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The Niçard exodus ( it, esodo nizzardo ; ) was one of the first emigration phenomena that involved the Italian populations in the contemporary age. It was due to the refusal of a quarter of the
Niçard Italians Niçard Italians ( it, nizzardi italiani ) are Italians who have full or partial Nice heritage by birth or ethnicity. History Niçard Italians have roots in Nice and the County of Nice. They often speak the Ligurian language after Nice joined the ...
to stay in Nice after its annexation to France in 1861, which was decided after the
Plombières Agreement The Plombières Agreement ( it, Accordi di Plombières, french: Entrevue de Plombières) of the 21 July 1858 was a secret verbal agreement which took place at Plombières-les-Bains between the chief minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, Count Cavour, ...
.


History

The exodus took place starting from 1861, concomitantly and following the annexation of Nice and its surroundings from the
Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
to France. After the Treaty of Turin was signed in 1860 between the Sardinian king and
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
as a consequence of the
Plombières Agreement The Plombières Agreement ( it, Accordi di Plombières, french: Entrevue de Plombières) of the 21 July 1858 was a secret verbal agreement which took place at Plombières-les-Bains between the chief minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, Count Cavour, ...
, the county of Nice was ceded to France as a territorial reward for French assistance in the
Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...
against
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
, which saw
Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...
united with
Piedmont-Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
. King Victor-Emmanuel II, on April 1, 1860, solemnly asked the population to accept the change of sovereignty, in the name of Italian unity, and the cession was ratified by a regional
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
. Italophile manifestations and the acclamation of an “Italian Nice” by the crowd are reported on this occasion. These manifestations could not influence the course of events. A plebiscite was voted on April 15 and April 16, 1860. The opponents of annexation called for abstention, hence the very high abstention rate. The “yes” vote won 83% of registered voters throughout the county of Nice and 86% in Nice, partly thanks to pressure from the authorities. This is the result of a masterful operation of information control by the French and Piedmontese governments, in order to influence the outcome of the vote in relation to the decisions already taken. The irregularities in the plebiscite voting operations were evident. The case of Levens is emblematic: the same official sources recorded, faced with only 407 voters, 481 votes cast, naturally almost all in favor of joining France. The Italian language was the official language of the County, used by the Church, at the town hall, taught in schools, used in theaters and at the Opera, was immediately abolished and replaced by French. Discontent over annexation to France led to the emigration of a large part of the Italophile population, also accelerated by Italian unification after 1861. A quarter of the population of Nice, around 11,000 people from Nice, decided to voluntarily exile to Italy. The emigration of a quarter of the
Niçard Italians Niçard Italians ( it, nizzardi italiani ) are Italians who have full or partial Nice heritage by birth or ethnicity. History Niçard Italians have roots in Nice and the County of Nice. They often speak the Ligurian language after Nice joined the ...
to Italy took the name of Niçard exodus. Many Italians from Nizza then moved to the Ligurian towns of
Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label=Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...
,
Bordighera Bordighera (; lij, A Bordighea, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, and it is possible to see the French coast with a nak ...
and
Ospedaletti Ospedaletti ( lij, Spiareti) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region of Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Imperia. Ospedaletti borders the following municipalities: Bord ...
, giving rise to a local branch of the movement of the Italian irredentists which considered the re-acquisition of Nice to be one of their nationalist goals.
Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...
, born in Nice, tenaciously opposed the cession of his hometown to France, arguing that the Plebiscite he ratified in the treaty was vitiated by
electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
