Der Drang zum Staat: Lebenswelten in Wurzburg zwischen 1795 und 1815

Abstract

Clemens Maria Tangerding contributes a unique case study on Würzburg to add to the many new publications over the past two decades that have examined the tumultuous, violent and multifarious decades between 1789 and 1815. Scholars analyse this era, characterized by the transformations that came in the wake of the French Revolution and Napoleonic conquest of Europe, as a bridge period between the early modern and modern society. This approach seeks to account for fundamental changes in urban civic society, modern warfare, economic and administrative modernization and political reforms. Scholars have sometimes highlighted the importance of specific years as decisive turning points. Traditionally, German scholars viewed 1806 and 1813 as crucial moments in the birth and emergence of German nationalism. Although this approach to understanding German nationalism is outdated, the academic search for turning points has remained central to studies that emphasize the administrative transformation of German Central Europe following the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and the military defeat of Bonaparte in 1812 and popular mobilization against the French in 1813.