Title: The impact of Napoleon
First published: 1997
Description: This book examines Prussia's response to Napoleon and Napoleonic expansionism in the years before the crushing defeats of Auerstadt and Jena, a period of German history as untypical as it was dramatic.

Between the years 1797 and 1806 Prussia shocked Europe not by her assertiveness but by her acquiescence, not by her contempt for international norms but by trust in such norms long after they had been abandoned by her neighbours. Throughout this period the main fear of Prussian statesmen was French power, rather than revolution from below.

This threat spawned a foreign-policy debate characterised by geopolitical thinking: the belief that Prussian policy was conditioned by her unique geographic situation at the heart of Europe. Similar thinking underlay a parallel debate on the organisation of the executive: Prussian politicians felt that a swifter and more balanced process of decision-making was needed.
Subjects: Relations with Germans, Foreign relations, History, Prussia (germany), history, Prussia (germany), politics and government, Prussia (germany), foreign relations, Napoleon i, emperor of the french, 1769-1821
Places: Prussia (Germany)
People: Napoleon I Emperor of the French (1769-1821)
Time periods: Frederick William III, 1797-1840, 1786-1806
LC classification: DD420 .S56 1997