From Reich to State: The Rhineland in the Revolutionary Age, 1780-1830

by Michael Rowe

Overview

Napoleon's contribution to Germany's development was immense and nowhere was the transformation more profound than in the Rhineland. Based upon an extensive range of German and French archival sources, this study analyzes the Napoleonic influence in this region within a broader chronological framework encompassing the Old Regime and Restoration. It analyzes not only politics, but also culture, identity, religion, society, institutions and economics in its examination of Napoleon's impact on Germany.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521039826
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2007
Series:	New Studies in European History
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Dr Michael Rowe is a Lecturer at the School of Modern History, Queen's University, Belfast.

Table of Contents

Preface; Maps; 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 Germany, 1815–1830; 10. Reflections; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...an insightful political, economic, and cultural history of the Rhineland during a very turbulent period in German history...This is an important book that should be considered a "must read" for historians of Germany." John G. Gagliardo, Boston University, American Historical Review

"A work of broad scope that crosses sacrosanct chronological frontiers and navigates two national historiographies that have rarely been mastered by a single individual." | H-France

"An excellent and challenging work [...] useful reading for anyone interested in Napoleonic Germany (or Napoleonic Europe, more broadly), or in the development of political life in nineteenth-century central Europe." H-GERMAN

"The author of this study has written an excellent book about a crucial period of European history in one of the most important regions in the Western world." The Historian

"Rowe has crafted a carefully researched argument that, in unraveling the tangled legacy of transnational political cultures, demonstrates in measured and sensible terms how Rhenish society absorbed and adapted key elements of western European citizenship ideals. His scholarship not only provides an important regional supplement to Michael Broer's and isser Woloch's broader interpretations of Napoleonic Europe but also presents to German specialists a thesis of continuity that does justice to the Old Regime, Napoleonic and Restoration eras." Journal of Modern History James M. Brophy, University of Delaware

From the Publisher