In November 1755,

Pasquale Paoli Filippo Antonio Pasquale de' Paoli (; french: link=no, Pascal Paoli; 6 April 1725 – 5 February 1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who was at the forefront of resistance movements against the Genoese and later ...

proclaimed

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

sovereign nation A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...

, the Corsican Republic ( it, Repubblica Corsa), independent from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

. He created the

Corsican Constitution The first Corsican Constitution was drawn up in 1755 for the short-lived Corsican Republic independent from Genoa beginning in 1755, and remained in force until the annexation of Corsica by France in 1769. It was written in Tuscan Italian, the la ...

, which was the first

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

written in Italian under Enlightenment principles, including the first implementation of

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, later revoked by the French when they took over the island in 1769. The republic created an

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

and justice system, and founded an army.

Foundation

After a series of successful actions, Paoli drove the Genoese from the whole island except for a few coastal towns. He then set to work re-organizing the government, introducing many reforms. He founded a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

at Corte and created a short-lived "Order of Saint-Devote" in 1757 in honour of the patron saint of the island, Saint Devota. The Corsican

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

was composed of delegates elected from each district for three-year terms. Suffrage was extended to all men over the age of 25. Traditionally, women had always voted in village elections for

podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

i.e. village elders, and other local officials, and it has been claimed that they also voted in national elections under the Republic. The Republic minted its own coins at Murato in 1761, imprinted with the

Moor's Head A Moor's head, since the 11th century, is a symbol depicting the head of a black moor. Origin The precise origin of the Moor's head is a subject of controversy. But the most likely explanation is that it is derived from the heraldic war flag ...

, the traditional symbol of Corsica. Paoli's ideas of independence, democracy and liberty gained support from such philosophers as

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revol ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity— ...

, Raynal, and Mably. The publication in 1768 of ''

An Account of Corsica ''An Account of Corsica'' is the earliest piece of writing related to the Grand Tour literature that was written by the Scottish author James Boswell. Its first and second editions were published in 1768, with a third edition within twelve month ...

'' by

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer S ...

made Paoli famous throughout Europe.

Diplomatic recognition Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accord ...

was extended to Corsica by the

Bey of Tunis Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

French invasion

In 1767, Corsica took the island of

Capraia Capraia is an Italian island, the northwesternmost of the seven islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, and the third largest after Elba and Giglio. It is also a ''comune'' ( Capraia Isola) belonging to the Province of Livorno. The island has a ...

from the Genoese who, one year later, despairing of ever being able to subjugate Corsica again, sold their claim to the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

with the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. The French invaded Corsica the same year, and for a whole year Paoli's forces fought desperately for their new republic against the invaders. However, in May 1769, at the

Battle of Ponte Novu The Battle of Ponte Novu took place on May 8 and 9, 1769 between royal French forces under the Comte de Vaux, a seasoned professional soldier with an expert on mountain warfare on his staff, and the native Corsicans under Carlo Salicetti. It ...

they were defeated by vastly superior forces commanded by the Comte de Vaux, and obliged to take refuge in the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

. French control was consolidated over the island, and in 1770 it became a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

of France.

Aftermath

The fall of Corsica to the French was poorly received by many in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, which was Corsica's main ally and sponsor. It was seen as a failure of the

Grafton Ministry The Grafton ministry was the British government headed by Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton. It served between October 1768 and January 1770. History The Grafton ministry arose from the gradual decay of its predecessor, the Chatham ministr ...

that Corsica had been "lost", as it was regarded as vital to the interests of Britain in that part of the Mediterranean. The Corsican Crisis severely weakened the

, contributing to its ultimate downfall. A number of exiled Corsicans fought for the British during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, serving with particular distinction during the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had ...

in 1782. Conversely, at the beginning of the same war, the New York militia later named '' Hearts of Oak'' - whose membership included

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charle ...

and other students at New York's King's College (now Columbia University) - originally called themselves " The Corsicans", evidently considering the Corsican Republic as a model to be emulated in America. The aspiration for Corsican independence, along with many of the democratic principles of the Corsican Republic, were revived by Paoli in the

Anglo-Corsican Kingdom The Anglo-Corsican Kingdom ( Italian: ''Regno Anglo-Corso''; Corsican: ''Riame anglo-corsu'', ''Riamu anglu-corsu''), also known as the Kingdom of Corsica ( Italian: ''Regno di Corsica''; Corsican: ''Regnu di Corsica''), was a client state of ...

of 1794–1796. On that occasion, British naval and land forces were deployed in defence of the island; however, their efforts failed and the French regained control. To this day, some Corsican separatists such as the (now-disbanded)

Armata Corsa Armata Corsa (literally "Corsican Army") was an underground separatist terrorist organization in Corsica, founded in 1999 and disbanded around 2001. History Armata Corsa was founded in 1999. Its suspected leaders, François Santoni and Jean-M ...

, advocate the restoration of the island's republic.

References

External links

First Corsican constitution (1755), in French
{{coord missing, France States and territories established in 1755 1755 establishments in Europe 1769 disestablishments in Europe

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

Island countries Former republics Former unrecognized countries Italian states Former countries

Foundation

French invasion

Aftermath

See also

References

External links