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Cisalpine Republic Repubblica Cisalpina (Italian) | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1797–1802 | |||||||||||||||||
 The Cisalpine Republic in 1797 | |||||||||||||||||
| Status | Sister Republic ofFrance | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Milan | ||||||||||||||||
| Official languages | Italian | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||||
| Government | Unitarydirectorial republic | ||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Legislative Council | ||||||||||||||||
| Council of Elders | |||||||||||||||||
| Council of Juniors | |||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | French Revolutionary Wars | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 April 1797 | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | 29 June 1797 | ||||||||||||||||
• Constitution adopted | 8 July 1797 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 October 1797 | |||||||||||||||||
• Golpe andsecond Constitution | 31 August 1798 | ||||||||||||||||
| 27 April 1799 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 June 1800 | |||||||||||||||||
| 26 January 1802 | |||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
| 1797 | 42,500[1] km2 (16,400 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 1797 | 3,240,000[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Milanese scudo,lira,soldo anddenaro | ||||||||||||||||
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TheCisalpine Republic (Italian:Repubblica Cisalpina;Lombard:Republica Cisalpina) was asister republic or aclient state ofFrance inNorthern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.
After theBattle of Lodi in May 1796,Napoleon Bonaparte organized two states: one to the south of thePo, theCispadane Republic, and one to the north, theTranspadane Republic. On 19 May 1797, Napoleon transferred the territories of the formerDuchy of Modena to Transpadania and, on 12Messidor (29 June), he decreed the birth of the Cisalpine Republic, creating aDirectory for the republic and appointing its ministers. France published theconstitution of the new republic on 20 Messidor (7 July), establishing the division of the territory into elevendepartments: Adda (Lodi), Alpi Apuane (Massa), Crostolo (Reggio), Lario (Como), Montagna (Lecco), Olona (Milan), Panaro (Modena), Po (Cremona), Serio (Bergamo), Ticino (Pavia), and Verbano (Varese).
The rest of Cispadania was merged into the Cisalpine Republic on 27 July, with the capital of the unified state beingMilan. On 1Brumaire (22 October), Bonaparte announced the union ofValtelline with the Republic, after its secession from the SwissThree Grey Leagues.Austria acknowledged the new entity in theTreaty of Campoformio of 17 October, gaining in exchange what remained of theVenetian Republic. On 25 Brumaire (15 November), the full international recognition and legality of the new state was ratified by the law governing the final annexation of the conquered territories.
The parliament, composed of two chambers (theGreat Council and theCouncil of the Seniors), was appointed directly by Napoleon on 1Frimaire (21 November). He justified this undemocratic action as a necessity of war. New departments joined the eleven original ones and Valtelline in the following months: Benaco (Desenzano) on 11 Ventose (1 March 1798), Mella (Brescia) on 13 Floreal (2 May), Mincio (Mantua) on 7 Prairial (26 May), and five departments of Emilia. The structural phase of the republic was terminated on 14Fructidor (31 August), when France dismissed all the authorities of the republic, replacing them with a stronger executive power under a new constitution.
The Cisalpine Republic was for many years under the dominion of the House of Austria.
The French Republic succeeded it by right of conquest. It now renounces this right, and the Cisalpine Republic is free and independent. Recognized by France and by the Emperor, it will soon be equally acknowledged by the rest of Europe.
The Executive Directory of the French Republic, not content with employing its influence, and the victories of the Republican armies, to secure the political existence of the Cisalpine Republic, extends its care still further; and convinced that, if liberty be the first of blessings, the revolution which attends it is the greatest of evils, it has given to the Cisalpine people their peculiar Constitution, resulting from the wisdom of the most enlightened nation.
From a military regime, the Cisalpine people pass to a constitutional one.
That this transition should experience no shock, nor be exposed to anarchy, the Executive Directory thought proper to nominate, for the present, the members of the government and the legislative body, so that the people should, after the lapse of one year, have the election to the vacant places, in conformity to the Constitution.
For a great number of years, there existed no republic in Italy. The sacred fire of liberty was extinguished, and the finest part of Europe was under the yoke of strangers. It belongs to the Cisalpine Republic to show to the world by its wisdom, its energy, and the good organization of its armies, that modern Italy is not degenerated, and is still worthy of liberty.
(Signed) Buonaparte.
— Proclamation of General Buonaparte (later became the Preamble to the Constitution of the Cisalpine Republic), Montebello, 11 Messidor, year V (29 June 1797).[2]
The institutions of the Cisalpine Republic were very similar to those of France. Itsfirst constitution, adopted on 8 July 1797, was based on theFrench Constitution of 1795.[1] A five-memberdirectory constituted theexecutive branch of government.[1] The territory was divided intodepartments[1] which elected thejudges of peace, themagistrates and theelectors, one for every 200 people having the right to vote. The latter elected two councils: theConsiglio dei Seniori ("Council of the Seniors") and theGran Consiglio ("Great Council"). The first was initially composed of 40 to 60 members and approved the laws and modifications to the Constitutional Chart. The second initially had from 80 to 120 members and proposed the laws. Both councils discussed treaties, the choice of a Directory, and the determination of tributes. The legislative corps included men likePietro Verri,Giuseppe Parini and the scientistAlessandro Volta. The electors had to be landowners or wealthy.
