The Subalpine Republic was a short-lived republic that existed between 1800 and 1802 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by Napoleonic France.

History

Piedmont was the main part of the Kingdom of Sardinia which, despite its name, had its core on the mainland. The kingdom suffered a first French invasion in 1796, which led to the Treaty of Paris and the loss of Savoy and Nice. After a second invasion in 1798, King

Charles Emmanuel IV Charles Emmanuel IV (Carlo Emanuele Ferdinando Maria; 24 May 1751 – 6 October 1819) was King of Sardinia from 1796 to 1802. He abdicated in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel I. Biography Carlo Emanuele Ferdinando Maria di Savoia was ...

escaped to Rome, but he never agreed to sign a new peace treaty, approving a final arrangement of its continental territories according to international law. The

Piedmontese Republic The Piedmontese Republic ( it, Repubblica Piemontese) was a revolutionary, provisional and internationally unrecognized government established in Turin between 1798 and 1799 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by the French Fi ...

was declared on 10 September 1798 and it existed until 20 June 1799, when it was conquered by Austro-Russian troops. Although the Kingdom of Sardinia's authority was briefly restored in Piedmont, in 1800 Napoleon returned to Italy, taking back much of the new republics. The Piedmontese Republic was re-established as the Subalpine Republic on 20 June 1800. The republic had its capital at Turin. On 9 July 1800, it adopted a new flag, which consisted of a red-blue-gold triband (based on the flag of the earlier

Republic of Alba The Republic of Alba () was a revolutionary municipality proclaimed on 26 April 1796, in Alba, Piedmont, when the town was taken by the French army. The municipality had a very short life of only 2 days because, with the Armistice of Cherasco on ...

). Its motto was ''Liberté, Égalité'', which was taken from the French motto '' Liberté, égalité, fraternité''. The Subalpine Republic was heavily dependent on France and was never really independent as it was under French

military occupation Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

. The state was not recognized by the international community. Its government changed a number of times during its brief existence, and was made up of the following people: 5 Lire rep Subalpina

Paris introduced French-style reforms within the Subalpine Republic. It used the

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It wa ...

, and also minted its own coins. In March 1801, the Piedmontese Army was incorporated into the French Army, and a few months later the administrative management of the region ended up completely in French hands. On 4 June 1802, Charles Emmanuel abdicated in favour of his brother

Victor Emmanuel I Victor Emmanuel I (Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1802–1821). Biography Victor Emmanuel was the second son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda o ...

, who was in

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...

under

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

naval protection. Napoleon took this opportunity to declare the forfeiture of the old sovereignty over Piedmont, and plans were made to annex it to France. The Subalpine Republic ceased to exist on 11 September 1802, when it was divided between the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

and the Italian Republic. The French Republic annexed the

départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...

of Doire, Marengo,

Pô Pô is a city in southern Burkina Faso. It is the capital of the province of Nahouri. The main ethnic group (making about 60% of the inhabitants) is the Kasséna, a group close to the Gurunsi. It is said to have been founded in around 1500 a ...

(briefly named "Éridan", after Eridanos),

Sesia The Sesia (Latin ''Sesites'' or ''Sessites'') is a river in Piedmont, north-western Italy, tributary to the Po. Geography Its sources are the glaciers of Monte Rosa at the border with Switzerland. It flows through the Alpine valley Valsesia a ...

Stura Stura was a department of the French Consulate and of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the river Stura di Demonte. It was formed in 1802, when the Subalpine Republic (formerly the mainland portion of the Kingdo ...

, and

Tanaro The Tanaro (; pms, Tane ; ; la, Tanarus), is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of dr ...

, while the Italian Republic annexed Novara (as the department of

Agogna The Agogna (in Piedmontese ''Agògna'') is a stream which runs through the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy. It is a left side tributary of the river Po.''The Times'' (2003), ''Comprehensive Atlas of the World'', 11th edition, Times Books, ...

). In 1805, the Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy.

References

History of Piedmont Client states of the Napoleonic Wars Early Modern Italy 1800 in Italy 1801 in Italy 1802 in Italy Former unrecognized countries French military occupations 1802 disestablishments in Italy 1800 establishments in Italy {{NapoleonicWars-stub

History

See also

References