Thèse--Université de Paris. / "Bibliographie": p. [315]-334.

No / Napoleon: The End of Glory tells the story of the dramatic two years that led to Napoleon's abdication in April 1814. Though crucial to European history, they remain strangely neglected, lying between the two much better-known landmarks of the retreat from Moscow and the battle of Waterloo. Yet this short period saw both Napoleon's loss of his European empire, and of his control over France itself. In 1813 the massive battle of Leipzig - the bloodiest in modern history before the first day of the Somme - forced his armies back to the Rhine. The next year, after a brilliant campaign against overwhelming odds, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and exiled to Elba. He regained his throne the following year, for just a hundred days, in a doomed adventure whose defeat at Waterloo was predictable. The most fascinating - and least-known - aspect of these years is that at several key points Napoleon's enemies offered him peace terms that would have allowed him to keep his throne, if not his empire, a policy inspired by the brilliant and devious Austrian foreign minister Metternich. Napoleon: The End of Glory sheds fascinating new light on Napoleon, Metternich, and many other key figures and events in this dramatic period of European history, drawing on previously unused archives in France, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Through these it seeks to answer the most important question of all - why, instead of accepting a compromise, Napoleon chose to gamble on total victory at the risk of utter defeat? / Leverhulme Trust

no / The eight-hour meeting at Dresden between Napoleon and Metternich on 26th June 1813 is a famous moment in modern French and European history. It marked a decisive stage in Austria’s tortuous path from ally to enemy of France, and thus played a crucial part in Napoleon’s downfall. Yet it still remains unclear exactly what transpired during the interview—the three published accounts, two by Metternich himself and one by Napoleon’s secretary Baron Fain, are contradictory and incomplete. There are, however, two further accounts of the Dresden meeting, one unpublished, the other almost completely neglected since its publication in 1933. The first is a revealing letter from Metternich to his wife Eleonore two days after the interview. The second is a narrative of the meeting taken down from Napoleon’s own words by his Grand Equerry Caulaincourt just a few hours after it ended. This sheds important new light on some of the key issues discussed. In particular, it clarifies the central question of whether or not Metternich offered concrete peace terms to Napoleon. Finally, the question of how far, if at all, the wider French public supported Napoleon’s determination not to conclude a ‘dishonourable’ peace in 1813 is examined.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Brent Maner / During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Bavaria embarked on an ambitious program of reform that fundamentally altered the Bavarian state and society. The men responsible for such dramatic changes were Maximilian IV Joseph, the last Elector and first King of Bavaria, and Maximilian Joseph Graf von Montgelas, his closest advisor. Both Max Joseph and Montgelas sought to modernize their government through the removal of feudal remnants and increased participation of the kingdom’s subjects. Reforms in education and religion were central to this endeavor. Education reforms developed the skills necessary for improving society, increasing the state’s prosperity, and instilling a sense of loyalty to the Bavarian king. Religious reforms helped to eliminate prejudice and better integrate the Protestant and Catholic subjects into Bavarian society, particularly in the areas Bavaria gained during the Napoleonic wars. By maintaining a balance between preserving loyalty to the king and increasing participation in the state’s modernization, the Bavarian monarch hoped to reap the benefits of enlightened reform and prevent revolution. Previous histories of reform during the Napoleonic Era have focused on Austria and Prussia but Bavaria deserves attention as well. There is a pendulum-like quality to Bavarian history that swings between reform and reaction. In 1799 when Max IV Joseph and Montgelas came to Munich, reform and self-preservation in the face of the French Revolution and Napoleon, as well as the changing face of the Holy Roman Empire, served as the impetus for reform. Reform in the early nineteenth century allowed the Bavarian bureaucrats to strengthen the power of the king and increase the wealth of the state. Through a careful analysis of the reform edicts, personal papers of Montgelas, and statements from outside commentators, a clearer picture of reform in Bavaria can be pieced together and the true impact of reform during the Napoleonic Period can be seen; reform that made the Bavaria of Max Joseph almost unrecognizable from the Bavaria of his predecessor.

The French model of the nineteenth century led the way to modernity in establishing centralized administrative governments throughout Continental Europe. Several Napoleonic policies that led to the establishment of a modern centralized state were not positive in their effects on the local communities. Research widely categorizes resistance to the Napoleonic program as either militarily or economically based. This study uses the French court cases from the Court of Cassation dated 1804 to 1820 to provide a different interpretation to the discussion of local resistance to Napoleonic authority on an international level. Conscription fraud, contraband, and resistance to government officials reveal that the local reaction in the French jurisdiction was based on contempt for both economic and military policies. The research exhibits that the grass-roots nature of the resistance against the economic and military policies experienced under the Napoleonic umbrella were comparatively similar in local opposition.

Ce travail s’intéresse aux relations entre l’économie, la société et l’État au travers de la comparaison de trois institutions économiques – les chambres de commerce de Gênes, Bruges et Cologne – dans le contexte de la construction de l’Empire napoléonien. En s’appuyant sur une documentation issue des archives des chambres de commerce dans les trois villes étudiées, de fonds préfectoraux et des archives du ministère de l’Intérieur à Paris, il s’agit d’étudier les modalités du transfert culturel opéré à partir de 1802 avec la création des premières chambres de commerce dans les départements annexés de l’Empire français. Cette perspective, inscrite dans un questionnement global portant sur la rationalité du modèle institutionnel des chambres de commerce napoléoniennes, permet d’analyser les formes d’appropriations locales des institutions et pose la question de la spécificité de ces constructions institutionnelles dans les départements annexés. Ce travail montre que les règles, les ressources et les compétences des chambres sont en grande partie déterminés par les acteurs locaux, plutôt que par l’État. Il souligne également l’enracinement du fonctionnement de ces institutions dans un ensemble de réseaux sociaux et institutionnels construits sur l’initiative des négociants membres des chambres, sur lesquels reposent également les pouvoirs qui leur sont conférés par l’État et son administration dans la régulation des économies locales. Enfin, la localisation des chambres étudiées dans les départements annexés constitue plutôt une ressource dans la mesure où leur position d’intermédiaire auprès de l’État et des négociants locaux est renforcée / Comparing three economic institutions – the chambers of commerce of Genoa, Bruges and Cologne – this research focuses on the relationships between the economy, society and the State at the time of the expansion of Napoleon's Empire.Based on documents from the archives of these three chambers of commerce, as well as on archives from the Prefecture and the Ministry of the Interior in Paris, this research aims to study the process of cultural transfer from 1802 onwards, starting with the creation of the first chambers of commerce in departments annexed by the French Empire. This perspective, which is part of a broader reflection on the rationality of the model of the Napoleonic chambers of commerce, allows us to analyze the degrees of local ownership of the institutions and raises the question of the specific institutional construction of the chambers of commerce in the new French departments.This research intends to show that the rules, resources and competence of the chambers depend mostly on local actors, rather than on the State. It also highlights the fact that the workings of these institutions are rooted in social and institutional networks, established by merchants who are also members of the chambers of commerce. The power to regulate the local economy, vested in the chamber by the State, relies heavily on these valuable networks. Finally, the distant location of the three chambers, in newly annexed departments, proves to be an asset, by strenghtening their position as an intermediary between the State and local merchants

Inaug. diss.--Bonn. / Lebenslauf. "Literatur": p. [6]-7.

Thesis (Doktorwürde)--K. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität zu München, 1914. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Doktorwürde)--Universität Bern, 1905. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (p. [67]-69).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Leipzig. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.