and occupied by them as a fourth kingdom annexed to the crown
of the King of Great Britain, had just been evacuated by its
new masters. They had never succeeded in subduing the interior
of the island, frequent insurrections had kept them in
continual alarm, and free communication between the various
towns could only be effected by sea. The victories of the
French army in Italy, under the command of one of their
countrymen, had redoubled this internal ferment in Corsica,
and the English had decided on entirely abandoning their
conquest. In September 1796 they withdrew their troops, and
also removed from Corsica their chief partisans, such as
General Paoli, Pozzo di Borgo, Beraldi and others, who sought
an asylum in England. On the first intelligence of the English
preparations for evacuating the island, Buonaparte despatched
General Gentili thither at the head of two or three hundred
banished Corsicans, and with this little band Gentili took
possession of the principal strongholds. ... On the 5th
Frimaire, year V. (November 25, 1796), I received a decree of
the Executive Directory ... appointing me
Commissioner-Extraordinary of the Government in Corsica, and
ordering me to proceed thither at once."
_Count Miot de Melito,
Memoirs,
chapter 4._
FRANCE: A. D. 1796 (October).
Failure of peace negotiations with England.
Treaties with Naples and Genoa.
"It was France itself, more even than Italy, which was
succumbing under the victories in Italy, and was falling
rapidly under the military despotism of Bonaparte; while what
had begun as a mere war of defence was already becoming a war
of aggression against everybody. ... The more patriotic
members of the legislative bodies were opposed to what they
considered only a war of personal ambitions, and were desirous
of peace, and a considerable peace party was forming
throughout the country. The opportunity was taken by the
English government for making proposals for peace, and a
pass-port was obtained from the directory for lord Malmesbury,
who was sent to Paris as the English plenipotentiary. Lord
Malmesbury arrived in Paris on the 2nd of Brumaire (the 23rd
of October, 1796), and next day had his first interview with
the French minister Delacroix, who was chosen by the directory
to act as their representative. There was from the first an
evident want of cordiality and sincerity on the part of the
French government in this negotiation; and the demands they
made, and the political views entertained by them, were so
unreasonable, that, after it had dragged on slowly for about a
month, it ended without a result. The directory were secretly
making great preparations for the invasion of Ireland, and
they had hopes of making a separate and very advantageous
peace with Austria. Bonaparte had, during this time, become
uneasy on account of his position in Italy," and "urged the
directory to enter into negotiations with the different
Italian states in his rear, such as Naples, Rome, and Genoa,
and to form an offensive and defensive alliance with the king
of Sardinia, so that he might be able to raise reinforcements
in Italy. For this purpose he asked for authority to proclaim
the independence of Lombardy and of the states of Modena; so
that, by forming both into republics, he might create a
powerful French party, through which he might obtain both men
and provisions. The directory was not unwilling to second the
wishes of Bonaparte, and on the 19th of Vendemiaire (the 10th
of October) a peace was signed with Naples, which was followed
by a treaty with Genoa. This latter state paid two millions of
francs as an indemnity for the acts of hostility formerly
committed against France, and added two millions more as a
loan." The negotiation for an offensive alliance with Sardinia
failed, because the king demanded Lombardy.
_T. Wright,
History of France,
volume 2, page 758._
ALSO IN:
_W. E. H. Lecky,
History of England in the 18th Century,
chapter 27 (volume 7)._
_E. Burke,
Letters on a Regicide Peace._
{1317}
FRANCE: A. D. 1796-1797 (October-April).
Bonaparte's continued victories in Italy.
His advance into Carinthia and the Tyrol.
Peace preliminaries of Leoben.
"The failure of the French invasion of Germany ... enabled the
Austrians to make a fresh effort for the relief of [Würmser]
in Mantua. 40,000 men under Alvinzi and 18,000 under
Davidowich entered Italy from the Tyrol and marched by
different routes towards Verona. Bonaparte had employed the
recent interlude in consolidating French influence in Italy.
