League of the Rhine

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The League of the Rhine (also known as the Erster Rheinbund, First Rhine-Bund; or the Rheinische Allianz - Rhenish Alliance) was a defensive union of more than 50 German princes and their cities along the River Rhine, formed on 14 August 1658 by Louis XIV of France and negotiated by Cardinal Mazarin (the de facto prime minister of France), Hugues de Lionne and Johann Philipp von Schönborn (Elector of Mainz and Archchancellor of the Empire).