Napoleon imposed the significant of tax liabilities on the state. The Kingdom was to contain Napoleon's army that was located on its territory.
A huge number of the Westphalian soldiers were killed in the Russian campaign of 1812. It did not add popularity to military service and the desire of the citizens of the Kingdom to serve began to wane.
In September 1813 the Russian troops surrounded Kassel - the capital of Westphalia and captured it. On October 1 the Kingdom was almost completely occupied by Russian troops.
After 3 days Jerome Bonaparte bringing together French troops managed to beat back Kassel. But Russian generals were not going to give up their positions and laid siege to the city again.
After the victory of Russia and their allies in the Battle of the Nations on October 19, 1813 the Westphalian state fell.
