Introduction:

One of the deepest crises Europe ever experienced was at the end of the Napoleonic era, after the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig in December 1813 and Napoleon's abdication in 1814. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 restructured Europe completely and laid down new pathways for further development.

The focus of this paper is more narrowly directed onto a specific local area, the Kingdom of Westphalia. This was one of Napoleon's so-called satellite states, like Italy, Naples, and the Netherlands. The most important steps in the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Westphalia as an artificial model state will be touched upon, and answers proposed to the question that affects us today: What lessons can be drawn from this episode of history for Europe's further development?