Treaty of Turin (1816)
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The 1816 Treaty of Turin was a treaty between Switzerland and 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 ...
which expanded the
Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...
.


Background

In 1814 the Swiss Confederation accepted Geneva's proposal to join the Confederation. At that time, it only covered a total of (about 44% of its modern size) and had only 14 of the 45 current
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
. Additionally, Geneva city and its three neighbors, Vandoeuvres,
Chêne-Bougeries Chêne-Bougeries is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Chêne-Bougeries is first mentioned in 1270 as ''Quercus''. In 1801 it was mentioned as ''Chêne-les-Bougeries''. Chêne-Bougeries was inhabited for most of its his ...
and Cologny were isolated from the remaining municipalities and from the rest of Switzerland. Only the isolated municipality of
Céligny Céligny is a municipality in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It consists of two small exclaves of the Canton of Geneva surrounded by the Canton of Vaud, near Crans-près-Céligny. History Céligny is first mentioned in 1163 as ''Siliniacum ...
(which today is an exclave in the
Canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...
) was connected to the rest of the country. Before the canton could join Switzerland, it needed a land connection to the rest of the country and continuous borders. Tasked with gaining support from the Great Powers for Geneva joining Switzerland and gaining needed territory, the diplomat
Charles Pictet de Rochemont Charles Pictet de Rochemont (21 September 1755 – 28 December 1824) was a statesman and diplomat who prepared the declaration of Switzerland's permanent neutrality ratified by the great powers in 1815. Early life Charles Pictet was born on 2 ...
was dispatched from Geneva to the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. At the Congress of Vienna, Pictet de Rochemont was able to gain support for Geneva joining the country which it did in mid 1815. At the Second Paris Peace Talks, he was able to secure a strengthened acknowledgement of
Swiss neutrality Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states. This policy is self-imposed and designed to ensure external ...
, a reparation of 3 million
francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
and part of the
Pays de Gex The arrondissement of Gex is an arrondissement of France in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It approximately corresponds to the historical region of the Pays de Gex. It has 27 communes. Its population is 93,027 (2016), an ...
along the northern shore of
Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...
. On 20 November 1815 the municipalities of
Versoix Versoix () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, which sits on the north-west side of Lake Geneva, north-east of the city of Geneva. Geography Versoix has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.1% is used for agricultural purpo ...
,
Collex-Bossy Collex-Bossy is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Both Collex and Bossy were first mentioned in 1258. Collex was called ''Coliacum'' while Bossy was ''Bocium''. Between 1790-1855 the municipality also included the v ...
,
Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...
, Pregny-Chambesy,
Le Grand-Saconnex Le Grand-Saconnex () is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Several international organizations and permanent missions to the United Nations are located in Grand Saconnex. Consequently, the population of Grand Saconnex is quite ...
,
Meyrin Meyrin () is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The main site of CERN, the European particle physics research organisation, is in Meyrin. Meyrin was originally a small agricultural village until the 1950s, when construction of ...
and Vernier became part of the Canton of Geneva. These new communities expanded the canton by and 3,343 residents. The 1815 treaties indicated that the Kingdom of Sardinia should give Switzerland a strip of land along the south shore of Lake Geneva and lands around Mount
Salève The Salève (), or Mont Salève, is a mountain of the French Prealps located in the department of Haute-Savoie in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is also called the "Balcony of Geneva" (French: ''Balcon de Genève''). Geography Geographically, the ...
. However, the exact boundaries and a schedule were left up to the two nations. Additionally, beginning in 1792 the French revolutionary government had established
tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...
s on all goods, including food, going into the city which forced Geneva to accept annexation in 1798. For this reason the government wanted to gain additional farm land and establish trade treaties with their neighbors.


Treaty of Turin

In January 1816 Pictet de Rochemont met with Montiglio and Collegno in Turin to begin negotiating the exact borders. Pictet de Rochemont sought to connect the community of Jussy with the rest of the canton. Sardinia wanted to keep Mount Salève and the Salève road between
Faucigny Faucigny ( it, Fossigni) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Historically, Faucigny was a region in Savoy which included the area of the modern ''département'' of Haute Sav ...
and
Chablais Chablais () was a province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its capital was Thonon-les-Bains. Chablais was elevated to a duchy in 1311 by Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor. This region is currently divided into three territories, the ''Chablais savoyard'', the ...
, which would prevent linking with Jussy. They eventually compromised with Geneva receiving the lake shore as far east as
Hermance Hermance () is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Hermance is first mentioned in 1247 as ''intra Armentia''. In 1271 it was mentioned as ''Eremencia''. Geography Hermance has an area, , of . Of this area, or 57.6% ...
and over to
Thônex Thônex () is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It is situated in the east of the canton and shares a border with the French town of Ambilly. History In 1869 the municipality was created when Chêne-Thônex split into two indep ...
, but giving the Salève area and road as well as the community of
Saint-Julien-en-Genevois Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (; frp, Sant-Jelien) is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 15,509. Geography Saint-Julien-en-Genevois is locat ...
to Sardinia. Once these issues were settled, the treaty was nearly ready to sign. However, in early March the government of Geneva refused to sign the treaty over a pair of issues. The first dealt with the status, lodging and payments to the
curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. The other was over the wording in Article VII, which dealt with the neutrality of the lands which Sardinia ceded to Switzerland. Both concerns were eventually addressed and on 16 March 1816 the treaty was signed. The treaty added a total of 24 new municipalities, and 12,700 new residents to the canton. The treaty established a customs free zone in what became the French district of
Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...
, which included about of Sardinian land added to lands in the Arrondissement of Gex from 1815 for a total of about of free trade zones. Despite an attempt in 1919 by the French government to dissolve the free trade zones around Geneva, the International Court in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
ruled that these zones were still protected by the treaties. In 1998 these free trade zones imported about 47.3 million, while 2.3 million worth of goods were exported.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty Of Turin History of Geneva History of Turin Treaties involving territorial changes 1816 treaties
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...