Against the wishes of the Directors he dethroned the duke of
Modena, and formed his territories into the Cispadane
Republic. Then he tried to induce Piedmont and Venice to join
France, but both states preferred to retain their neutral
position. This was another of the charges which the general
was preparing against Venice. On the news of the Austrian
advance, Bonaparte marched against Alvinzi, and checked him at
Carmignano (6 November). But meanwhile Davidowich had taken
Trent and was approaching Rivoli. Bonaparte, in danger of
being surrounded, was compelled to give way, and retreated to
Verona, while Alvinzi followed him. Never was the French
position more critical, and nothing but a very bold move could
save them. With reckless courage Bonaparte attacked Alvinzi at
Arcola, and after three days' hard fighting [November 15-17,
on the dykes and causeways of a marshy region] won a complete
victory. He then forced Davidowich to retreat to the Tyrol.
The danger was averted, and the blockade of Mantua was
continued. But Austria, as if its resources were
inexhaustible, determined on a fourth effort in January, 1797.
Alvinzi was again entrusted with the command, while another
detachment under Provera advanced from Friuli. Bonaparte
collected all his forces, marched against Alvinzi, and crushed
him at Rivoli (15 January). But meanwhile Provera had reached
Mantua, where Bonaparte, by a forced march, overtook him, and
won another complete victory in the battle of La Favorita. The
fate of Mantua was at last decided, and the city surrendered
on the 2nd of February. With a generosity worthy of the glory
which he had obtained, Bonaparte allowed Würmser and the
garrison to march out with the honours of war. He now turned
to Romagna, occupied Bologna and terrified the Pope into
signing the treaty of Tolentino. The temporal power was
allowed to exist, but within very curtailed limits. Not only
Avignon, but the whole of Romagna, with Ancona, was
surrendered to France. Even these terms, harsh as they were,
were not so severe as the Directors had wished. But Bonaparte
was beginning to play his own game; he saw that Catholicism
was regaining ground in France, and he wished to make friends
on what might prove after all the winning side. Affairs in
Italy were now fairly settled: two republics, the Cisalpine in
Lombardy, and the Cispadane, which included Modena, Ferrara,
and Bologna, had been created to secure French influence in
Italy. ... The French had occupied the Venetian territory from
Bergamo to Verona, and had established close relations with
those classes who were dissatisfied with their exclusion from
political power. When the republic armed against the danger of
a revolt, Bonaparte treated it as another ground for that
quarrel which he artfully fomented for his own purposes. But
at present he had other objects more immediately pressing than
the oppression of Venice. Jourdan's army on the Rhine had been
entrusted to Hoche, whose ambition had long chafed at the want
of an opportunity, and who was burning to acquire glory by
retrieving the disasters of the last campaign. Bonaparte, on
the other hand, was eager to anticipate a possible rival, and
determined to hurry on his own invasion of Austria, in order
to keep the war and the negotiations in his own hands. The
task of meeting him was entrusted to the archduke Charles, who
had won such a brilliant reputation in 1796, but who was
placed at a great disadvantage to his opponent by having to
obey instructions from Vienna. The French carried all before
them, Joubert occupied Tyrol, Masséna forced the route to
Carinthia, and Bonaparte himself, after defeating the archduke
on the Tagliamento, occupied Trieste and Carniola. The French
now marched over the Alps, driving the Austrians before them.
At Leoben, which they reached on 7th April, they were less
than eighty miles from Vienna. Here Austrian envoys arrived to
open negotiations. They consented to surrender Belgium,
Lombardy, and the Rhine frontier, but they demanded
compensation in Bavaria. This demand Bonaparte refused, but
offered to compensate Austria at the expense of a neutral
state, Venice. The preliminaries of Leoben, signed on the 18th
April, gave to Austria, Istria, Dalmatia, and the Venetian
provinces between the Oglio, the Po, and the Adriatic. At this
moment, Hoche and Moreau, after overcoming the obstacles
interposed by a sluggish government, were crossing the Rhine
to bring their armies to bear against Austria. They had
already gained several successes when the unwelcome news
reached them from Leoben, and they had to retreat. Bonaparte
may have failed to extort the most extreme terms from Austria,
but he had at any rate kept both power and fame to himself."