. In 1871, during the first free elections in the County, the pro-Italian lists obtained almost all the votes in the legislative elections (26,534 votes out of 29,428 votes cast), and Garibaldi was elected deputy at the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. Pro-Italians take to the streets cheering ''“Viva Nizza! Viva Garibaldi!”.'' The French government sends 10,000 soldiers to Nice, closes the Italian newspaper ''Il Diritto di Nizza'' and imprisons several demonstrators. The population of Nice rose up from February 8 to 10 and the three days of demonstration took the name of " Niçard Vespers". The revolt is suppressed by French troops. On February 13th, Garibaldi was not allowed to speak at the French parliament meeting in Bordeaux to ask for the reunification of Nice to the newborn Italian unitary state, and he resigned from his post as deputy. The failure of Vespers led to the expulsion of the last pro-Italian intellectuals from Nice, such as Luciano Mereu or Giuseppe Bres, who were expelled or deported. The pro-Italian irredentist movement persisted throughout the period 1860-1914, despite the repression carried out since the annexation. The French government implemented a policy of
Francization Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by mor ...
of society, language and culture. The toponyms of the communes of the ancient County have been francized, which acted as a bank to the obligation to use French in Nice, as well as certain surnames (for example the Italian surname "Bianchi" was francized into "Leblanc", and the Italian surname "Del Ponte" was francized into "Dupont"). This led to the beginning of the disappearance of the Niçard Italians. Many intellectuals from Nice took refuge in Italy, such as Giovan Battista Bottero who took over the direction of the newspaper '' La Gazzetta del Popolo'' in Turin. In 1874, it was the second Italian newspaper by circulation, after ''Il Secolo'' in Milan. Italian-language newspapers in Nice were banned. In 1861, ''La Voce di Nizza'' was closed (temporarily reopened during the Niçard Vespers), followed by ''Il Diritto di Nizza'', closed in 1871. In 1895 it was the turn of ''Il Pensiero di Nizza'', accused of irredentism. Many journalists and writers from Nice wrote in these newspapers in Italian. Among these are Enrico Sappia, Giuseppe André, Giuseppe Bres, Eugenio Cais di Pierlas and others. Another Niçard Italian, Garibaldian Luciano Mereu, was exiled from Nice in November 1870, together with the Garibaldians Adriano Gilli, Carlo Perino and Alberto Cougnet. In 1871, Luciano Mereu was elected City Councilor in Nice during the term of Mayor of Augusto Raynaud (1871–1876) and was a member of the Garibaldi Commission of Nice, whose president was Donato Rasteu. Rasteu remained in office until 1885. This led to the beginning of the disappearance of the Niçard Italians. Many intellectuals from Nice took refuge in Italy, such as Giovan Battista Bottero who took over the direction of the newspaper '' La Gazzetta del Popolo'' in Turin. In 1874, it was the second Italian newspaper by circulation, after ''Il Secolo'' in Milan. Giuseppe Bres tried to counter the French claim that the Niçard dialect was Occitan and not Italian, publishing his ''Considerations on Niçard dialect'' in 1906 in Italy. During the Italian occupation of Nice in 1942–43, the newspaper of the irredentists from Nice was restored, ''Il Nizzardo'' ("The Niçard"). It was directed by Ezio Garibaldi, grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi. In those years, the periodical ''Fert'' was also renowned, the main voice of the Nice refugees in Italy after the annexation of Nice to France in 1861. Until the 1930s, the centre of Nice was still mostly Italian. Today, Italian characters survive in uses, customs and culture mainly along the border areas with Italy.


See also

*
Niçard Italians Niçard Italians ( it, nizzardi italiani ) are Italians who have full or partial Nice heritage by birth or ethnicity. History Niçard Italians have roots in Nice and the County of Nice. They often speak the Ligurian language after Nice joined the ...


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Giuseppe André. ''Nizza negli ultimi quattro anni''. A. Gilletta, 1875 (Harvard University) * Francesco Barberis. ''Nizza italiana, raccolta di varie poesie italiane e nizzarde''. Tip. Sborgi e Guarnieri, Florence, 1871 (University of California) * Enrico Sappia. ''Nice contemporaine'', a cura di Alain Rouillier, Nice: France Europe Editions, 2006 * Giulio Vignoli
''Storie e letterature italiane di Nizza e del Nizzardo (e di Briga e di Tenda e del Principato di Monaco)''
Settecolori, Lamezia Terme, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Niçard exodus Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) History of Liguria Italian diaspora Italian unification History of Nice 19th century in France 19th century in Italy French emigrants to Italy Politically motivated migrations France–Italy relations Ligurian language (Romance) Emigration