The Kingdom of Bavaria (1806-1918)
Bavaria was a kingdom for over
100 years, from January 1, 1806 to November 8, 1918. The six
Bavarian kings reigned as constitutional monarchs. The first
Bavarian monarch, Max Joseph I, owed his royal status to an alliance
with the French emperor Napoleon I.
The kingdom was formed by the incorporation of numerous hitherto
independent territories in Old Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia. Apart
from the king it was primarily the minister Count Maximilian von
Montgelas who formed the basis for the modern Bavaria on the French
model: equality before the war, abolition of tax privileges,
reorganization of the administration, the introduction of a salaried
civil service, religious tolerance, and finally the constitution of
1818.