_R. Lodge,
English of Modern Europe,
chapter 23._
ALSO IN:
_F. Lanfrey,
History of Napoleon I.,
volume 1, chapters 5-7._
_Memoirs of Napoleon dictated at St. Helena,
volume 4, chapters 1-4._
FRANCE: A. D. 1796-1797 (December-January):
Hoche's expedition to Ireland.
See IRELAND: A. D. 1791-1798.
FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (February-October).
British naval victories of Cape St. Vincent and Camperdown.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1797.
FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (April-May).
The overthrow of Venice by Bonaparte.
When Napoleon, in March, entered upon his campaign against the
Archduke Charles, "the animosity existing between France and
Venice had ... attained a height that threatened an open
rupture between the two republics, and was, therefore, of some
advantage to Austria. The Signoria saw plainly what its fate
would be should the French prove victorious; but though they
had 12,000 or 15,000 Slavonian troops ready at hand, and
mostly assembled in the capital, they never ventured to use
them till the moment for acting was past. On the Terra Firma,
the citizens of Brescia and Bergamo had openly renounced the
authority of St. Mark, and espoused the cause of France; the
country people, on the other hand, were bitterly hostile to
the new Republicans. Oppressed by requisitions, plundered and
insulted by the troops, the peasants had slain straggling and
marauding French soldiers; the comrades of the sufferers had
retaliated, and an open revolt was more than once expected.
General Battaglia, the Venetian providatore, remonstrated
against the open violence practised on the subjects of Venice;
Buonaparte replied by accusing the government of partiality
for Austria, and went so far as to employ General Andrieux to
instigate the people to rise against the senate. The
Directory, however, desired him to pause, and not to 'drive
the Venetians to extremity, till the opportunity, should have
arrived for carrying into effect the future projects
entertained against that state.'
{1318}
Both parties were watching their time, but the craven watches
in vain, for he is struck down long before his time to strike
arrives." A month later, when Napoleon was believed to be
involved in difficulties in Carinthia and the Tyrol, Venice
"had thrown off the mask of neutrality; the tocsin had sounded
through the communes of the Terra Firma, and a body of troops
had joined the insurgents in the attack on the citadel of
Verona. Not only were the French assailed wherever they were
found in arms, but the very sick were inhumanly slain in the
hospitals by the infuriated peasantry; the principal massacre
took place at Verona on Easter Monday [April 17], and cast a
deep stain on the Venetian cause and character." But even
while these sinister events were in progress, Bonaparte had
made peace with the humiliated Austrians, and had signed the
preliminary treaty of Leoben, which promised to give Venice to
them in exchange for the Netherlands. And now, with all his
forces set free, he was prepared to crush the venerable
Republic, and make it subservient to his ambitious schemes. He
"refused to hear of any accommodation: and, unfortunately, the
base massacre of Verona blackened the Venetian cause so much
as almost to gloss over the unprincipled violence of their
adversaries. 'If you could offer me the treasures of Peru,'
said Napoleon to the terrified deputies who came to sue for
pardon and offer reparation, 'if you could cover your whole
dominions with gold, the atonement would be insufficient.
French blood has been treacherously shed, and the Lion of St.
Mark must bite the dust.' On the 3d of May he declared war
against the republic, and French troops immediately advanced
to the shores of the lagunes. Here, however, the waves of the
Adriatic arrested their progress, for they had not a single
boat at command, whereas the Venetians had a good fleet in the
harbour, and an army of 10,000 or 15,000 soldiers in the
capital: they only wanted the courage to use them. Instead of
fighting, however, they deliberated; and tried to purchase
safety by gold, instead of maintaining it by arms. Finding the
enemy relentless, the Great Council proposed to modify their
government,--to render it more democratic, in order to please
the French commander,--to lay their very institutions at the
feet of the conqueror; and, strange to say, only 21 patricians
out of 690 dissented from this act of national degradation.
