The Treaty of Bastia was an agreement signed in 1814 (near the end of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
) between
Corsican nationalists and
Lord William Bentinck
Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman who served as the Governor of Fort William (Bengal) from 1828 to 1834 and the First G ...
, commander of British forces in
Italy
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 ...
. It gave sovereignty over the island to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
, while allowing local self-government.
The treaty arose after assemblies of Corsican notables met in
Bastia
Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...
,
Saint-Florent, and
L'Île-Rousse
L'Île-Rousse (; co, Lìsula, , or , ; it, Isola Rossa, ; ) is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.
It was founded in 1758 by Pasquale Paoli to create a port that would not be in the hands of the Geno ...
, and sent an invitation to Bentinck to send troops and take control of Corsica from
French imperial forces. Bentinck sent British troops to Corsica, which drove out the French. Recalling the
Anglo-Corsican Kingdom
The Anglo-Corsican Kingdom (Italian: ''Regno Anglo-Corso''; Corsican: ''Riame anglo-corsu'', ''Riamu anglu-corsu''), also known as the Kingdom of Corsica (Italian: ''Regno di Corsica''; Corsican: ''Regnu di Corsica''), was a client state of th ...
of 1794-1796, Bentinck signed the Treaty of Bastia.
Bentinck was also an advocate of
Italian unification and may have regarded the treaty as a step towards Corsica later joining Italy.
The
British Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen ...
,
Castlereagh, rejected any revival of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom. He was a strong supporter of
Bourbon Restoration in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and all its former dominions. As it had already been agreed by Britain and her allies that
Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
was to rule Corsica, he sent an order to repudiate the treaty.
The treaty was not universally accepted by Corsicans. The Court of Appeals in
Ajaccio specifically rejected its legality.
References
Bibliography
*
Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)
Napoleonic Wars treaties
Treaty of Bastia
1814 treaties
Treaty of Bastia
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