The County of Nice (; ; Niçard ) was a historical region of France and Italy located around the southeastern city of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionarrondissement of Nice. It was part of the

Savoyard state The Savoyard state comprised the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy from the Middle Ages to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. Although it was an example of composite monarchy, it is a term applied to the polity by historians an ...

within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

History

Its territory lies between the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

(

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

Var River The Var (, ; ; ) is a river located in the southeast of France. It is long. Its drainage basin is .Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. Ligurian tribes populated the County of Nice prior to its occupation by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. These tribes, conquered by

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

, had become fully

Romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

(according to

Theodore Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a Germans, German classics, classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicis ...

) by the 4th century, when the

barbarian invasions The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

began. The

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

conquered the region after the

Fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

, and the local Romance populations became integrated within the

County of Provence The County of Provence was a largely autonomous medieval state that eventually became incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1481. For four centuries Provence was ruled by a series of counts that were vassals of the Carolingian Empire, Burg ...

, with a period of independence as a

maritime republic The maritime republics (), also called merchant republics (), were Italian thalassocratic port cities which, starting from the Middle Ages, enjoyed political autonomy and economic prosperity brought about by their maritime activities. The ter ...

(1108–1176). It was initially a semi-autonomous part of the ancient County of Provence.

The domain of the House of Savoy (13881860)

Nice became part of the domains of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

on 28 September 1388, with which

Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy Amadeus VII (24 February 1360 – 1 November 1391), known as the Red Count, was Count of Savoy from 1383 to 1391. Biography Amadeus was born in Chambéry on 24 February 1360, the son of Count Amadeus VI of Savoy and Bonne of Bourbon. After ...

, taking advantage of the internal struggles in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, negotiated with Giovanni Grimaldi, baron of Boglio (governor of Nice and the Eastern Provence) the passage of Nice and the

Ubaye Valley The Ubaye Valley is an area in the Alpes de Haute-Provence ''département'', in the French Alps, having approximately 7,700 residents. Its residents are called ''Ubayens''. Its principal town is the ''sous-préfecture'' of Barcelonnette. 350px, A ...

to the Savoy domains, with the name of ''Terre Nuove di Provenza''. The ''Terre Nuove'' then took the name of County of Nice in 1526, where in this context the term "county" was used in an administrative and not a feudal sense. On 25 October 1561, following the Edict of Rivoli, Italian replaced Latin as the language for drafting the official documents of the County of Nice.

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I (; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 30 August 1580 until his death almost 50 years later in 1630, he was the longest-reigning Savoyard monarch ...

, made Nice a free port in 1614 and established a senate there. The revolt of the count of Boglio was put down in 1621 and from that moment the county experienced a period of stability, unlike the nearby Provence battered by the revolts. Hostilities with France recommenced during the 17th century and the county was subjected to French occupation twice (1691–1697 and 1707–1713). Plan-Nice-1624

During the 18th century the border between the county of Nice and France was rectified several times. The first time in 1718, when

Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Victor Amadeus II (; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was the head of the House of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 June 1675 until his abdication in 1730. He was the first of his house to acquire a royal crown, ruling first as King o ...

repurchased the upper Varo valley with Entraunes and Saint-Martin-d'Entraunes in exchange for municipality of Le Mas, and a second time with the Treaty of Turin of 24 March 1760, with which the Savoys ceded

Gattières Gattières (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department The following is a list of the 163 communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department of ...

and the right bank of the Esterone river to France, in exchange for the areas of Guglielmi and La Penna, which passed to Savoyard possessions. In 1789, Nice was a counter-revolutionary center; the

Army of the Midi The Army of the Midi (''Armée du Midi'') was a unit of the French army, stationed in the Midi region and created by royal decree of Louis XVI on 13 April 1792. The first leader of the army was Jacques Bernard d'Anselme. References 1792 ...

of the young French Republic, under the command of General

Jacques Bernard d'Anselme Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

, entered the city on 29 September 1792. The following 31 January, the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

ordered the integration of the county into French territory and the creation of the Alpes-Maritimes department. During the period of the French occupation, the popular movement of barbetism was active in the territory of the County, loyal to the House of Savoy. On 23 April 1814 the county returned under the control of the King

Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel I (; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy, King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard states from 4 June 1802 until his reign ended in 1821 upon abdication due to a liberal revolution. Shortly thereafter, hi ...

