The impact of Napoleon : Prussian high politics, foreign policy and the crisis of the executive, 1797-1806 / Brendan Simms.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simms, Brendan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821--Relations with Germans.

Napoleon.

Prussia (Germany)--History--Frederick William III, 1797-1840.

Prussia (Germany).

Prussia (Germany)--Foreign relations--1786-1806.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 390 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book examines Prussia's response to Napoleon and Napoleonic expansionism in the years before the crushing defeats of Auerstadt and Jena, a period of German history as untypical as it was dramatic. Between the years 1797 and 1806 the main fear of Prussian statesmen was French power, rather than revolution from below. This threat spawned a foreign-policy debate characterised by geopolitical thinking: the belief that Prussian policy was conditioned by her unique geographic situation at the heart of Europe. The book breaks new ground both methodologically and empirically. By combining high-political and geopolitical analysis, it is able to present a more comprehensive and nuanced picture than earlier interpretations. The book also draws on a very wide range of sources, official and unofficial, many previously unused.

Contents:

1. Introduction

Part I. The Structures: 2. The structure of Prussian politics during the early reign of Frederick William III ; 3. Problem areas of Prussian policy and politics: the centres of attention abroad, 1797-1804 ; 4. Problem areas of Prussian policy and politics: the centres of attention at home, 1797-1804

Part II. The Events: 5. The failure of neutrality: Prussian policy and politics, October 1804-September 1805 ; 6. Delayed decisions: Prussian policy and politics, October 1805-February 1806 ; 7. The Hanoverian crisis: Prussian policy and politics, March-June 1806

Part III. The Responses: 8. Facing Napoleonic France: Prussian responses to the French threat, 1804-1806 ; 9. The search for decision: Prussian Reform attempts immediately before Jena

10. Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 344-382) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-58303-6

0-511-00186-X