Monarchy and corruption debates in the long 19th century (ca. 1780-1830 and 1890-1930)

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The subject of the research project is the significance of corruption debates for the monarchy in the long 19th century. During this period, the monarchy was often portrayed either as the cause of corruption or as an uncorruptible solution to the problem. In particular, the project will examine the significance of corruption debates and scandals for the legitimacy of the monarchy and in what way they contributed to the modernisation of its self-image. With this project, historical research on corruption and the history of the monarchy will be linked for the first time. Both branches of research have undergone significant methodological development in recent years, which makes the combination of perspectives very fruitful. In this era, debates on corruption were always also debates on modernisation avant la lettre. Moreover, they reflected the changing understanding of the state, changing social norm systems and moral concepts. The literature to date suggests the initial hypothesis that corruption-related criticism of monarchy dominated around 1800, while corruption-related legitimation strategies of monarchy were more successful around 1900. However, this assumption must be critically examined, as there are also findings that deviate from this in each case. Special attention is paid to the relationship between support/criticism of the institution of monarchy in relation to the individual behaviour of monarchs as well as to the gender-historical dimension. Public debates with contributions from critics, supporters and representatives of the monarchy in Germany (Prussia and Bavaria), France and Great Britain are examined. This also includes monarchist movements in the Third French and Weimar Republics. The empirical work concentrates on two periods. The first sub-project focuses on the phase of revolutions and reforms in the decades around 1800 (ca. 1780-1830), the second takes a look at the early 20th century (ca. 1890-1930). At least one joint article with the project leader summarises the partial results.