Napoleon and the Szlachta

This is a local study of elite society in the Lublin region of Poland during the early-19th century. It focuses primarily on the estate records of prominent regional families and examines the effects of Napoleonic reforms on their traditional social and economic positions. The study argues that Polish nobles allied themselves with Napoleonic forces in order to reassert the nobility as the dominant stratum in early-19th century Polish society. There is an examination of these actions as well as the results - expected and unexpected - that the alliance with Napoleon brought about in Poland.