The Kingdom of Italy was born on 17 March 1805, when the Italian Republic, whose president was Napoleon Bonaparte, became the Kingdom of Italy, with the same man (now styled Napoleon I) as the new King of Italy and his 24-year-old stepson Eugène de Beauharnais as his viceroy. Napoleon I was crowned at the Milan Cathedral, Milan on 23 May, with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. His title was "Emperor of the French and King of Italy" (French: Empereur des Français et Roi d'Italie, Italian: Imperatore dei Francesi e Re d'Italia), showing the importance of this Italian kingdom to him.[1]
Even though the republican constitution was never formally abolished, a series of Constitutional Statutes completely altered it. The first one was proclaimed two days after the birth of the kingdom, on 19 March,[2] when the Consulta declared Napoleon I as king and established that one of his natural or adopted sons would succeed him once the Napoleonic Wars were over, and once separated the two thrones were to remain separate. The second one, dating from 29 March, regulated the regency, the Great Officials of the kingdom, and the oaths.
The most important was the third, proclaimed on 5 June, being the real constitution of the kingdom: Napoleon I was the head of state and had the full powers of government; in his absence, he was represented by the Viceroy, Eugène de Beauharnais. The Consulta, Legislative Council, and Speakers were all merged into a Council of State, whose opinions became only optional and not binding for the king. The Legislative Body, the old parliament, remained in theory, but it was never summoned after 1805; the Napoleonic Code was introduced on 21 March 1804.[3]
The fourth Statute, decided on 16 February 1806, indicated Beauharnais as the heir to the throne.[2]
The fifth and the sixth Statutes, on 21 March 1808, separated the Consulta from the Council of State, and renamed it the Senate, with the duty of informing the king about the wishes of his most important subjects.[2]
The seventh Statute, on 21 September, created a new nobility of dukes, counts and barons; the eighth and the ninth, on 15 March 1810, established the annuity for the members of the royal family.[2] In 1812, a Court of Accounts was added.
With the Convention of Fontainebleau with Austria of 10 October 1807, Italy ceded Monfalcone to Austria and gained Gradisca, putting the new border on the Isonzo river.
The conquered Republic of Ragusa was annexed in spring 1808 by General Auguste de Marmont. On 2 April 1808, following the dissolution of the Papal States, the Kingdom annexed the present-day Marches. At its maximum extent, the Kingdom had 6,700,000 inhabitants and was composed by 2,155 comunes.
On rewards in Germany, Bavaria ceded southern Tyrol to the Kingdom of Italy, which in turn ceded Istria and Dalmatia (with Ragusa) to France, incorporating the Adriatic territories into newly created the French Illyrian Provinces. Small changes to the borders between Italy and France in Garfagnana and Friuli came in act on 5 August 1811.
In practice, the Kingdom was a dependency of the French Empire.[4]
40 lire coin of the Regno d'Italia (1808)5 lire coin of the Regno d'Italia (1812)
The kingdom was given a new national currency, replacing the local coins circulating in the country: the Italian lira, of the same size, weight, and metal of the French franc.[5] Mintage being decided by Napoleon with an imperial decree on 21 March 1806, the production of the new coins began in 1807. The monetary unit was the silver lira, which was 5 grams heavy. There were multiples of £2 (10grams of silver) and £5 (25grams of silver), and precious coins of £20 (6.45grams of gold) and £40 (12.9grams of gold). The lira was basically divided in 100 cents, and there were coins of 1 cent (2.1grams of copper), 3 cents (6.3grams of copper), and 10 cents (2grams of poor silver), but following the tradition, there was a division in 20 soldi, with coins of 1 soldo (10.5grams of copper, in practice 5 cents), 5 soldi (1.25grams of silver), 10 soldi (2.5grams of silver), and 15 soldi (3.75grams of silver).
