A new look at the history of the periphery of Napoleon's Empire: state-building and popular resistance in the Duchy of Parma (on the book by D. P. Harsanyi)
Mitrofanov Andrei
The author of the article reviewed the Doina Pasqua Harsanyi’s book French Rule in the States of Parma, 1796-1814. Working with Napoleon. The author of this monograph focuses on two main issues. She analyzes the processes of transfer of French state institutions to the Italian soil, political integration, acculturation and formation of popular resistance on the territory of the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. Harsanyi's study is carried out in the classic genre of regional history research, the results of which have implications for general Italian history. According to the author of book, the territory of the former duchies annexed to France (1808) became a laboratory for the development of Napoleonic policy in Italy. Harsanyi shows how French prefects implemented Napoleon's plans for legislative, administrative, judicial, financial, military, and police reforms between 1802 and 1814. She points out that the results of these policies were generally positive for this small state. The combination of hard and soft power was ultimately a boon for the small Italian state, which had been undergoing a period of accelerated modernization for twelve years. As Harsanyi points out, this outcome was largely due to political and cultural dialogue, that is, the cooperation of local Italian elites with the Napoleonic administration.
The study is realized in the State Academic University for the Humanities within the framework of the state task of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (project FZNF–2023–0003 Traditions and values of society: mechanisms of formation and transformation in the context of global history).
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