He was king of an Italy that
embraced the fertile valley of the Po and the ancient possessions of
Venice, and that was administered by a viceroy, his stepson and heir-
apparent, Eugene Beauharnais. The pope was his friend and ally. His
brother Joseph governed the kingdom of Naples. His brother Louis and
his stepdaughter Hortense were king and queen of Holland. His sister
Elise was princess of the diminutive state of Lucca. The kings of Spain
and Denmark were his admirers and the tsar of Russia now called him
friend and brother. A restored Poland was a recruiting station for his
army. Prussia and Austria had become second- or third-rate powers, and
French influence once more predominated in the Germanies.
[Sidenote: Profound Changes in the Germanies]
It was in the Germanies, in fact, that Napoleon's achievements were
particularly striking. Before his magic touch many of the antique
political and social institutions of that country crumbled away. As
early as 1801 the diminution of the number of German states had begun.
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