A sister republic (french: république sœur) was a republic established by French armies or by local revolutionaries and assisted by the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

. 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.

History

The

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

was a period of social and political upheaval in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from 1789 until 1799. The Republicans who overthrew the monarchy were driven by ideas of

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannic ...

and

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

. The Republicans borrowed ideas and values from

Whiggism Whiggism (in North America sometimes spelled Whigism) is a political philosophy that grew out of the Parliamentarian faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651). The Whigs' key policy positions were the supremacy of Parliament (as ...

and Enlightenment philosophers. The

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

supported the spread of republican principles in Europe, but most of these ''sister republics'' became a means of controlling occupied lands as client regimes through a mix of French and local power.

Sister republics of Italy

Subalpine Republic The Subalpine Republic was a short-lived republic that existed between 1800 and 1802 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by Napoleonic France. History Piedmont was the main part of the Kingdom of Sardinia which, despite i ...

(1800–1802) annexed to the French Republic **

Piedmontese Republic The Piedmontese Republic ( it, Repubblica Piemontese) was a revolutionary, provisional and internationally unrecognized government established in Turin between 1798 and 1799 on the territory of Piedmont during its military rule by the French Firs ...

(1798–1799), conquered by Austro-Russian troops and rendered back to Sardinia, but reconquered by Napoleon in 1800 and renamed Subalpine Republic (Novara to the

Italian Republic Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) ***

Republic of Alba The Republic of Alba () was a revolutionary municipality proclaimed on 26 April 1796, in Alba, Piedmont, when the town was taken by the French army. The municipality had a very short life of only 2 days because, with the Armistice of Cherasco on ...

(1796) reconquered by the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...

(1799) reconquered by the ''

Sanfedisti Sanfedismo (from ''Santa Fede'', "Holy Faith" in Italian) was a popular anti-Jacobin movement, organized by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, which mobilized peasants of the Kingdom of Naples against the Pro-French Parthenopaean Republic in 1799, its aims ...

'' for the King of Naples and Sicily **

Republic of Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxi ...

(1799) re-united with the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

(1798–1799) ended with the restoration of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

Anconine Republic The Anconine Republic ( it, Repubblica Anconitana) was a revolutionary municipality formed on 19 November 1797. It came about after a French victory at Ancona in February 1797, and the consequent occupation of the city.Philip's Atlas of World H ...

(1797–1798) joined Roman Republic ** Tiberina Republic (1798–1799) joined Roman Republic *

Ligurian Republic The Ligurian Republic ( it, Repubblica Ligure, lij, Repubbrica Ligure) 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 ...

(1797–1805) annexed to the French Empire * Republic of Lucca (1799 and 1800–01), later continued (1801–05) under the old oligarchy and it was replaced by the Principality of Lucca and Piombino *

(1802–1805) transformed into the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

Cisalpine Republic The Cisalpine Republic ( it, Repubblica Cisalpina) was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802. Creation After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organiz ...

(1797–1802) transformed into the Italian Republic ***

Cispadane Republic 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 (former ...

(1796–1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic ****

Bolognese Republic The Bolognese Republic was proclaimed in 1796 in the Central Italian city of Bologna. History It was a French client republic established when Papal authorities escaped from the city of Bologna in June 1796. It was annexed by the Cispadane Repub ...

(1796) annexed to the Cispadane Republic *** Transpadane Republic (1796–1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic *** Republic of Crema (1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic ***

Republic of Bergamo The Republic of Bergamo (Italian: ''Repubblica Bergamasca'') was an ephemeral French revolution, revolutionary French client republic, client republic, created on 13 March 1797 by the French army to rule the local administration of Bergamo and its ...

(1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic ***

Republic of Brescia The Republic of Brescia ( it, Repubblica bresciana) was a temporary French client republic in Italy. Established March 18, 1797, in the wake of the French occupation of Brescia and Bergamo, it became part of the Cisalpine Republic November 20, 1797 ...

(1797) annexed to the Cisalpine Republic File:Norditalien 1796.png, 1796: Northern Italy before
the French invasion File:Norditalien 1803.png, 1803: Sister republics
in Northern Italy
(map error in Novara and Veneto) File:Norditalien 1806.png, 1806: Sister republics
replaced by monarchies
(same error for Novara)

Other sister republics

* Republic of Bouillon (1794–1795) *

Republic of Liège The Republic of Liège (french: République liégeoise) was a short-lived state centred on the town of Liège in modern-day Belgium. The republic was created in August 1789 after the Liège Revolution led to the destruction of the earlier ecclesia ...

(1789–1791) *

Rauracian Republic The Rauracian Republic was a short-lived French occupation zone that included parts of modern Switzerland around the Jura mountains. It was created from the northern portion of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel, which was part of the Holy Roman Empir ...

(1792–1793) revolutionary French republic in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

* Lémanique Republic (1798) joined the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, m ...

Republic of Mainz The Republic of Mainz was the first democratic state in the current German territoryThe short-lived republic is often ignored in identifying the "first German democracy", in favour of the Weimar Republic; e.g. "the failure of the first German ...

(1793) revolutionary French republic in

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

and the

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bon ...

(1795–1806) Netherlands *

Cisrhenian Republic The Cisrhenian Republic (german: Cisrhenanische Republik) was a planned client state during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1797 on the Left Bank of the Rhine under occupation by France, that after a golpe decided for the annexation of the area ...

(1797) Germany *

Republic of Connacht The Irish Republic of 1798, more commonly known as the Republic of Connacht, was a short-lived state proclaimed during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 that resulted from the French Revolutionary Wars. A client state of the French Republic, it the ...

(1798) accompanied

Humbert Humbert, Umbert or Humberto (Latinized ''Humbertus'') is a Germanic given name, from ''hun'' "warrior" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also came into use as a surname. Given name ;Royalty and Middle Ages * Emebert (died 710) * Humbert of Maroille ...

's Irish expedition in support of the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...

(1798–1803) Switzerland * Republic of Danzig (1807–1814) *

Rhodanic Republic The Rhodanic Republic, officially the Republic of Valais ( French: ''République du Valais''; German: ''Republik Wallis'') or Vallais, was a sister republic of France that existed between 1802 and 1810 in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, ...

(1802–1810) (

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

)

References

{{Client states of the Great French War Republicanism Modern history of Italy French Directory