ABSTRACT
As can be seen from the list of key dates the twenty years between 1792 and 1812 witnessed an extraordinary growth in France’s sway over the rest of Europe, which extended at its greatest from Hamburg in the north to Palermo in the south, and from Moscow in the east to Lisbon in the west (see Map 6.1). But it was followed by an even more precipitate decline in French power. In order to gauge the impact of French rule two obvious qualifications must be made. First, much depends
on its duration. French troops first occupied the Austrian Netherlands in November 1792. They stayed there until 1813. Lisbon, on the other hand, was occupied for only a few months in 1808. Second, influence was exerted in various ways. Those areas directly annexed to France (pays réunis) such as the Austrian Netherlands, Savoy, Piedmont, the left bank of the Rhine and parts of northern Germany experienced, however briefly, the full impact of French law and administration. Their territories were divided into departments and ruled over by prefects. In 1811 they amounted to an extra forty departments with a population of about 15 million. In areas not contiguous to France (pays conquis) French rule was exercised less directly up to 1805
through republics set up by the Directory such as the Cisalpine, Cispadine and Parthenopean Republics (Italy), the Batavian Republic (Holland), the Helvetic Republic (Switzerland) and the Grand Duchy of Berg (Germany).
