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  • Open Access
  • © 2021

Napoleonic Governance in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany

Conquest, Incorporation, and Integration

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  1. Martijn van der Burg

    1. Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, The Netherlands

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  • This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access

  • Explores the ways in which French Emperor Napoleon tried to integrate the present-day Netherlands and Northwest Germany into his Empire

  • Shows that a transregional approach can yield important findings in the study of the Napoleonic Empire

  • Examines how the region can be used to demonstrate the difficulties that are inherent to European integration

Part of the book series: War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850 (WCS)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    PDF

  2. Introduction: Napoleonic Governance and the Integration of Europe

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 1-22Open Access

  3. Revolution and Warfare: The North Before Conquest

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 23-44Open Access

  4. Conquest and Incorporation: Pays Conquis or Pays Réunies?

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 45-65Open Access

  5. Intermediary Bodies of Governance

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 67-91Open Access

  6. Prefects: ‘Tools of Conquest’

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 93-122Open Access

  7. Subprefects: (Trans)Regional Tools of Integration?

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 123-146Open Access

  8. Conclusions: Incomplete Integration

    • Martijn van der Burg
    Pages 147-160Open Access

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 161-165
    PDF
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About this book

“Van der Burg presents an innovative transregional study of Napoleonic governance in the often-overlooked northern periphery of the Empire. This book carefully examines the Empire’s administrative structure in the north, focusing on the heterogeneous community of prefects and subprefects as ‘tools of incorporation’, binding the regions to the central state. His rich comparative analysis highlights the incomplete integration of the north and makes important contributions to our understanding of the Empire and its legacy of state building.”
—Katherine Aaslestad, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

“Martijn van der Burg makes a vital contribution to the burgeoning scholarly literature on Napoleonic Europe in this well researched, carefully constructed volume. His analysis of this somewhat neglected, but important, part of Napoleon’s hegemony will become essential reading for all students and specialists of Napoleonic Europe. Van der Burg brings the riches of recent Dutch and German scholarship on the Napoleonic period, hitherto denied to an Anglophone readership, to say nothing of his own insight into Napoleonic rule in these complex regions. He delineates the course of Napoleonic rule here with clarity and acute attention to detail. This is a worthy addition to the Napoleonic renaissance in historiography.”
—Michael Broers, University of Oxford, UK

“A thorough, transparent and important comparative study into the content, dynamics, limits and results of Napoleonic governance, and the role of the (sub)prefects here within, in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany. Original, well-written and a very welcome contribution to the historiography of these still understudied areas in the Napoleonic years, as well as to Napoleonic historiography in general.”
—Johan Joor, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, the Netherlands


This open access Palgrave Pivot explores the ways in which French Emperor Napoleon tried to integrate the present-day Netherlands and Northwest Germany into his Empire, by replacing traditional institutions and governing practices with French ones ('Napoleonic governance'). The northern periphery of the Napoleonic Empire continues to be overlooked by the bulk of historians; this study shows that a transregional approach can yield important findings. In a broader sense, the study does not deal with these regions alone, but also with the difficulties that are inherent to European integration.

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Keywords

  • Open Access
  • Napoleonic Empire
  • Continental System
  • European integration
  • nation building
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Reviews

“Van der Burg presents an innovative trans-regional study of Napoleonic governance in the often-overlooked northern periphery of the Empire. This book carefully examines the Empire’s administrative structure in the north, focusing on the heterogeneous community of prefects and subprefects as ‘tools of incorporation’, binding the regions to the central state. His rich comparative analysis highlights the incomplete integration of the north and makes important contributions to our understanding of the Empire and its legacy of state building.”

—Katherine Aaslestad, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

“Martijn van der Burg makes a vital contribution to the burgeoning scholarly literature on Napoleonic Europe in this well researched, carefully constructed volume. His analysis of this somewhat neglected, but important, part of Napoleon’s hegemony will become essential reading for all students and specialists of Napoleonic Europe. Van der Burg brings the riches of recent Dutch and German scholarship on the Napoleonic period, hitherto denied to an Anglophone readership, to say nothing of his own insight into Napoleonic rule in these complex regions. He delineates the course of Napoleonic rule here with clarity and acute attention to detail. This is a worthy addition to the Napoleonic renaissance in historiography.”

—Michael Broers, University of Oxford, UK

“A thorough, transparent and important comparative study into the content, dynamics, limits and results of Napoleonic governance, and the role of the (sub) prefects here within, in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany. Original, well-written and a very welcome contribution to the historiography of these still understudied areas in the Napoleonic years, as well as to Napoleonic historiography in general.”

—Johan Joor, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Authors and Affiliations

  • Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Martijn van der Burg

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About the author

Martijn van der Burg is Assistant Professor at the Open University of the Netherlands.
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Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Napoleonic Governance in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany

  • Book Subtitle: Conquest, Incorporation, and Integration

  • Authors: Martijn van der Burg

  • Series Title: War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66658-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Author(s) 2021

  • License: CC BY

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-66657-6Published: 30 March 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-66658-3Published: 29 March 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2634-6699

  • Series E-ISSN: 2634-6702

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 165

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: European History, History of France, Imperialism and Colonialism, Military History

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Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions