Germanic Freestates Federation

Red: GFF territory
Grey: HRE

Light blue: Kingdom of Thuringia - Erfurt
Mustard: Prince-Bishopric of Münster - Münster
Cyan: Grand Duchy of Gelre-Julich - Geldern
Brown: County of Holland - Amsterdam
Red: Grand Duchy of Luxemburg - Luxemburg
Yellow: County of Alsace - Strassburg
Green: Margraviate of Baden - Baden-Baden
Purple: Kingdom of Württemberg - Stuttgart
Petrol Green: Kingdom of Sud-Bavaria - Munich
Strange shade of grey: Swiss Confederacy - Zurich
Darker shade of mustard: County of Savoy - Chambery
Sickly shade of green: Grand Duchy of Styria - Graz
Dark pink: Princely County of Gradisca and Gorizia - Gorizia

In 1714, a succession crisis erupted in the Kingdom of Bavaria: the only daughter of King Frank was married to Alfred, heir to the Kingdom of Wurtemberg. This would have meant that his son would have united Bavaria and Wurtemberg in what would have been the most powerful German state. To prevent that, a second file heir, the Count Whilhelm was found, and his claims to the throne pressed hard by the opposers to Wurtemberg. Quickly, two factions formed up in the Empire: the supporters of Prince Alfred, which were the rulers of the southern German states and of the Netherlander provinces, and those who stood for Count Whilhelm, headed by the King of Bohemia.

The tensions in the HRE were quickly rising, and what was initially just a little squabble, ended up becoming a possible fully fledged rebellion. Realizing that the HRE's own existence was in danger, the Emperor decided to step in, and acted to settle the dispute: the Kingdom of Bavaria was divided among the two pretendents, with the smaller part going to Prince Alfred, and Count Whilhelm being crowned as ruler of a reduced, but still prosperous, Bavaria.

The rebellious vassals were asking more, though. To make them drop their separatist fantasies, they were granted a number of elector seats, and a somehow greater autonomy inside the HRE. The rulers again sweared fealty to the Emperor, and the HRE was once more at peace, ready to prosper.

Various form of government in different states, but they are generally speaking all authoritary states. The different ruler meet in the Rat der Freien Staten, the Council of the Freestates, an irregularly held parliament that is called to face problems and decide on important questions.

The official religion is Christianesim. Some communities still profess the Hussite heresy, but are effectively kept out of the public life. Important Ebraic communities are found in most of the larger cities.