Heinzen, Jasper Maximilian orcid.org/0000-0002-6790-3787 (2021) State-building, conquest, and royal sovereignty in Prussia, 1815-1871. The Historical Journal. pp. 1281-1310. ISSN 1469-5103
Abstract
Since Bodin scholars have been debating whether sovereignty is indivisible or rather decentred, multiple and shared. This article adds to practice-oriented conceptualisations of sovereignty, which acknowledge the existence of jurisdictional pluralism in nineteenth-century state-building. Borrowing from imperial history, it contrasts the nominal supremacy of the Prussian crown – as embodied by the monarchical principle – with the residual sovereign rights of potentates that had lost their lands in Germany’s successive wars of unification. The possession of ‘bare sovereignty’ allowed such mediatised princes and exiled rulers to maintain a presence in the lives of their former subjects. They did so by exercising privileges and functions which left vague in whose name was being governed. The Hohenzollerns for their part struggled (and to a certain extent proved unwilling) to assert exclusive dominion because right of conquest-based justifications had no firm standing in international law, alienated segments of domestic public opinion and did not necessarily serve the interests of the state. The article argues, ultimately, that the resulting negotiation and contestation of monarchical sovereignty in Prussia speaks to global themes of state-building through state destruction in the Age of Empire.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2021. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > History (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jul 2020 16:40 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2025 23:19 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X20000333 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0018246X20000333 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:162874 |
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