This edited collection presents a pan-European history of intermediary government and administration in nineteenth-century Europe. Taking a closer look at senior government officials who represented the sovereign or state far away from the capital, the book highlights the intermediary nature of their roles, which fell somewhere between the municipality and central bureaucracy. Against the backdrop of revolution and upheaval brought about by the Enlightenment and the First World War, the nineteenth century was a crucial period for reform and political change. Taking a transnational approach, the contributors examine the similarities between the challenges that faced government officials in different European states, focusing on their common role as mediators: firstly, between the ‘centre’ and the ‘peripheries’; and secondly, between the population and hierarchies of power. The status and prerogative of these officials are discussed, providing insights into the lives of French Préfets, Prussian Oberpräsidenten, Austrian Statthalter, Italian Prefetti, dutch Commissarissen des Konings and governors in Russia and Spain. The special case of the United Kingdom, where there were neither prefects nor governors, serves as a mirror. Dismantling the barriers between different national histories, this book represents a comprehensive and comparative investigation into the roles of nineteenth-century provincial administrators in Europe, an important read for anyone researching European political history or the history of the state.
Author(s): Pierre Karila-Cohen
Series: Palgrave Studies in Political History
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 314
City: Cham
Acknowledgment
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
Chapter 1: For a European History of Prefects and Governors: Administrative Action and State-Building in the Nineteenth Century
1.1 A European Figure of Authority
1.2 Compartmentalized Historical Scholarship
1.3 Circulations and Similarities
1.4 Mastering Comparison and Rediscovering Differences
1.5 The Purpose of This Book: To Start at the Beginning
References
Chapter 2: Russian Governors, Governors General, and Viceroys (1700–1855)
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Governors
2.3 Governors General
2.4 Viceroys
2.5 Concluding Remarks
Appendix: A Sample of Careers
References
Chapter 3: From Gouverneur to Statthalter: The Highest Government Officials in the Lands of the Austrian Monarchy
3.1 Literature and Sources: A Paradox
3.2 The Lands of the Austrian Monarchy
3.3 Make the Empire Governable: Mid-eighteenth-Century Reform
3.4 Reforms in the Wake of the 1848 Revolution (1849–1853)
3.5 The 1867 Constitution and Its Consequences
3.6 Some Aspects of the Social Position of the Statthalter
3.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: The Positions of Oberpräsident, Regierungspräsident, and Landrat in Nineteenth-Century Prussian Administration: What We know and Current Enquiry
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Period of Institutional Administrative History (1960s and 1970s)
4.2.1 The Administrative Geography of Prussia
4.2.2 Changes to the Prerogatives of the Three Senior Provincial Officials
4.2.3 The Status of ‘Professional Bureaucrats’
4.3 The Period of Social History (1980s and 1990s)
4.3.1 The Place of Prussian Senior Government Officials in German Elites
4.3.2 The Sonderweg Debate on Comparative Studies
4.3.3 The Social, Geographical, and Religious Origins of Prussian Senior Government Officials
4.4 Towards a History of Practices and Representations (2000s and 2010s)
4.4.1 From the Legal Habitus to Administrative Practices
4.4.2 From Prosopography to Self-Representations
4.4.3 Senior Government Officials as Seen in Criticism and Satire
4.5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: Prefects, Governors, and Commissioners of the King in the Netherlands, c. 1800–1900
5.1 The Commissaris van de Koning: An Introduction
5.2 Historiography and Sources
5.3 Revolution and Integration
5.4 The Napoleonic Prefects
5.5 The United Kingdom of the Netherlands
5.6 The Creation of the Modern Commissioner of the King
5.7 Concluding Remarks—Commissioners and Provincial Government, 1800–1900: the Balancing of Interests
References
Chapter 6: French Prefects and Authority in Nineteenth-Century France: Current Knowledge and Research Perspectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 An Authority Figure in Nineteenth-Century France
6.3 From the “Political” Prefect to the Prefect as “Administrator”
6.3.1 A Primarily Political History Structured by Regime
6.3.2 The Prefectoral Institution Apprehended Through Actions
6.4 Blind Spots and Research Perspectives: Two Lines of Enquiry
6.4.1 The Administrative Action of Prefects in Times of Crisis, War, and Colonial Domination
6.4.2 Prefects’ Popularity, Unpopularity, and Sense of Self
References
Chapter 7: The Italian Prefect from Napoleon to the Early Twentieth Century
7.1 Introduction: The Significance of Periodicisation in the Case of Italy
7.2 The Napoleonic Period
7.3 The Restoration and the Pre-Unitary Period
7.4 Unitary Italy
7.5 Conclusion: Beyond Periodisation
References
Chapter 8: Civil Governors in Nineteenth-century Spain: Centralisation, Politicisation, and Militarisation
8.1 Overview on Historiography and General Issues
8.2 The Origins of the Civil Governor in Spain: A Bumpy Trajectory
8.2.1 Fomento Subdelegates as the Precedent for Civil Governors
8.2.2 Political Chiefs as the Precedent for Civil Governors
8.2.3 From Political Chiefs to Civil Governors
8.3 The Issue of Public Order: How Civilian Governors Were Weakened by the Power of the Military
8.4 The Post of Civil Governor and Its Configuration from 1849 Onwards: Politicisation and Professionalisation
8.5 Conclusion
Appendix: Brief Presentation of Three Governors Who Have Left Memoirs
Antonio Guerola
Fermín Arteta
Julián Zugasti
References
Chapter 9: Government Without Prefects. Did the UK Offer an Alternative Model?
9.1 An Alternative Model?
9.2 Counties
9.3 County Government in the British Isles Circa 1800
9.4 Developments in County Government to 1900
9.5 Conclusion: The UK in Comparative Perspective
References
Chapter 10: General Conclusion
10.1 Confirmation of Research Insights
10.2 Some Avenues of Research
Author Index
Subject Index