Army
The army of the kingdom, inserted into the Grande Armée, took part in all of Napoleon's campaigns. In the course of its existence from 1805 to 1814 the Kingdom of Italy provided Napoleon I with roughly around 200,000 soldiers.[6][7]
In 1805 Italian troops served on garrison duty along the English Channel, during 1806–07 they took part in the sieges of Kolberg and Danzig and fought in Dalmatia.[8] From 1808 to 1813 whole Italian divisions served in Spain, especially distinguishing themselves under Suchet at Tarragona and Saguntum.[9][10]
In 1809, Eugène's Army of Italy formed the right wing of Napoleon I's invasion of the Austrian Empire, winning a considerable victory at Raab and having a respectable share in the victory at Wagram.[8][11]
In 1812, Eugène de Beauharnais marched 27,000 troops of the Kingdom of Italy into Russia.[12] The Italian contingent distinguished themselves at Borodino and Maloyaroslavets,[13][14] receiving the recognition:[15]
"The Italian army had displayed qualities which entitled it evermore to take rank amongst the bravest troops of Europe."
Only 1,000–2,000 Italians survived the Russian campaign, but they returned with most of their banners secured.[12][16] In 1813, Eugène de Beauharnais held out as long as possible against the onslaught of the Austrians[13](Battle of the Mincio) and was later forced to sign an armistice in February 1814.[17]
Troop uniforms of the Kingdom of Italy, 1805–14
Military parade in 1812
Infantry:
Line infantry: five regiments from the Italian Republic, with two more later raised, in 1805 and 1808.
Light infantry: three regiments from the Italian Republic, plus another one raised in 1811.
Royal Guard: two battalions from the Italian Republic (Granatieri and Cacciatori), plus other two (Velites) raised in 1806, plus two battalions of young guard raised in 1810, and another two raised in 1811.
Cavalry:
Dragoons: two regiments from the Italian Republic.
Cacciatori a Cavallo (light horse): one regiment from the Italian Republic, plus three others, raised in 1808, 1810, and 1811.
Royal Guard: two squadrons of dragoons, five companies of Guards of Honour.[18]
The administrative system of the Kingdom was firstly drawn by a law on 8 June 1805. The state was divided, following the French system, in 14 départements, the twelve ones inherited from the republican era plus Adda (Sondrio) and Adige (Verona). The chief of the department, the prefect, was the State's representative in each province, improved the administrative decisions of the central government, controlled the local authorities, led of the police and, differently from the republican era, had all the executive powers in its territory. The local legislative body was the General Council, composed by the representatives of the comunes.
The departments were divided in districts, equivalent to the French arrondissements. The chief of the district was the vice-prefect, which had similar powers to the prefect, but over a smaller area. The local legislative body was the District Council, composed by eleven members. The districts were divided, as in France, in cantons, seats of Tax collectors and Justices of the peace.
The cantons were divided in comunes. The comunes had a City Council (Consiglio Comunale) of fifteen, thirty or forty members, chosen by the king or the prefect depending by the comune size. The Council elected two, four or six Elders for the ordinary administration, helped by a City Secretary. The chief of biggest comunes was the royal Podestà, when in smaller comunes there was a prefectoral Mayor. All the city offices were held only by owners and traders, and the leadership of the owners was assured.
During the kingdom's life, the administrative system of the State changed for domestic and international reasons. Following the defeat of Austria and the Treaty of Pressburg, Napoleon annexed to Italy the territory of former Republic of Venice, as announced on 30 March 1806, and ratified on 1 May. Seven new departments were created, six in the Venetian mainland, and one in Istria (Capodistria), whereas Dalmatia received special institutions led by the General Provider Mr. Dandolo, and maintained its own laws. On 14 July 1807, the government passed a decree that reduced the number of the comunes. Following the dissolution of the Papal States, the kingdom was extended along the Adriatic coast, and on 20 April 1808, three new departments were established. The final territorial change came in action on 10 June 1810, when, as announced by Napoleon on previous 28 May, Italy lost Istria and the never fully incorporated Dalmatia, gaining as reward all the southern Tirol up to the city of Bolzano, creating the 24th and last department: Haut Adige.[19]
Language and education
The language used officially in the Kingdom of Italy was Italian. The French language was used for ceremonies and in all relationships with France.
