Bücher der Reihe War, Culture and Society, 1750¿1850

This book shows how the police functioned in the cities of the Napoleonic Empire. Shifting attention away from political repression, it focuses on the men who embodied this institution and made it work day-to-day. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how the Napoleonic police were indeed an instrument of power, but also a profession and a service to the public. Traditionally associated with the image of Joseph Fouche and with political surveillance, the Napoleonic police, when studied from the local level, thus reveals itself to be much more complex and oriented simultaneously towards both the preservation of the regime and maintaining good urban order.

This book explores the creation and career of the French Constitution of 1795, operative from the start of the Directory until Napoleon¿s takeover in 1799. It explores the composition, history and replacement of the French Revolution¿s third Constitution through a focus on the speeches and writings of four sets of political voices discernible in late 1790s France. The four main chapters present these voices as Thermidorians, Conservatives, Republicans and Brumairiens. They reveal the intensity and breadth of the debates generated by the permanent tension between the Constitution and the many ongoing conflicts of the Revolution. Set within and beyond the government and the two legislative chambers, the debates feature numerous conflicts central to the French Revolution including the composition and functions of the public powers, the legitimacy of exceptional laws, the regulation of the press and freedom of religion. This sustained focus on the relationship between the politicalnation and the Constitution provides a fresh reading of the political culture of the Directory.