Constitution of the Cisalpine Republic (1797)

Last updated

The Constitution of the Cisalpine Republic (Italian : Costituzione della Repubblica Cisalpina), was the first constitution of the Cisalpine Republic, a sister republic of France under Napoleon Bonaparte, roughly comprising the modern-day northern regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It came into effect on 20 messidor V (8 July 1797). [1]

It established a directorial republic, which effectively was a French puppet. The parliament had an upper house of 60 aldermen and a lower house of 120 members, both appointed by Napoleon. The territory was divided in French-like departments and municipalities. Every noble title was abolished.

This constitution did not survive even a year since Napoleon left Italy towards Egypt in 1798.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Campo Formio</span> 1797 treaty during the War of the First Coalition

The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 17 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The treaty followed the armistice of Leoben, which had been forced on the Habsburgs by Napoleon's victorious campaign in Italy. It ended the War of the First Coalition and left Great Britain fighting alone against revolutionary France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cisalpine Republic</span> 1797–1802 French client state in northern Italy

The Cisalpine Republic was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switzerland in the Napoleonic era</span> Overview of the role of Switzerland during the Napoleonic era

During the French Revolutionary Wars, the revolutionary armies marched eastward, enveloping Switzerland in their battles against Austria. In 1798, Switzerland was completely overrun by the French and was renamed the Helvetic Republic. The Helvetic Republic encountered severe economic and political problems. In 1798 the country became a battlefield of the Revolutionary Wars, culminating in the Battles of Zürich in 1799.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ligurian Republic</span> French client state, replacing the Republic of Genoa

The Ligurian Republic was a French client republic formed by Napoleon on 14 June 1797. It consisted of the old Republic of Genoa, which covered most of the Ligurian region of Northwest Italy, and the small Imperial fiefs owned by the House of Savoy inside its territory. Its first Constitution was promulgated on 22 December 1797, establishing a directorial republic. The directory was deposed on 7 December 1799 and the executive was temporarily replaced by a commission. In 1802, a doge was nominated for a 5-year term, according to the second Constitution imposed by Napoleon, and a Senate was established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Republic (Napoleonic)</span> French client state in northern Italy (1802-05)

The Italian Republic was a short-lived (1802–1805) republic located in Northern Italy. Napoleon Bonaparte served as president and its capital was Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cispadane Republic</span> 1796–1797 French client state in northern Italy

The Cispadane Republic was a short-lived client republic located in northern Italy, founded in 1796 with the protection of the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte. In the following year, it was merged with the Transpadane Republic to form the Cisalpine Republic. The Cispadane Republic was the first Italian sovereign State to adopt the Italian tricolour as its flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transpadane Republic</span> Former country in Europe

The Transpadane Republic was a revolutionary, provisional and internationally unrecognized government established in Milan by General Napoleon Bonaparte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Crema</span>

The so-called Republic of Crema was a revolutionary municipality in Lombardy, which was created when the French army entered Crema on 28 March 1797. It ruled the local affairs of the city and its neighbourhood, which previously were a Venetian exclave in the Duchy of Milan. The municipality entered then into the Cisalpine Republic in July 1797.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister republic</span> Client state of France during the French Revolutionary Wars

A sister republic was a republic established by French armies or by local revolutionaries and assisted by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. These republics, though nominally independent, relied heavily on France for protection, making them more akin to autonomous territories rather than independent states. This became particularly evident after the declaration of the French Empire, when several states were annexed, and the remaining turned into monarchies ruled by members of the Bonaparte family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish Legions (Napoleonic period)</span> Polish military units that served with the French Army

The Polish Legions in the Napoleonic period, were several Polish military units that served with the French Army, mainly from 1797 to 1803, although some units continued to serve until 1815.

The Treaty of Tolentino was a peace treaty between Revolutionary France and the Papal States, signed on 19 February 1797 and imposing terms of surrender on the Papal side. The signatories for France were the French Directory's Ambassador to the Holy See, François Cacault, and the rising General Napoleon Bonaparte and opposite them four representatives of Pius VI's Curia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Milan</span> Flag of the City of Milan

The Flag of Milan consists of a red cross on a white field. Whilst similar to the Cross of Saint George, the flag instead symbolises the connection between Saint Ambrose and the city of Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flags of Napoleonic Italy</span>

The Flags of Napoleonic Italy were the green, white and red tricolour flags and banners in use in Italy during the Napoleonic era, which lasted from 1796 to 1814. During this period, on 7 January 1797, the green, white and red tricolour was officially adopted for the first time as a national flag by a sovereign Italian state, the Cispadane Republic. This event is commemorated by the Tricolour Day.

The siege of Mantua (1799) was a four-month effort by the Austrian army to regain a presence in northern Italy after being excluded from that region by Napoleon Bonaparte through the successful French siege of Mantua in 1797. In April 1799, the Austrians placed a military blockade around Mantua as part of the War of the Second Coalition with the intent of withering the French by attrition. While the diminishing food supplies and losses weakened the French army, the Austrians received reinforcements and attacked on 4 July 1799. By the end of the month, the French agreed to surrender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian Province</span>

The Venetian Province was the name of the territory of the former Republic of Venice ceded by the French First Republic to the Habsburg monarchy under the terms of the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio that ended the War of the First Coalition. The province's capital was Venice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French invasion of Switzerland</span> 1798 invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars

The French invasion of Switzerland occurred from January to May 1798 as part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The independent Old Swiss Confederacy collapsed from the invasion and simultaneous internal revolts called the "Helvetic Revolution". The Swiss ancien régime institutions were abolished and replaced by the centralised Helvetic Republic, one of the sister republics of the French First Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Alto Adige</span> Northern department of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy

The Department of Alto Adige was a northern department of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. The name had been used for a district of the Cisalpine Republic. Its name, in typical Napoleonic fashion of naming departments after geographic features, derived from the river Adige which flowed through it.

The Constitution of the Cisalpine Republic, was the second constitution of the Cisalpine Republic, a sister republic of France, roughly comprising the modern-day northern regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It came into effect just after a French golpe on 31 August 1798, replacing the 1797 Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricolour Day</span> Flag Day in Italy

Tricolour Day, officially National Flag Day, is the flag day of Italy. Celebrated on 7 January, it was established by Law 671 on 31 December 1996. It is intended as a celebration, though not a public holiday. The official celebration of the day is held in Reggio Emilia, the city where the Italian tricolour was first adopted as flag by an Italian sovereign state, the Cispadane Republic, on 7 January 1797.

Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni was a Milanese nobleman, notable as president of the founding Directory of the Cisalpine Republic and as preceptor to the Milanese poet Giuseppe Parini.

References

  1. Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Volume 8 (1904) 77. New York Public Library.