Parthenopean Republic

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Parthenopean Republic
Repubblica Partenopea (Italian)
République Parthénopéenne (French)
1799–1799
Flag of Parthenopean Republic
Flag [it]
Emblem [it] of Parthenopean Republic
Motto: Libertà e Uguaglianza (
directorial republic
Director 
• 1799
Carlo Lauberg
• 1799
Ignazio Ciaia [it]
Legislature
Legislative Council
Historical eraFrench Revolutionary Wars
• French invasion
21 January 1799
invasion 13 June 1799
CurrencyTornesel, Neapolitan carlino
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
Today part ofItaly

The Parthenopean Republic (Italian: Repubblica Partenopea, French: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (Italian: Repubblica Napoletana) was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the French First Republic. The republic emerged during the French Revolutionary Wars after King Ferdinand IV fled before advancing French troops. The republic existed from 21 January to 13 June 1799, collapsing when Ferdinand returned to restore monarchial authority and forcibly subdued republican activities.[1]

Etymology

The Parthenopean Republic is named after

Parthenope, an ancient Greek settlement now part of the city of Naples
.

Origins of the Republic

On the outbreak of the

first coalition against France, instituting severe persecutions against all who were remotely suspected of French sympathies. Republicanism, however, gained ground, especially among the aristocracy
.

In 1796, peace with France was concluded, but in 1798, during

Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile, Maria Carolina induced Ferdinand to go to war with France once more. Nelson himself arrived at Naples in September 1798, where he was enthusiastically received. The Neapolitan army had 70,000 men hastily summoned under the command of the Austrian general Karl Mack. On 29 November, this army entered Rome,[2] which had been evacuated by the French, wishing to restore Papal authority. However, after a sudden French counter-attack, his troops were forced to retreat and were eventually routed. A contemporary satirist said of the King's conquest of Rome: "He came, he saw, he fled".[3]

The King hurried back to Naples. Although the

Francesco Pignatelli Strongoli
took over the city and the fleet was burned.

The wildest confusion prevailed, and the lazzaroni massacred numbers of persons suspected of republican sympathies, while the nobility and the educated classes, finding themselves abandoned by their King, began to contemplate a

Jean Étienne Championnet
. Pignatelli also fled to Palermo on 16 January 1799.

When the news of the surrender to the French reached Naples and the provinces, the lazzaroni rebelled. Though ill-armed and ill-disciplined, they resisted the enemy with desperate courage. In the meantime, the Jacobin and Republican parties of Naples surged, and civil war broke out. On 20 January 1799, the Republicans under General Championnet[4] conquered the fortress of Castel Sant'Elmo, and the French entered the city the next day. The casualties were 8,000 Neapolitans and 1,000 French.

Republic

On 21 or 23

Gennaro Serra, Prince of Cassano Irpino but they were doctrinaire and impractical, and they knew very little of the lower classes of their own country. The new government soon found itself in financial difficulties, owing to Championnet's demands for money (he was later relieved for graft
); it failed to organise an army (and was therefore dependent on French protection) and met with little success in its attempts to "democratise" the provinces.

Meanwhile, the court at Palermo sent Cardinal

Esercito Cristiano della Santa Fede). A British squadron approached Naples and occupied the island of Procida, but after a few engagements with the Republican fleet commanded by Francesco Caracciolo, an ex-officer in the Bourbon navy
, it was recalled to Palermo, as the Franco–Spanish fleet was expected.

Ruffo, supported by Russian and Turkish ships under the command of

Admiral Ushakov, now marched on the capital, whence the French, except for a small force under Méjean, withdrew. The scattered Republican detachments were defeated, only Naples and Pescara
holding out.

On 13 June 1799. Ruffo and his troops reached Naples, and after a desperate battle at the Ponte della Maddalena, entered the city. For weeks the Calabresi and lazzaroni continued to pillage and massacre, and Ruffo was unable, even if willing, to restrain them. However, the Royalists were not masters of the city, for the French in Castel Sant'Elmo and the Republicans in Castel Nuovo and Castel dell'Ovo still held out and bombarded the streets, while the Franco-Spanish fleet might arrive at any moment. Consequently, Ruffo was desperately anxious to come to terms with the Republicans for the evacuation of the castles, in spite of the Queen's orders to make no terms with the rebels. After some negotiation, the parties concluded an armistice and agreed on capitulation (onorevole capitolazione), whereby the castles were to be evacuated, the hostages liberated and the garrisons free to remain in Naples unmolested or to sail for Toulon. The capitulation was signed by Ruffo, and British, Russian and Turkish officers, as well as, for the Republicans, the French commander.[5]

While the vessels were being prepared for the voyage to Toulon all the hostages in the castles were liberated save four; but on 24 June 1799, Nelson arrived with his fleet, and on hearing of the capitulation he refused to recognise it except insofar as it concerned the French.[5]

Cardinal Ruffo indignantly declared that once the treaty was signed, not only by himself but by the Russian and Turkish commandants and by the British captain Edward Foote, it must be respected, and on Nelson's refusal, he said that he would not help him to capture the castles. On 26 June 1799, Nelson changed his attitude and authorised Sir William Hamilton, the British minister, to inform the cardinal that he (Nelson) would do nothing to break the armistice; while Captains Bell and Troubridge wrote that they had Nelson's authority to state that the latter would not oppose the embarcation of the Republicans. Although these expressions were equivocal, the Republicans were satisfied and embarked on the vessels prepared for them. However, on 28 June, Nelson received despatches from the court (in reply to his own), in consequence of which he had the vessels brought under the guns of his ships, and many of the Republicans were arrested.[5] Caracciolo, who had been caught whilst attempting to escape from Naples, was tried by a court-martial of Royalist officers under Nelson's auspices on board the admiral's flagship, condemned to death and hanged at the yard arm. The last jacobin stronghold, Pescara, surrendered on June 30.

Aftermath

Painting of the Revolution of 1799 with blue-yellow-red tricolours

On 10 July 1799, King Ferdinand entered the

Bay of Naples on a Neapolitan frigate, the Sirena. At four o'clock that afternoon, he went aboard the British Foudroyant, which was to be his headquarters for the next four weeks.[2]

Of some 8,000 political prisoners, 99 were executed, including Prince

The subsequent censorship and oppression of all political movement was far more debilitating for Naples.

After news of these events arrived in Britain, Charles James Fox made a speech in the House of Commons on 3 February 1800 criticising what he alleged to be British acquiescence to Ferdinand's repression of Neapolitan republicans.[5]

  • The flag of the Parthenopean Republic was the French tricolor with a yellow stripe in the place of the white one
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag The flag of the Parthenopean Republic was the French tricolor with a yellow stripe in the place of the white one
  • Variant flag.
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Variant flag.
  • Variant flag with emblem.
    Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Variant flag with emblem.

See also

References

  1. .
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ Between Salt Water And Holy Water: A History Of Southern Italy, Tommaso Astarita, p. 250
  4. ^ a b Rose, John Holland (1911). "Italy" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 44.
  5. ^ .

Further reading