The Impact of Napoleon
The Impact of Napoleon
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.
- A groundbreaking analysis of Prussia under threat from Napoleon
- Examines sources which have not previously been considered
- Unusual in that it analyses Prussia/Germany in a rare period of threat and fear of a foreign power
Reviews & endorsements
' … a most valuable contribution to the field of Napoleonic studies, and to modern German history in English'. English Historical Review
Product details
June 2002Paperback
9780521893855
408 pages
229 × 154 × 26 mm
0.717kg
3 maps
Available
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Table of 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.
