The First European Elections? Voting and Imperial State-Building Under Napoleon, 1802–1813

Bibliographic Data

ID8958920
AuthorsMalcolm Crook (0000-0001-5788-5151, Keele University, corresponding author), John Dunne (0000-0001-7452-6943)
Year2014
Volume57
Issue3
Pages661-697
Publication date2014-08-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Historical Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0018246x1400020x
OpenAlexW2023747896
LanguageEN
References cited28

This article establishes the significance of elections held in the annexed departments of the Napoleonic Empire from 1802 to 1813. It thus represents an original, and perhaps surprising, contribution to recent debate on the nature of Napoleonic imperialism, in which attention has shifted from core to periphery, and away from purely military matters. The electoral process under this authoritarian regime has been alternately neglected or derided, especially where the newly created departments of the Low Countries and parts of Germany and Italy are concerned. However, extensive archival research demonstrates that it was taken extremely seriously by both regime and voters, especially outside metropolitan France. These ‘First European Elections', as they may be dubbed, took place in regular fashion right across the Empire and are studied here on a transnational basis, which also involves the metropolitan departments. Though open to all adult males at the primary level, they were not exercises in democracy, but they did create some rare political space which local people were not slow to exploit for their own purposes. Above all, they served as a means of integrating ‘new Frenchmen’, particularly members of indigenous elites, into the Napoleonic system

Ancient history · Archaeology · Authoritarianism · Democracy · Economic history · Emperor · Empire · Genealogy · Indigenous · Metropolitan area · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Voting · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law

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