7 - The Rhineland and the Continental System

Summary

The Rhineland's military contribution to Napoleon's war effort, though impressive, made up but a small fraction of the total combined effort of the Grande Empire. The region's place within the so-called Continental System, the economic component of Napoleon's struggle for hegemony, was in contrast central. First, the region was one of the most industrialised within the French Empire. It thus made an important contribution to Napoleon's attempts to establish autarchy within the Empire's frontiers and French economic dominance beyond them. Second, the Rhineland's geographical location placed it on the frontline in the war against smuggling, which posed the greatest threat against the System. However, before examining this, it is necessary to look at the Rhenish economy more generally. Despite the dramatic expansion of manufacturing in parts of the Lower Rhine in the late eighteenth century, agriculture remained the most important sector within the region as a whole. Here, French rule brought three important developments: the abolition of ‘feudalism’ (26 March 1798), the sale of secularised lands and ‘privatisation’ of common rights.

The abolition of ‘feudalism’ in the Rhineland was less favourable to the peasantry than in France proper, but more generous than elsewhere in German-speaking Europe. The French abolished tithes, the corvée, noble administrative and judicial privileges, as well as exclusive hunting and fishing rights. They did this without requiring the payment of compensation to landlords. In addition, they granted peasants enjoying hereditary tenure full property rights over their land.