At Ried, in the Innkreis, Count Karl Philipp von Wrede, Bavarian general of cavalry, and Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen, Austrian general of cavalry, sign a preliminary convention of alliance. The date of the instrument is 8 October 1813. The parties are Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria, and Francis I, Emperor of Austria. It is not the Battle of Leipzig of 16–19 October. Klemens von Metternich frames the policy; he does not sign.

Article 1: from the day of signature, perpetual peace and friendship between the two crowns, their heirs, states and subjects; commerce and other relations are restored as they stood before the war. Article 2: the alliance aims at restoring an order of things in Europe that secures independence for all; Bavaria leaves the Confederation of the Rhine and immediately joins its armies to those of the allied Powers.

Article 3: they aid each other with all means and do not lay down arms except by common accord. Article 4: the Emperor of Austria guarantees, in his own name and in that of his Allies, the quiet possession and full sovereignty of all the states, cities, domains and fortresses of which the King of Bavaria was in possession before hostilities began.

Article 5: the Bavarian army forms part of the great Austrian and allied army; it is under that army’s commander-in-chief and, immediately, under a Bavarian general; it may not be separated or scattered; it remains in one corps, under its own officers and regulations; if the defence of its own country requires it, it may return without hindrance. Article 6: cooperation begins from ratification. Article 7: trophies, booty and prisoners belong to the troops that take them.

Article 8: the parties proceed at once to a formal treaty of alliance. Article 9: they reserve a cartel convention. Article 10: they enter no peace arrangement or negotiation except by common accord; no opening, direct or indirect, from the French cabinet, without communicating it to each other. Article 11: ratification within eight days of signature, or sooner if possible.

The King ratifies at Munich on 12 October 1813, in the eighth year of his reign. The secret articles, of the same force as the public text, put at least 36,000 Bavarians and 150,000 Austrians in the field, open the Tyrol to Austrian troops, and make the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine and the full independence of Bavaria a principal object. Border changes are reserved for the future peace, by exchange of equal and contiguous territories; they are not this act.

It is not the Treaty of Teplitz. It is not the Congress of Vienna. It is not the later territorial exchange between Bavaria and Austria. Bavaria declares war on France on 14 October; that is a later proclamation, not the convention of Ried.

Maximilian I Joseph consents late; Crown Prince Ludwig and Wrede press the change of sides. The public text does not name Leipzig and does not dissolve the Confederation of the Rhine for the other members.

Image: town hall of Ried im Innkreis; H.Helmlechner, 2020; CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Treaty of Ried. Treaty text: Rieder-Vertrag vom 8. October 1813 (Wikisource).