The (Deutsche) Fürstenbund (German: [(ˈdɔʏtʃə) ˈfʏʁstn̩bʊnt], "[German] League of Princes") was an alliance of mostly Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire formed in 1785 under the leadership of Frederick II of Prussia. The alliance, which initially comprised the three major northern states of Prussia, Hanover and Saxony, was set up officially to safeguard the constitutional integrity and territorial status quo of the Empire, but more immediately to oppose the long-cherished ambition of Joseph II to add Bavaria to the Habsburg domains.