Believing his position as Holy Roman Emperor to be untenable, Francis abdicated the throne of the Holy Roman Empire on 6 August 1806, and declared the Holy Roman Empire to be dissolved in the same declaration. This was a political move to impair the legitimacy of the Confederation of the Rhine. Two years earlier, as a reaction to Napoleon making himself an Emperor of the French, Francis had raised Austria to the status of an empire. Hence, after 1806, he reigned as Francis I, Emperor of Austria. This move meant that the naval forces under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire were now reconstituted as solely being a part of the Austrian Navy.