Nobles and Nation in Central Europe

Godsey, William D.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511496752

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 37 publications

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“…Superb studies, by William Godsey, Brenden Simms and Abigail Green, have highlighted that post-1815 the jury was out on how the new Germany was to be imagined. 55 Nationhood, Federalism, Statehood and supra-national Empire were among the many possibilities under scrutiny and which found adherents. The micro-dynastic states that made up the German Confederation were an interesting balancing act in which Nation, Empire and State were all kept in equilibrium by a delicate set of compromises.…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-inventing the Ancien Régime in Post-Napoleonic Europe

Caiani

2017

European History Quarterly

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Abstract'Revolution' as a historical category has received continuous academic interest and scrutiny, whereas the regime invented by the French Revolution has received less sophisticated theoretical analysis and unpacking. The term ancien régime was created in the moment of its death. The subsequent restructuring and politicization of this concept during the post-Napoleonic era remains largely unstudied. It is the argument here that the world after 1815 created a number of 'new old regimes'. These political systems, which made reference to ancien régime inheritances, were not straightforward reflections of a 'real past'. They were malleable discourses that could be calibrated to corroborate the competing claims made by conservatives, radicals and liberals about how post-Napoleonic Europe was to be organized. The 'new old regime' of the nineteenth century, though historically grounded, was instrumental in design and made little effort to resurrect the 'real past' to which it purportedly made constant reference. The battle to define the 'new old regime' was not a rear-guard action but lay at the very heart of European politics after 1815. The forces of nationhood, constitutionalism, parliamentarianism, liberalism and democracy unfurled by the twin titans of revolution and Napoleonic conquest were not guaranteed to win the day. Dynasticism, aristocratic hierarchy, military glory, religious revival, village communalism and regionalism continued to prosper during the first half of the nineteenth century.

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Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%