, while the Principality of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

passed from the French to the Sardinian

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

. With the outbreak of national uprisings of 1848, the Monegasque towns of

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

and Roquebrune rebelled against their prince and became free cities administered by the House of Savoy, the Free Cities of Menton and Roquebrune.

Annexation to France (1860)

After the Treaty of Turin was signed in 1860 between the

Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II (; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia (also informally known as Piedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March ...

and

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

as a consequence of the

Plombières Agreement The Plombières Agreement (, ) of 21 July 1858 was a secret verbal agreement which took place at Plombières-les-Bains between the chief minister of Kingdom of Sardinia, Piedmont-Sardinia, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, and the Emperor of the ...

, the county was again and definitively ceded to France as a territorial reward for French assistance in the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, which saw

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

united with the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

. King Victor-Emmanuel II, on 1 April 1860, solemnly asked the population to accept the change of sovereignty, in the name of Italian unity, and the cession was ratified by a regional

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

Italophile Italophilia is the admiration, general appreciation or love of Italy, its people, culture, and its significant contributions to Western civilization. Italophilia includes Romanophilia, the appreciation of the Italian capital of Rome and its anc ...

manifestations and the acclamation of an "Italian Nice" by the crowd were reported on this occasion. A referendum was held on 15 and 16 April 1860. The opponents of annexation called for abstention, hence the very high abstention rate. The "yes" vote won 83% of registered voters throughout the county of Nice, and 86% in Nice, partly due to pressure from the authorities. This was the result of a masterful operation of information control by the French and Piedmontese governments, to influence the outcome of the vote in relation to the decisions already taken. The irregularities in the referendum voting operations were evident. The case of Levens is emblematic: the same official sources recorded, faced with only 407 voters, 481 votes cast, naturally almost all in favor of joining France. The Italian language was the official language of the County, used by the Church, the town hall, taught in schools, used in theaters and at the Opera; though it was immediately abolished and replaced by French. Discontent over annexation to France led to the emigration of a large part of the Italophile population, also accelerated by Italian unification after 1861. A quarter of the population of Nice, around 11,000 people from Nice, decided to voluntarily exile themselves to Italy. The emigration of a quarter of the

Niçard Italians Niçard Italians ( ) are Italians who have full or partial County of Nice, Nice heritage by birth or ethnicity. History Niçard Italians have roots in Nice and the County of Nice. They often speak the Ligurian language after Nice joined the Genoa ...

to Italy was known as the Niçard exodus. Many Italians from Nice then moved to the Ligurian towns of

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...

Bordighera Bordighera (; , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, the French coast is visible from the town. Having the Capo Sant'Ampel ...

and

Ospedaletti Ospedaletti () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region of Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Imperia. Ospedaletti borders the following municipalities: Bordighera, Sanremo, ...

, giving rise to a local branch of the movement of the Italian irredentists which considered the reacquisition of Nice to be one of their nationalist goals.

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

, born in Nice, strongly opposed the cession to France, arguing that the ballot was rigged by the French. Furthermore, for the niçard general his hometown was unquestionably Italian. Politically, the liberals of Nice and the partisans of Garibaldi also appreciated very little Napoleonic authoritarianism. Elements on the right (aristocrats) as on the left (Garibaldians) therefore wanted Nice to return to Italy. Savoy was also transferred to the French crown by similar means. In 1871, during the first free elections in the County, the pro-Italian lists obtained almost all the votes in the legislative elections (26,534 votes out of 29,428 votes cast), and Garibaldi was elected deputy at the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. Pro-Italians take to the streets cheering ''"Viva Nizza! Viva Garibaldi!"'' The French government sent 10,000 soldiers to Nice, closed the Italian newspaper ''Il Diritto di Nizza'' and imprisoned several demonstrators. The population of Nice rose from 8 to 10 February, and the three days of demonstration became known as " Niçard Vespers." The revolt was suppressed by French troops. On 13 February, Garibaldi was not allowed to speak at the French parliament meeting in Bordeaux to ask for the reunification of Nice to the newborn Italian unitary state, and he resigned from his post as deputy. The failure of Vespers led to the expulsion of the last pro-Italian intellectuals from Nice, such as Luciano Mereu or Giuseppe Bres, who were expelled or deported. The pro-Italian irredentist movement persisted throughout 1860–1914, despite the repression carried out since the annexation. The French government implemented a policy of Francization of society, language and culture. The toponyms of the communes of the ancient County have been francized, with the obligation to use French in Nice, as well as certain surnames (for example the Italian surname "Bianchi" was francized into "Leblanc", and the Italian surname "Del Ponte" was francized into "Dupont"). Italian-language newspapers in Nice were banned. In 1861, ''La Voce di Nizza'' was closed (temporarily reopened during the Niçard Vespers), followed by ''Il Diritto di Nizza'', closed in 1871. In 1895, it was the turn of ''Il Pensiero di Nizza'', accused of irredentism. Many journalists and writers from Nice wrote in these newspapers in Italian. Among these are Enrico Sappia, Giuseppe André, Giuseppe Bres, Eugenio Cais di Pierlas and others.

