Napoleon's legacy : problems of government in Restoration Europe / edited by David Laven and Lucy Riall.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Laven, David.

Riall, Lucy, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Europe--History--1815-1848.

Europe.

History.

Europe--Politics and government--1815-1848.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xiii, 291 pages : maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Berg, 2000.

Summary:

This ground-breaking collection of essays provides a long-needed reassessment of the legacy of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars upon the governments of Restoration Europe. Traditionally the Restoration has been regarded by historians as a period in which European governments returned to the reactionary policies which prevailed before the upheavals of 1789, and which involved an outright rejection of the reforms of the Napoleonic era. In this book, leading historians challenge this interpretation and emphasize the sometimes surprising loyalty shown to Napoleonic policies of modernization by Restoration governments.

The problems of dealing with new ideologies, accommodating the interests of old elites, and keeping the benefits of recent reforms were broadly similar across Europe, and provide a connecting theme throughout the volume. However, the nature of governmental response was never uniform. The essays explore these varieties of response, both through detailed case studies and more general surveys, and address issues such as policing and censorship, revolutionary symbolism, elite formation, and bureaucratic structures in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Poland. Napoleon's Legacy, represents a fascinating contribution to the study of the nature of political change in the modern period.

Contents:

Restoration government and the legacy of Napoleon / David Laven and Lucy Riall

'No, Minister': French restoration rejection of authoritarianism / Robert Alexander

State and society in post-Napoleonic Italy / Marco Meriggi

Enlightened absolutism versus theocracy in the Spanish restoration, 1814-50 / Charles Esdaile

The Napoleonic legacy and problems of restoration in central Europe: the German confederation / Michael John

Napoleon and Germany: a legacy in foreign policy / Brendan Simms

The Polish kingdom (1815-1830): continuity or change / Andrezj Nieuwazny

The Napoleonic legacy in the Rhineland and the politics of reform in restoration Prussia / Michael Rowe

The restoration in Piedmont-Sardinia, 1814-1848: variations on reaction / Michael Broers

The Royaume du midi of 1815 / Brian Fitzpatrick

The 'impossible restoration': the left and the revolutionary and Napoleonic legacies / Pamela Pilbeam

National colours and national identity in early nineteenth-century Germany / Andreas Fahrmeir

The Napoleonic moment in Prussian church policy / Christopher Clark

Cultures in interdiction: the politics of censorship in Italy from Napoleon to the restoration / John A. Davis

'The best way to keep the peace in a country': Napoleon's gendarmes and their legacy / Clive Emsley.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1859732445

1859732496

OCLC:

42700092