Overview
- Provides a transnational perspective on the history of intermediary government across Europe
- Includes examples from a broad range of European states including those within the Russian and Ottoman Empires
- Acts as a starting point for further comparative research into the role and functioning of prefect-like administrators
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Political History (PSPH)
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About this book
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.
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Keywords
- State-building
- European politics
- Authority
- Prefect
- Governor
- Province
- Representation
- Pan-European
- Intermediaries
- Administrative history
- Nineteenth-century Europe
- Government officials
- History of the state
- Municipality
- Regional government
- Central bureaucracy
- European peripheries
- Russian Empire
- Ottoman Empire
Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Editors and Affiliations
About the editor
Pierre Karila-Cohen is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Rennes 2, France. He specialises in the cultural, social, and political history of France and has published several books and articles on the historical ethnology of the state and its servants.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Prefects and Governors in Nineteenth-century Europe
Book Subtitle: Towards a Comparative History of Provincial Senior Officials
Editors: Pierre Karila-Cohen
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Political History
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91614-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-91613-8Published: 15 November 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-91616-9Published: 15 November 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-91614-5Published: 14 November 2022
Series ISSN: 2946-5176
Series E-ISSN: 2946-5184
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 310
Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations
Topics: European History, Political History, World History, Global and Transnational History, History of Germany and Central Europe