The Napoleonic Empire and the New European Political Culture (War, Culture and Society, 1750 –1850)

Napoleon's conquests were spectacular, but behind his wars, is an enduring legacy. A new generation of historians have re-evaluated the Napoleonic era and found that his real achievement was the creation of modern Europe as we know it. Napoleon was a breaker of worlds. He made and remade most of the European continent almost at will, for well over a decade. Much of our world was forged as a consequence of his actions. Ever since we have taken our revenge - whether as scholars, novelists, politicians or private citizens - by making, unmaking and remaking him. Napoleon: assassin or saviour of the Revolution? Hero or charlatan? Manager or despot? Warmonger or pacifist? These are the questions French and foreign historians have tried to answer over the last two centuries. In this collection of essays, a new generation of historians re-evaluate the Napoleonic era by focusing on the constitutional and institutional impact of this period on western European society Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction: Napoleon, His Empire, Our Europe and the ‘New Napoleonic History’....Pages 1-17 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 Introduction....Pages 21-23 Imperial France in 1808 and beyond....Pages 24-37 The Origins of the Napoleonic System of Repression....Pages 38-48 Policing, Rural Revolt and Conscription in Napoleonic France....Pages 49-58 Small State, Big Society: The Involvement of Citizens in Local Government in Nineteenth-Century France....Pages 59-69 Napoleon as a Politician....Pages 70-81 Front Matter....Pages 83-83 Introduction....Pages 85-87 The Napoleonic Civil Code: The Belgian Case....Pages 88-99 The Dutch Case: The Kingdom of Holland and the Imperial Departments....Pages 100-111 Resistance against Napoleon in the Kingdom of Holland....Pages 112-122 A Tale of Two Cities: Aachen and Cologne in Napoleonic Europe....Pages 123-131 The Swiss Case in the Napoleonic Empire....Pages 132-142 Front Matter....Pages 143-143 Introduction....Pages 145-147 Resistance to Napoleonic Reform in the Grand Duchy of Berg, the Kingdom of Westphalia and the South German States....Pages 148-159 Napoleonic Rule in German Central Europe: Compliance and Resistance....Pages 160-172 The Napoleonic Administrative System in the Kingdom of Westphalia....Pages 173-185 A Valorous Nation in a Holy War: War Mobilization, Religion and Political Culture in Prussia, 1807 to 1815....Pages 186-198 Front Matter....Pages 199-199 Introduction....Pages 201-203 The Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy: State Administration....Pages 204-215 Front Matter....Pages 199-199 The Imperial Departments of Napoleonic Italy: Resistance and Collaboration....Pages 216-226 The Feudal Question in the Kingdom of Naples....Pages 227-240 The Illyrian Provinces....Pages 241-253 Front Matter....Pages 255-255 Introduction....Pages 257-259 The Monarchy at Bayonne and the Constitution of Cadiz....Pages 260-269 Popular Resistance in Spain....Pages 270-281 Imperial Spain....Pages 282-292 The New Spanish Councils....Pages 293-303 Political Paradoxes in Napoleonic Europe: The Portuguese Case....Pages 304-312 Conclusion: The Napoleonic Empire in the Age of Revolutions: The Contrast of Two National Representations....Pages 313-326 Back Matter....Pages 327-332