Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg in the context of "Lower Franconia"

The Second Congress of Rastatt, which began its deliberations in November 1797, was intended to negotiate a general peace between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire, and to draw up a compensation plan to compensate those princes whose lands on the left bank of the Rhine had been seized by France in the War of the First Coalition. Facing the French delegation was a 10-member Imperial delegation made up of delegates from the electorates of Mainz, Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, as well as the secular territories of Austria, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg, and the imperial cities of Augsburg and Frankfurt. The congress was interrupted when Austria and Russia resumed war against France in March 1799 at the start of the War of the Second Coalition, thus rendering the proceedings moot. Furthermore, as the French delegates attempted to return home, they were attacked by Austrian cavalrymen or possibly French royalists masquerading as such. Two diplomats were killed and a third seriously injured. The congress was held at Rastatt near Karlsruhe.

The Peace of Pressburg was signed in Pressburg (today Bratislava) on 26 December 1805 between French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, as a consequence of the French victory over the Russians and Austrians at the Battle of Austerlitz (2 December). A truce was agreed on 4 December, and negotiations for the treaty began. The treaty was signed by Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, and the Hungarian Count Ignác Gyulay for the Austrian Empire and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand for France.

Beyond the clauses establishing "peace and amity" and the Austrian withdrawal from the Third Coalition, the treaty also mandated substantial territorial concessions by the Austrian Empire. The French gains of the previous treaties of Campo Formio and Lunéville were reiterated, while recent Austrian acquisitions in Italy and southern Germany were ceded to France and Bavaria, respectively. The scattered Austrian holdings in Swabia were passed to French allies – the King of Württemberg, and the Elector of Baden – while Bavaria received Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. Venetia, Istria, and Dalmatia were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy, of which Napoleon had become king earlier that year. The Principality of Lucca and Piombino was recognized as independent from the Holy Empire. Augsburg, previously an independent Free Imperial City, was ceded to Bavaria. As a minor compensation, the Austrian Empire annexed the Electorate of Salzburg, which had been under Habsburg rule since 1803. The elector, the Austrian Emperor's brother, was compensated with the Duchy of Würzburg, created from territories of the former prince-bishopric.