Subsequently, he placed the property of the church under government control,[2] and greatly extended the borders of the kingdom by the process of mediatisation.

After the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Frederick deserted the French emperor and, by a treaty with Metternich at Fulda in November 1813, he secured the confirmation of his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory.

In the same year, he laid before the representatives of his people the outline of a new constitution, but they rejected it, and in the midst of the commotion that ensued, Frederick died on 30 October 1816.

William had to dismiss Johannes Schlayer (1792–1860) and his other ministers, and appoint men with more liberal ideas, proponents of a united Germany.

William proclaimed a democratic constitution, but as soon as the movement had spent its force, he dismissed the liberal ministers, and in October 1849, Schlayer and his associates returned to power.

In 1851, by interfering with popular electoral rights, the king and his ministers succeeded in assembling a servile diet that surrendered the privileges gained since 1848.

In the competition between Austria and Prussia for supremacy in Germany, William had consistently taken the Austrian side and the new king continued this policy.

The end of the struggle against Prussia allowed a renewal of democratic agitation in Württemberg, but this had achieved no tangible results when the war broke out in 1870.

Many important reforms ensued, especially in the area of finance, but a proposal to unify the railway system with that of the rest of Germany failed.

Consequently, power was due to pass to a Roman Catholic branch of the family, raising difficulties concerning the relations between church and state.

[citation needed] King William abdicated on 30 November 1918, following Germany's defeat in the First World War, ending a dynasty that had lasted 837 years.

After World War II, Württemberg was divided between the American and French occupation zones and became part of two new states: Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern.

[6] The highest executive power rested in the hands of the Ministry of State (German: Staatsministerium), consisting of six ministers: justice, foreign affairs (with the royal household, railways, posts and telegraphs), interior, public worship and education, war, and finance.

The kingdom also had a privy council, consisting of the ministers and some nominated councillors (German: wirkliche Staatsräte), who advised the sovereign.

The judges of a special supreme court of justice, called the State Tribunal (German: Staatsgerichtshof) functioned as the guardians of the constitution.

The constitution was revised in 1906 when Württemberg introduced, before any other German state, the proportional system of election for the Second Chamber of the Diet.

The result of the elections of 1906 was such that the two Liberal parties on the one side and the Catholic Centre and the Conservatives on the other were equally strong, so that the Social Democrats held the balance.

Subsequent political changes resulted in a keen split between the parties, but the Prime Minister Karl von Weizsäcker stayed in office until the change in the constitution of the German Empire under Prince Maximilian of Baden's chancellorship in October 1918 compelled the Württemberg Government to give way, and the Weizsäcker Ministry resigned.

[7] The kingdom ended with the abdication of William II in November, but the political system experienced no further convulsions of a serious character, with a constitution that resembled those of the other German states.

About one-third of the revenue derived from railways, forests, and mines, about £1,400,000 from direct taxation, and the remainder from indirect taxes, the post office and sundry items.

[6] Population statistics for Württemberg's four departments (Kreise) for 1900 and 1905 appear below:[9] Settlement density was concentrated in the Neckar valley from Esslingen northward.

The largest towns included Stuttgart (with Cannstatt), Ulm, Heilbronn, Esslingen am Neckar, Reutlingen, Ludwigsburg, Göppingen, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Tübingen, Tuttlingen, and Ravensburg.

The chief agricultural products were oats, spelt, rye, wheat, barley and hops, peas and beans, maize, fruit (chiefly cherries and apples), beets, and tobacco, as well as dairy and garden produce.

The Württemberg wine region centred on the valley of the Neckar and several of its tributaries, the Rems, Enz, Kocher, and Jagst.

[9] Textile manufacturers produced linen, woolen, and cotton fabrics, particularly at Esslingen and Göppingen, and paper making was prominent in Ravensburg, Heilbronn, and throughout Lower Swabia.

[9] Assisted by the government, manufacturing industries developed rapidly during the later years of the 19th century, notably metal working, especially branches that required skilled workmanship.

Chemical works, potteries, cabinet-making workshops, sugar factories, breweries, and distilleries operated throughout the kingdom.

Hydropower and petrol largely compensated for the lack of coal, and liquid carbonic acid was produced from natural gas springs beside the Eyach, a tributary of the Neckar.

[9] The kingdom's principal exports included cattle, cereals, wood, pianos, salt, oil, leather, cotton and linen fabrics, beer, wine, and spirits.