The democratic party, supported by the intrigues of Vittelan,
the French secretary of legation, exerted themselves to the
utmost. The Slavonian troops were disbanded, or embarked for
Dalmatia; the fleet was dismantled, and the Senate were
rapidly divesting themselves of every privilege, when, on the
31st of May, a popular tumult broke out in the capital. The
Great Council were in deliberation when shots were fired
beneath the windows of the ducal palace. The trembling
senators thought that the rising was directed against them,
and that their lives were in danger, and hastened to divest
themselves of every remnant of power and authority at the very
moment when the populace were taking arms in their favour.
'Long live St. Mark, and down with foreign dominion!' was the
cry of the insurgents, but nothing could communicate one spark
of gallant fire to the Venetian aristocracy. In the midst of
the general confusion, while the adverse parties were firing
on each other, and the disbanded Slavonians threatening to
plunder the city, these unhappy legislators could only
delegate their power to a hastily assembled provisional
government, and then separate in shame and for ever. The
democratic government commenced their career in a manner as
dishonourable as that of the aristocracy had been closed."
They "immediately despatched the flotilla to bring over the
French troops. A brigade under Baraguai d'Hilliers soon landed
[May 15] at the place of St. Mark; and Venice, which had
braved the thunders of the Vatican, the power of the emperors,
and the arms of the Othmans, ... now sunk for ever, and
without striking one manly blow or firing one single shot for
honour and fame! Venice counted 1300 years of independence,
centuries of power and renown, and many also of greatness and
glory, but ended in a manner more dishonourable than any state
of which history makes mention. The French went through the
form of acknowledging the new democratic government, but
retained the power in their own hands. Heavy contributions
were levied, all the naval and military stores were taken
possession of, and the fleet, having conveyed French troops to
the Ionian islands, was sent to Toulon."
_T. Mitchell,
Principal Campaigns in the Rise of Napoleon,
chapter 6 (Fraser's Magazine, April, 1846)._
ALSO IN:
_E. Flagg,
Venice: The City of the Sea,
part 1, chapters 1-4 (volume 1)._
_Memoirs of Napoleon dictated at St. Helena,
volume 4, chapter 5._
FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (May-October).
Napoleon's political work in Italy.
Creation of the Ligurian and Cisalpine Republics.
Dismemberment of the Graubunden.
The Peace of Campo-Formio.
Venice given over to Austria, and Lombardy and the Netherlands
taken away.
"The revolution in Venice was soon followed by another in
Genoa, also organised by the plots of the French minister
there, Faypoult. The Genoese had in general shown themselves
favourable to France; but there existed among the nobles an
anti-French party; the Senate, like that of Venice, was too
aristocratic to suit Bonaparte's or the Directory's notions;
and it was considered that Genoa, under a democratic
constitution, would be more subservient to French interests.
An insurrection, prepared by Faypoult, of some 700 or 800 of
the lowest class of Genoese, aided by Frenchmen and Lombards,
broke out on May 22nd, but was put down by the great mass of
the real Genoese people. Bonaparte, however, was determined to
effect his object. He directed a force of 12,000 men on Genoa,
and despatched Lavalette with a letter to the Doge. ...
Bonaparte's threats were attended by the same magical effects
at Genoa as had followed them at Venice. The Senate
immediately despatched three nobles to treat with him, and on
June 6th was concluded the Treaty of Montebello. The
Government of Genoa recognised by this treaty the sovereignty
of the people, confided the legislative power to two Councils,
one of 300, the other of 500 members, the executive power to a
Senate of twelve, presided over by the Doge. Meanwhile a
provisional government was to be established. By a secret
article a contribution of four millions, disguised under the
name of a loan, was imposed upon Genoa.