The Cisalpine directory was composed of five members and exercised executive power.[1] Directors included local politicians such asGiovanni Galeazzo Serbelloni, the first president, andFrancesco Melzi d'Eril, who would later serve as vice president of theItalian Republic.[1] The Directory chose its secretary and appointed the six ministers: for justice, war, foreign affairs, internal affairs, police, and finance. The supreme authority, however, was the commander of the French troops. The republic also adopted theFrench Republican Calendar.
Each department had its own local directory of five members, as did communes between 3,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. The biggest communes were divided into municipalities, with a central joint commission to handle the general affairs of the cities. The smallest communes were united in districts with a single municipality, with each commune having its ownmunicipal agent.
The first constitution did not have a long life. On 14 Fructidor, year VI (31 August 1798), the French ambassadorClaude-Joseph Trouvé [fr] (who was only thirty years old) dismissed the Directory, and the next day he promulgateda new constitution with a stronger executive power.
The departments numbered eleven again, now covering larger geographical areas: Olona (Milan), Alto Po (Cremona), Serio (Bergamo), Adda and Oglio (Morbegno), Mella (Brescia), Mincio[3] (Mantua), Panaro (Modena), Crostolo (Reggio), Reno (Bologna), Basso Po (Ferrara), Rubicone (Forlì). The membership of the local directories was reduced to three, and the municipalities for communes between 3,000 and 10,000 inhabitants were disbanded.
Trouvé appointed the new Directory, which had stronger powers, and a new parliament composed of two councils: theAnziani ("Elders") and theGiuniori ("Juniors"). The first was composed of 40 elected members together with the former directors. The second had 80 members.
A new coup d'état, attempted by French generalGuillaume Marie Anne Brune the next autumn, was disavowed by the French Directory on 17 Frimaire (7 December).
Formally, the Cisalpine Republic was an independent state allied with France, but the treaty of alliance established the effective subalternity of the new republic to France. The French, in fact, had control over the local police and left an army consisting of 25,000 Frenchmen, financed by the Republic. The Cisalpines were also required to form another army of 35,000 of their own men to take part in French campaigns.
On 4 March 1798, the Directory presented this treaty to the Great Council for ratification. The council did not agree with the terms and delayed taking a decision, but in the end, the French generalBerthier compelled acceptance by the members. The Elders, however, refused it from the very beginning, as the new state was unable to finance the requested institutions. Berthier threatened to impose a military government but was later replaced by General Brune. The latter, after replacing some Elders and Juniors, achieved the signing of the treaty on 8 June.
Due to multiple attempts by the Cisalpine government to annex the Italian-speaking Swiss territories south of theAlps, relations with theSwiss Confederacy were strained.[1] The Cisalpine Republic ended up taking control ofValtellina from theThree Leagues andCampione d'Italia and annexing them.[1] A Cisalpine attempt to conquerLugano by surprise failed in 1797.
After the defeat of France at theBattle of Cassano in April 1799 during theWar of the Second Coalition, the republic was occupied byGeneral Suvorov'sRussian andAustrian forces, which appointed a provisional administration led by the Imperial Commission of the Mantuan CountLuigi Cocastelli [it]. They departed only on 30 May 1800, just a few days before the French won theBattle of Marengo.
The Cisalpine Republic was restored by Napoleon on 15Prairial, year VIII (4 June 1800). On 28 Prairial (17 June), theFirst Consul appointed an Extraordinary Commission of Government of nine members and a legislativeConsulta: the final list of the executive and legislative institutions was published on 5 Messidor (24 June). On 16 Messidor (6 July) all the acts issued during the Austrian occupation were annulled, and afterwards, the tricolour flag was restored.
Napoleon's new victories gave him a chance to stabilize the political situation in all of northern Italy. On 3Vendémiaire, year IX (25 September), the powers of the Extraordinary Commission were concentrated in the hands of a more restricted Committee of Government, composed of three members:Giovan Battista Sommariva,Sigismondo Ruga andFrancesco Visconti, reflecting the institution of theFrench Consulate. On 21 Vendémiaire (13 October), owing to the refusal of the escaped KingCharles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia to sign a treaty of peace settling the situation of the occupiedPiedmont, Napoleon ordered the annexation ofNovara to the republic, shifting its western border from the riverTicino to the RiverSesia. After the surrender of Austria and the signing of theTreaty of Lunéville on 9 February 1801, the territory of the republic was extended to the east as well, placing the frontier with theHoly Roman Empire on the RiverAdige without the exceptions agreed in Campo Formio. On 23 Floreal (13 May), the territory of the republic was divided into 12 departments, adding Agogna (Novara), restoring Lario and abolishing Adda-e-Oglio.
On 21 Brumaire, year X (12 November), anExtraordinary Cisalpine Consulta was summoned inLyon. In January 1802, the Consulta decided to change the name of the State to theItalian Republic, when Napoleon had himself elected president, on 24 January, on the advice ofTalleyrand. Two days later, in a scene officially commemorated byNicolas-André Monsiau, Bonaparte appeared in the Collège de la Trinité ofLyon, attended byMurat,Berthier,Louis Bonaparte, Hortense and Joséphine de Beauharnais, and heard the assembled notables proclaim the Italian Republic. On 21Pluviôse (10 February), the new constitutional government was proclaimed in Milan by Sommariva and Ruga. The same day, theGregorian calendar was restored.
45°28′N9°10′E / 45.467°N 9.167°E /45.467; 9.167
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