Education was made universal for all children, which was also conducted in Italian. By decree of the governor Vincenzo Dandolo, this was so even in Istria and Dalmatia, where local populations were more heterogeneous.[20]
List of departments and districts
The Kingdom of Italy in 1812, when it was extended from Bolzano to central Adriatic Italy (Marche), losing at the same time Istria and Dalmatia
During its last maximum extension (from 1809 to 1814), the Kingdom lost Istria/Dalmatia but got added Bolzano/Alto Adige and consisted of 24 departments.[21]
The murder of finance minister Prina in Milan marked the effective end of the kingdom.
When Napoleon abdicated both the thrones of France and Italy on 11 April 1814, Eugène de Beauharnais was lined up on the Mincio river with his army to repel any invasion from Germany or Austria, and he attempted to be crowned king. The Senate of the Kingdom was summoned on 17 April, but the senators showed themselves undecided in that chaotic situation. When a second session of the assembly took place on 20 April, the Milan insurrection foiled the Viceroy's plan. In the riots, finance minister Count Giuseppe Prina was massacred by the crowd, and the Great Electors disbanded the Senate and called the Austrian forces to protect the city, while a Provisional Regency Government under the presidency of Carlo Verri was appointed.
Eugène surrendered on 23 April, and was exiled to Bavaria by the Austrians, who occupied Milan on 28 April. On 26 April, the Empire appointed Annibale Sommariva as Imperial Commissioner of Lombardy, while many taxes were abolished or reduced by the Provisional Regency. Finally, on 25 May, the Supreme Imperial Commissioner Count Heinrich von Bellegarde took all the powers in Lombardy, and former monarchies in Modena, Romagna and Piedmont were gradually re-established; on 30 May, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the remains of the kingdom were annexed by the Austrian Empire as the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, which was announced by Count Bellegarde on 12 June.
The House of Bonaparte is a former imperial and royal European dynasty of French and Italian origin. It was founded in 1804 by Napoleon I, the son of Corsican nobleman Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Buonaparte. Napoleon was a French military leader who rose to power during the French Revolution and who, in 1804, transformed the French First Republic into the First French Empire, five years after his coup d'état of November 1799. Napoleon and the Grande Armée had to fight against every major European power and dominated continental Europe through a series of military victories during the Napoleonic Wars. He installed members of his family on the thrones of client states, expanding the power of the dynasty.
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, he was the stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the French Empire he also became Napoleon's adopted son. He was Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy under his stepfather, from 1805 to 1814, and commanded the Army of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Historians consider him one of Napoleon's most able relatives.
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The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria and Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz. Its creation brought about the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire shortly afterward. The Confederation of the Rhine lasted for only seven years, from 1806 to 1813, dissolving after Napoleon's defeat in the War of the Sixth Coalition.
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Jean Joseph Dessolles, 1st Marquis Dessolles was a French soldier and statesman. He was the Prime Minister of France from 29 December 1818 to 18 November 1819.
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Achille Fontanelli was an Italian nationalist and Napoleonic general. Born into a low-ranking noble family, he took service with a pro-French Italian military unit in 1797. He was captured in 1799 but was repatriated in time to serve in the Marengo Campaign in 1800. He was promoted to general officer in 1804 and in the 1809 war he led an Italian division in several major battles. After serving as Minister of War to Eugène de Beauharnais, he was tapped to command a division in the 1813 campaign. After the collapse of Napoleon's empire in 1814, he took service with the Austrian Empire.
