Introduction

Abstract

The year 2006 marked the bicentenary of two seminal events in German and French history: the dissolution of the old Reich or Holy Roman Empire that had encompassed much of Europe for over a millennium, and its replacement by a new, French-sponsored political order. The juxtaposition of the two empires in 1806 offers an ideal opportunity for a comparative approach to the transition towards modernity and serves as a snapshot moment in the vacillating balance of power and influence between France and Germany in the construction of Europe. The rapidity of these changes suggests a major turning point, to some even the birth of modernity itself, as Napoleon, the inheritor of the dynamic, rationalising traditions of the French Revolution, triumphed over a socio-political order that had its roots in the early middle ages and claimed direct descent from the ancient Roman Empire. However, recent research on both countries suggests that the contrast is considerably more complex than is commonly assumed. To date this research has been conducted largely in parallel and remains dominated by the concerns of two distinct national historiographies. The anniversary of 1806 is an ideal moment to draw these lines of investigation together.