HY424      One Unit
The Napoleonic Empire: The Making of Modern Europe

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

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The Napoleonic Empire was crucial in the formation of modern Europe. Much of Europe was dominated by the Napoleonic Empire and its impact was felt across the continent, as well as in parts of the non-European world. Through an analysis of those states and regions directly incorporated into the Napoleonic Empire, this course will examine the extent of the direct and indirect influence of this era on the development of what we understand by a modern European society and a modern state system. The course analyses how this empire was created, as well as the states and societies that it forged during the period of Napoleonic rule and in its aftermath. The developments embodied in and practised by the Napoleonic Empire will be compared with those of its major rivals, whether inspired by or in reaction to the Napoleonic model. This comparison encourages the analysis of the varied and sometimes contradictory elements of this era – from the impact of the growth of secularisation, constitutionalism and the codification of laws to the beginnings of Romanticism, manifestations of early nationalism and monarchical reaction after 1815. The course will also assess the significance of both the reality and the 'myth' of empire, in the assessment of contemporary observers and also in the works of later nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholars.

The course will cover the following topics: the origins of the Empire; changes in armies and warfare; analysis of the changing nature of the Napoleonic Empire from the core to the periphery; the impact of the Empire on allied and rival states; Europe's relationship with the non-European world during this period; the diplomacy of war and the 'system' that emerged after 1815; the impact of the Napoleonic era on the modernisation of society, the economy, law and the state; early manifestations of national consciousness and patriotism in Spain, Russia, and the Italian and German states; liberal and conservative reactions to the post-war settlement and the Restoration period between 1815 and 1825; the origins and development of Napoleonic imagery and mythology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

2 hours of seminars in the Spring Term.
20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
20 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT, 1 essay in the WT and 1 essay in the ST.

The third essay will be a mock exam answer, which can be completed by students over the Easter break. It will be graded and students given written feedback in the first week of the Spring Term.

A detailed reading list will be issued at the beginning of the course.

Useful introductory works include: A. Mikaberidze, The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History; G. Ellis, Napoleon; G. Ellis, The Napoleonic Empire; M. Broers, Europe under Napoleon 1799-1815; S. J. Woolf, Napoleon's Integration of Europe; P. Dwyer (ed), Napoleon and Europe; C. Esdaile, Napoleon's Wars: An International History; O. Connelly, Napoleon's Satellite Kingdoms; P. Geyl, Napoleon, For and Against.

Exam (50%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period

Presentation (15%)

Essay (35%, 3500 words)