{1319}
Her obedience was recompensed with a considerable augmentation
of territory, and the incorporation of the districts known as
the 'imperial fiefs.' Such was the origin of the Ligurian
Republic. Austrian Lombardy, after its conquest, had also been
formed into the 'Lombard Republic'; but the Directory had not
recognised it, awaiting a final settlement of Italy through a
peace with Austria. Bonaparte, after taking possession of the
Duchy of Modena and the Legations, had, at first, thought of
erecting them into an independent state under the name of the
'Cispadane Republic'; but he afterwards changed his mind and
united these states with Lombardy under the title of the
Cisalpine Republic. He declared, in the name of the Directory,
the independence of this new republic, June 29th 1797;
reserving, however, the right of nominating, for the first
time, the members of the Government and of the legislative
body. The districts of the Valteline, Chiavenna, and Bormio,
subject to the Grison League, in which discontent and
disturbance had been excited by French agents, were united in
October to the new state; whose constitution was modelled on
that of the French Republic. Bonaparte was commissioned by the
Directory to negociate a definitive peace with Austria, and
conferences were opened for that purpose at Montebello,
Bonaparte's residence near Milan. The negociations were
chiefly managed by himself, and on the part of Austria by the
Marquis di Gallo, the Neapolitan ambassador at Vienna, and
Count Meerfeld. ... The negociations were protracted six
months, partly through Bonaparte's engagements in arranging
the affairs of the new Italian republics, but more especially
by divisions and feuds in the French Directory." The Peace of
Campo Formio was concluded October 17. "It derived this name
from its having been signed in a ruined castle situated in a
small village of that name near Udine; a place selected on
grounds of etiquette in preference to the residence of either
of the negociators. By this treaty the Emperor ceded the
Austrian Netherlands to France; abandoned to the Cisalpine
Republic, which he recognised, Bergamo, Brescia, Crema,
Peschiera, the town and fortress of Mantua with their
territories, and all that part of the former Venetian
possessions to the south and west of a line which, commencing
in the Tyrol, traversed the Lago di Garda, the left bank of
the Adige, but including Porto Legnago on the right bank, and
thence along the left bank of the Po to its mouth. France was
to possess the Ionian Islands, and all the Venetian
settlements in Albania below the Gulf of Lodrino; the French
Republic agreeing on its side that the Emperor should have
Istria, Dalmatia, the Venetian isles in the Adriatic, the
mouths of the Cattaro, the city of Venice, the Lagoons, and
all the former Venetian terra firma to the line before
described. The Emperor ceded the Breisgau to the Duke of
Modena, to be held on the same conditions as he had held the
Modenese. A congress composed of the plenipotentiaries of the
German Federation was to assemble immediately, to treat of a
peace between France and the Empire. To this patent treaty was
added another secret one, by the principal article of which
the Emperor consented that France should have the frontier of
the Rhine, except the Prussian possessions, and stipulated
that the Imperial troops should enter Venice on the same day
that the French entered Mentz. He also promised to use his
influence to obtain the accession of the Empire to this
arrangement; and if that body withheld its consent, to give it
no more assistance than his contingent. The navigation of the
Rhine to be declared free. If, at the peace with the Empire,
the French Republic should make any acquisitions in Germany,
the Emperor was to obtain an equivalent there, and vice versa.
The Dutch Stadtholder to have a territorial indemnity. To the
King of Prussia were to be restored his possessions on the
left bank of the Rhine, and he was consequently to have no new
acquisitions in Germany. Princes and States of the Empire,
damnified by this treaty, to obtain a suitable indemnity. ...
By the Treaty of Campo Formio was terminated not only the
Italian campaign, but also the first continental war of the
Revolution. The establishment of Bonaparte's prestige and
power by the former was a result still more momentous in its
consequences for Europe than the fall of Venice and the
revolutionising of Northern Italy."
_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 7, chapter 8 (volume 4)._
ALSO IN:
_A. Thiers,
History of the French Revolution
(American edition), volume 4, pages 214-225._
_Sir W. Scott,
Life of Napoleon Buonaparte,
chapter 28._
_Memoirs of Napoleon dictated at St. Helena,
chapters 6-8._
FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (September).
Conflict of the Directory and the two Councils.
The Revolutionary Coup d'État of the 18th of Fructidor.
Suppression of the Royalists and Moderates.
Practical overthrow of the Constitution.