In 1815 it joined the German Confederation. During the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, Baden was a centre of revolutionist activities. In 1849, in the course of the Baden Revolution, it was the only German state that became a republic for a short while, under the leadership of Lorenzo Brentano. The revolution in Baden was suppressed mainly by Prussian troops. The Grand Duchy of Baden remained a sovereign country until it joined the German Empire in 1871. After the revolution of 1918, Baden became part of the Weimar Republic as the Republic of Baden. French Revolution and Napoleon The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792 saw Baden joining the First Coalition against France. The conflict devastated the margraviate's countryside. Baden was defeated in 1796 with Margrave Charles Frederick being compelled to pay an indemnity and cede his territories on the left bank of the Rhine to France. In 1803, largely owing to the good offices of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Charles Frederick received the bishopric of Konstanz, part of the Rhenish Palatinate, and other smaller districts, together with the dignity of a prince-elector. Baden then changed sides in 1805 to join France under Napoleon in the War of the Third Coalition. France and its allies won the war, and in the Peace of Pressburg the same year, Baden obtained the Breisgau and other territories in Further Austria at the expense of the Austrian Empire. In 1806, Charles Frederick joined the Confederation of the Rhine, declared himself a sovereign prince and grand duke, and received additional territory. Baden continued to assist France militarily, and by the Treaty of Schönbrunn in 1809, it was rewarded with accessions of territory at the expense of the Kingdom of Württemberg. Having quadrupled the area of Baden, Charles Frederick died in June 1811, and was succeeded by his grandson Charles, who was married to Stéphanie de Beauharnais (1789–1860) a cousin of French empress Josephine's first husband and adopted daughter of Napoleon. Charles fought for his father-in-law until after the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, when he joined the Sixth Coalition. Baden in the German Confederation In 1815 Baden became a member of the German Confederation established by the Act of 8 June, annexed to the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna of 9 June. However, in the haste of winding up the Congress, the question of the succession to the