At the end of the eighteenth century and up to 1814, Germany was under the power of Napoleon's French empire. Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, a conglomeration of the fractured north German states. This was the first time that these states had been brought together and as a result a rise in German nationalism began in all the northern states. When Napoleon was defeated in the battle of Leipzig by a coalition of Russia, Prussia, Britain and Austria, the Confederation collapsed. The Congress of Vienna The defeat of Napoleon brought about the beginning of the Congress of Vienna. The Congress was called in order to restore the balance of power in Euro