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In the Battle of Caldiero or Battle of Soave or Battle of Castelcerino from 27 to 30 April 1809, an Austrian army led by Archduke John of Austria defended against a Franco-Italian army headed by Eugène de Beauharnais, the Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. The outnumbered Austrians successfully fended off the attacks of their enemies in actions at San Bonifacio, Soave, and Castelcerino before retreating to the east. The clash occurred during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
François Jean Baptiste Quesnel du Torpt became a division commander under the First French Empire of Napoleon. By the time the French Revolutionary Wars began, he had been a non-commissioned officer in the French army for nearly a decade. Within less than two years he rose to the rank of general officer while fighting against Spain. His career then stagnated until the War of the Second Coalition when he led a brigade in Italy at Verona, Magnano, Cassano, Bassignana where he was wounded, and Novi.
Paul von Radivojevich was an Austrian army corps commander in the army of the Austrian Empire during the late Napoleonic Wars. He joined the army of the Habsburg monarchy in 1782 and fought in one of the early battles of the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a Grenz Infantry Regiment before being promoted to general officer in 1807. He led a brigade at Eckmühl in 1809, a division in the summer of 1813, and a corps at Caldiero in 1813 and at the Mincio in 1814. During the 1815 Italian campaign, he led a corps in Switzerland, Piedmont, and France. After the wars, he commanded part of the Military Frontier. He was Proprietor (Inhaber) of an infantry regiment from 1815 until his death in 1829.
The Kingdom of Naples was a French client state in southern Italy created in 1806 when the Bourbon Ferdinand IV & III of Naples and Sicily sided with the Third Coalition against Napoleon and was in return ousted from his kingdom by a French invasion. Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of Napoleon, was installed in his stead: Joseph conferred the title "Prince of Naples" to be hereditary on his children and grandchildren. When Joseph became king of Spain in 1808, Napoleon appointed his brother-in-law Joachim Murat to take his place. Murat was later deposed by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 after striking at Austria in the Neapolitan War, in which he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tolentino.
The Italian campaign of 1813–1814 was the series of military operations fought during the War of the Sixth Coalition, mainly in Northern Italy between the French Empire and the Coalition led by Austrians and British. It represented the last time of the so-called "French period", precisely from the campaign of 1796–1797, in which a French and an Austrian army confronted each other for control of the Italian peninsula. The Austro-Neapolitan War of 1815 was essentially a clash between only Italians and Austrians.
↑ Napoleon Bonaparte, "The Economy of the Empire in Italy: Instructions from Napoleon to Eugène, Viceroy of Italy," Exploring the European Past: Texts & Images, Second Edition, ed. Timothy E. Gregory (Mason: Thomson, 2007), pp. 65–66.
↑ Equal to the franc, the new Napoleonic lira had a different value face to the old, ancient Milanese lira. Distinguishing the two different coins, people began to refer to the new coin as franc. So, through the years, people in north-western Italy continued to call franc the lira in their local dialects until the changeover with euro in 2002.
1 2 Elting, John R. (1988). Swords around a throne. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Scott, Sir Walter (1843). Life of Napoleon Buonaparte: Vol.4. Edinburgh.
↑ Thiers, Adolphe (1856). History of the consulate and the empire of France under Napoleon: Vol.13. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Arnold, James R. (1995). Napoleon conquers Austria: the 1809 campaign for Vienna. Westport.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
1 2 John A. Davis, Paul Ginsborg (1991). Society and Politics in the Age of the Risorgimento. Cambridge.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2006). The encyclopedia of the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: Vol.1. Santa Barbara.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A–E. Westport.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Antonio Virgili, La Tradizione napoleonica, CSI, Napoli, 2005
↑ Historical name changes can create confusion: the present-day Italian province of South Tyrol (called in Italian Alto Adige) does not cover the same area as the Napoleonic Alto Adige, which mainly correspondeds to the province of Trentino including the city of Bolzano with its Southern surroundings.
↑ Sumrada, Janez. Napoleon na Jadranu / Napoleon dans l'Adriatique.pag.37
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