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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Map 1 Geography and politics: Prussia and her neighbours in 1792
- Map 2 Geography and politics: Prussia and her neighbours in 1795
- Map 3 Geography and politics: Prussia and her neighbours in 1803
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The structures
- Part II The events
- Part III The responses
- 8 Facing Napoleonic France: Prussian responses to the French threat, 1804–1806
- 9 The search for decision: Prussian reform attempts immediately before Jena
- 10 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Map 1 Geography and politics: Prussia and her neighbours in 1792
- Map 2 Geography and politics: Prussia and her neighbours in 1795
- Map 3 Geography and politics: Prussia and her neighbours in 1803
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The structures
- Part II The events
- Part III The responses
- 8 Facing Napoleonic France: Prussian responses to the French threat, 1804–1806
- 9 The search for decision: Prussian reform attempts immediately before Jena
- 10 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Machiavelli says that a selfless power which is located between two ambitious powers is doomed to extinction. I am afraid I must admit that Machiavelli is right.
Frederick the Great, 1752During the period 1797 to 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as the constitutive force in Prussian politics. His radical hegemonic pretensions shaped Prussian foreign policy; this self-same threat powered the intense executive reform debate before Jena; by 1805–6, his favour could make or break Prussian statesmen in the antechamber of power; and the tide of events he unleashed in 1804 was to have a powerfully solvent effect on policies, politics and structures in the old Prussia.
The impact of Napoleon on Prussian policy was a direct reflection of the geopolitical situation of the monarchy. Their geographical exposure to French power made Prussian statesmen both more sensitive to Napoleonic ambitions and less inclined to oppose them. Unlike Great Britain and Russia, they took a very narrow view of European security. So long as Prussia's immediate sphere of influence in North Germany remained inviolate, she was prepared to permit those French encroachments in western Germany, Italy and elsewhere which she was powerless to stop in any case. This policy of strict neutrality – the ‘middle way’ – was repeatedly and explicitly justified with reference to the ‘imperious dictates’ of geography. But the Prussians were concerned not merely to stay out of any Franco-Russian dispute; they also aimed to mediate a limited rapprochement between the two powers. This would save them from being caught in the inevitable crossfire as French and Russian forces advanced to do battle in northern Germany.
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- The Impact of NapoleonPrussian High Politics, Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Executive, 1797–1806, pp. 338 - 343Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997