An Imperial Bureaucracy Under Stress: The Napoleonic Empire as an exercise in stress under crisis?

Event Location

Attendee Categories

B - Individual entry (external attendees)

Cost

£6.00

Additional Items

More Information

In this talk, Prof. Michael Broers will argue that the Napoleonic episode in European history was a perpetual crisis of war and dislocation, a prolonged exercise in stress across European society which engulfed the conquered populations of the empire and the bureaucracy set to rule over them. The Napoleonic bureaucracy is increasingly evaluated in terms of an imperial bureaucracy. As such, it stood at the heart of the Napoleonic state. Historians’ attention has inevitably been drawn to the inter-action of French and non-French administrators, and to the impact of specific Napoleonic policies and practices on the non-French subjects of the empire, in which stress was intrinsic, and so an essential conceptual tool.

Michael Broers is Professor Emeritus of Western European History at the University of Oxford. He is the author of several books about revolutionary and Napoleonic Europe, including the two-volume biography Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny (2014) and Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age (2018); Napoleon's Other War: Bandits, Rebels and their Pursuers in the Age of Revolutions (2010); and The Napoleonic Empire in Italy, 1796-1814 (2005), winner of the Grand Prix Napoléon prize, 2006. Professor Broers was also the historical consultant on the blockbuster movie ‘Napoleon’ (2023) directed and co-produced by Ridley Scott.

Chairs: Dr Graciela Iglesias-Rogers (University of Winchester) and Prof. Chris Aldous (University of Winchester) 

Everybody is welcome.

Tickets are FREE for all members of the University of Winchester (but please register with your university email address) and for MHRC subscribers (information on the many benefits of subscribing for just £25 a year HERE).

Otherwise, Individual entry cost is £6 and £3 for concession.

Do you want to help us to stand for the pursuance of innovative, rigorous, and independent research in Modern History made accessible to all? Consider giving a Donation (no matter how small), follow our YouTube channel and share this information with colleagues or students who might be interested in the future of Modern History research. And if you don't receive it yet, ask to join our mailing list at MHRC@winchester.ac.uk