The 30th of May at 17,30 we are glad to invite you to the preview presentation of French Rule in the
States of Parma, 1796-1814. Working with Napoleon (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) by the american author
and professor Doina Pasca Harsanyi.
This book addresses the interplay between collaboration and resistance during the
Revolutionary/Napoleonic era in the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, renamed States of Parma
in 1802 and Department of Taro in 1808.
«The brief period of Napoleonic occupation in Parma (1802-1814) transformed every aspect of life in the
duchies. At the beginning of French rule, the small Bourbon state seemed intent on fending off French
modernizing policies, with tactics ranging from passive resistance to violent rebellion. By the time the
French left, Parma was the most integrated territory in the Napoleonic Empire, indeed a laboratory of
successful political experiments and modernizing reforms. French Rule in the States of Parma. Working
for Napoleon seeks to answer a few questions related to this historical experience: what did the French
wish to achieve in Parma and how did local citizens see their occupiers’ intentions? How did resistance
turn into functional cooperation? How did the Parmense exercise agency in what was an undeniable
power imbalance – that is, how did they harness the power of the empire to select policies that they
believed benefited their society and evade those that did not?»
Doina Pasca Harsanyi is professor of History at Central Michigan University, Usa. Her previous
publications include Lettres de la duchesse de La Rochefoucauld à William Short (2001), Lessons from
America: Liberal French Nobles in Exile, 1793-1798 (2010), and numerous academic articles on FrenchAmerican and French-Italian subjects.
The presentation will take place the 30th of May at 17,30 at the Internazionale Ilaria Alpi library, vicolo
delle Asse 5, Parma.
The 30th of May at 17,30 we are glad to invite you to the preview presentation of French Rule in the States of Parma, 1796-1814. Working with Napoleon (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) by the american author and professor Doina Pasca Harsanyi.
This book addresses the interplay between collaboration and resistance during theRevolutionary/Napoleonic era in the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, renamed States of Parmain 1802 and Department of Taro in 1808.
«The brief period of Napoleonic occupation in Parma (1802-1814) transformed every aspect of life in theduchies. At the beginning of French rule, the small Bourbon state seemed intent on fending off French modernizing policies, with tactics ranging from passive resistance to violent rebellion. By the time theFrench left, Parma was the most integrated territory in the Napoleonic Empire, indeed a laboratory of successful political experiments and modernizing reforms. French Rule in the States of Parma. Working for Napoleon seeks to answer a few questions related to this historical experience: what did the French wish to achieve in Parma and how did local citizens see their occupiers’ intentions? How did resistanceturn into functional cooperation? How did the Parmense exercise agency in what was an undeniablepower imbalance – that is, how did they harness the power of the empire to select policies that theybelieved benefited their society and evade those that did not?»
Doina Pasca Harsanyi is professor of History at Central Michigan University, Usa. Her previous publications include Lettres de la duchesse de La Rochefoucauld à William Short (2001), Lessons from America: Liberal French Nobles in Exile, 1793-1798 (2010), and numerous academic articles on French-American and French-Italian subjects.