Cisalpine Republic

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Cisalpine Republic Repubblica Cisalpina (Italian)
1797–1802
Flag Emblem
directorial republic
Legislature	Legislative Council
• Upper house	Council of Elders
• Lower house	Council of Juniors
Historical era	French Revolutionary Wars
• Peace of Leoben	18 April 1797
• Established	29 June 1797
• Constitution adopted	8 July 1797
• Treaty of Campo Formio	17 October 1797
• Golpe and second Constitution	31 August 1798
• Occupied by Austria	27 April 1799
• Restored by France	2 June 1800
• Renamed Italian Republic	26 January 1802
Area
1797	42,500[1] km2 (16,400 sq mi)
Population
• 1797	3,240,000[1]
Currency	Milanese scudo, lira, soldo and denaro
Preceded by Succeeded by Transpadane Republic Cispadane Republic Three Leagues Republic of Venice Republic of Crema Italian Republic

The Cisalpine Republic (Italian: Repubblica Cisalpina; Lombard: Republica Cisalpina) was a sister republic or a client state of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.

After the

).

The rest of Cispadania was merged into the Cisalpine Republic on 27 July, with the capital of the unified state being

Venetian 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 (the Great Council and the Council of the Seniors), was appointed directly by Napoleon on 1

(31 August), when France dismissed all the authorities of the republic, replacing them with a stronger executive power under a new constitution.

Government

First 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. Its

. The electors had to be landowners or wealthy.

The Cisalpine directory was composed of five members and exercised executive power.

French 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 own municipal agent.

Second constitution

General Brune

attempted a coup d'état in autumn 1798.

The first constitution did not have a long life. On 14 Fructidor, year VI (31 August 1798), the French ambassador Claude-Joseph Trouvé [fr] (who was only thirty years old) dismissed the Directory, and the next day he promulgated a new constitution with a stronger executive power.

The departments numbered eleven again, now covering larger geographical areas: Olona (

). 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: the Anziani ("Elders") and the Giuniori ("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 general

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 general

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 the Alps, relations with the Swiss Confederacy were strained.^[1] The Cisalpine Republic ended up taking control of Valtellina from the Three Leagues and Campione d'Italia and annexing them.^[1] A Cisalpine attempt to conquer Lugano by surprise failed in 1797.

After the defeat of France at the

.

The Cisalpine Republic was restored by Napoleon on 15

First Consul

appointed an Extraordinary Commission of Government of nine members and a legislative Consulta: 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 3

), restoring Lario and abolishing Adda-e-Oglio.

On 21 Brumaire, year X (12 November), an

was restored.

See also

• French client republic
• Cisalpine Gaul
• Italian Republic (Napoleonic)
• Giuseppe Abbamonte

• Historical database of Lombard laws (in Italian)

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