The Politics of European Codification: A History of the Unification of Law in France, Prussia, the Austrian Monarchy and the Netherlands

Several current codifications, such as the French Code civil and the Austrian ABGB, found their origin in what can be referred to as ‘State formation’. As uniformity was perceived to be crucial for the formation of a modern state, unification of law became an important goal. Codification was an excellent means to achieve this goal. The very essence of these codifications served to establish the central government as the legislative authority throughout its territory.

Historical enquiry of these processes of codification reveals elements and arguments that are reminiscent of those encountered in the current endeavours to achieve a European codification of private law. Thence, an understanding of their history may be essential to the understanding of the current political processes in European codification.

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