enforce their confession. Unlike other Palatine towns, Neustadt survived the War of the Palatine Succession (1689–1697) almost unscathed. 18th and 19th centuries In 1744 of the town population of 2,496, 1,676 were reformed, 620 were Roman Catholics and 200 were Lutherans. Jews were not included in these statistics. In the 18th century the town lost its medieval appearance, because its militarily obsolete and superfluous town walls were demolished. When, in 1722, the state road to Mannheim, the new residence of the Elector had been built (today the B 38), in 1723 the northern town wall was pierced. Following the seizure of the Left Bank of the Rhine during the French Revolution in 1797–98, Neustadt became just an insignificant administrative centre, the canton capital of the département of Donnersberg. Napoleon passed through the town on his retreat from Erfurt to Paris and its official celebrated his visit. When, five years later, parts of the emperor's army, defeated near Leipzig, marched through the town the sentiment was, however, quite the opposite. In 1815, Neustadt became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria until 1945, along with the rest of the Palatinate which was one of 8 Bavarian districts (Rhine District). As of 1837 the district was renamed as Pfalz. As a result of this resubordination, in 1818 the town became the seat of a Landkommissariat (called a Bezirksamt from 1862 and a Landkreis from 1939). In 1832 the Hambach Festival took place near the town. In 1847, Neustadt was connected to the railway network by the Palatine Ludwig Railway. 20th century A Workers and Soldiers Council was established during the German Revolution of 1918. Three delegates were sent to see Kurt Eisner, the premier of newly founded People's State of Bavaria. These delegates consisted of a member of the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany, a member of the emergent German People's Party and a third linked to the interests of the local wine trade. However, Eisner failed to take notice of their concerns and despite his subsequent assertion that the Pfalz was an integral part of Bavaria, this indifference helped fuel separatist sentiment in the area. According to the Armistice Agreement the Pfalz region fell within the French zone during the occupation of the Rhineland. The Siamese Expeditionary Forces occupied Neustadt following the end of World War I. In 1920 Neustadt, like six others in the Palatinate, separated from its Bezirksamt and