From Reich to State: The Rhineland in the Revolutionary Age, 1780-1830 (New Studies in European History)

 
From the publishers:
Napoleon's contribution to Germany's development was immense. Under his hegemony, the millennium-old Holy Roman Empire dissolved, paving the way for a new order. Nowhere was the transformation more profound than in the Rhineland. Based upon an extensive range of German and French archival sources, this book locates the Napoleonic episode in this region within a broader chronological framework, encompassing the Old Regime and Restoration. It analyses not only politics, but also culture, identity, religion, society, institutions and economics. It reassesses in turn the legacy bequeathed by the Old Regime, the struggle between Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the 1790s, Napoleon's attempts to integrate the German-speaking Rhineland into the French Empire, the transition to Prussian rule, and the subsequent struggles that ultimately helped determine whether Germany would follow its own Sonderweg or the path of its western neighbours.

This Joint Winner of the Gladstone Prize 2003 forms part of our special dossier on the Confederation on the Rhine
 
Contents
1. Introduction;
Part I. 1780 1801: Enlightenment, Revolution, Occupation:
2. Land, Stadt and Reich;
3. French invasion and exploitation;
Part II. 1801 1813:
Napoleon: 4. The Napoleonic method of government;
5. Identities and state formation;
6. War and society;
7. The Rhineland and the Continental System;
Part III. 1813 1830: Transition, Reform, Reaction:
8. The end of the French Rhineland, 1813 1815;
9. The Rhineland and the development of Prussia, 1815 1830;
10. Reflections;
Bibliography.
 
To read a sample chapter, click here

Michael Rowe is Lecturer in history at Queen's College Belfast.