20th century

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

considered the annexation of Nice to be one of his main targets. In 1940, the County of Nice was occupied by the Italian army and the newspaper ''Il Nizzardo'' ("The Niçard") was restored there. It was directed by Ezio Garibaldi, grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Only

was administered until 1943 as if it was an Italian territory, even if the Italian supporters of

Italian irredentism in Nice Italian irredentism in Nice was the political movement supporting the annexation of the County of Nice to the Kingdom of Italy. According to some Italian nationalists and fascists like Ermanno Amicucci, Italian- and Ligurian-speaking populat ...

wanted to create an Italian governorate (on the model of the

Governorate of Dalmatia The Governorate of Dalmatia (; ) was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Italy that existed during two periods, first from 1918 to 1920 and then from 1941 to 1943. The first Governorate of Dalmatia was established following the end of Wo ...

) up to the

Var river The Var (, ; ; ) is a river located in the southeast of France. It is long. Its drainage basin is .Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

; thus, thousands of Jews took refuge there. For a while, Nice became an important mobilization center for various Jewish organizations. However, when the Italians signed the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

with the Allies, German troops invaded the region on 8 September 1943, and initiated brutal raids.

Alois Brunner Alois Brunner (8 April 1912 – December 2001 or 2010) was an Austrian officer who held the rank of (captain) during World War II. Brunner played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust through rounding up and deporting Jews in ...

, the SS official for Jewish affairs, was placed at the head of units formed to search for Jews. Within five months, 5,000 Jews were caught and deported. The area was returned to France following the war and in 1947, the areas of

La Brigue La Brigue (; ; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. La Brigue became part of France after World War II, when Italy was forced to hand it over in September 1947 under the terms of the Peace of Paris. Be ...

and

Tende Tende (; Italian language, Italian, Occitan language, Occitan and Royasc: ''Tenda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Tende is located within Mercanto ...

, which had remained Italian after 1860 were ceded to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Thereafter, a quarter of the

living in that mountainous area moved to

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

in Italy (mainly from the Roya Valley and Tenda).

Creation of Alpes-Maritimes

As the county was too small to form its own department, the Government of France added it to the

arrondissement of Grasse The arrondissement of Grasse is an arrondissement of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has 62 communes. Its population is 573,247 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arro ...

, detached from the neighboring Var department, to create the department. Since 1926, the county has been largely coterminous with the arrondissement of Nice, one of two arrondissements of the , in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. Nevertheless, the term County of Nice ( in

Niçard dialect ( Classical orthography), ( Mistralian orthography, ), ( , ), or () is the dialect that was historically spoken in the city of Nice, in France, and in a few surrounding communes. Niçard is generally considered a subdialect of Provençal, it ...

) continues to be in use to identify the territory as a distinct cultural and historical region, particularly to distinguish it from the neighboring

. The historical language used by inhabitants of the County of Nice was Niçard, though it has been almost entirely supplanted by French since 1860. Since 2010, the statue on the commemorates the 150th year of Nice's annexation.

Francization of the toponyms of the municipalities of the County of Nice

The

Francization Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), also known as Frenchification, is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by more an ...

of the toponyms of the municipalities of the County of Nice was the process, imposed by the French authorities, of replacing the official Italian toponyms with francized names for its 101 municipalities which formed the arrondissement of Nice after the annexation to France in 1861 following the Treaty of Turin (for some territories in 1947 following the Treaty of Paris).

References

Sources

* Amicucci, Ermanno. ''Nizza e l'Italia''. Mondadori Editore. Milano, 1939. * Barelli Hervé, Rocca Roger. ''Histoire de l'identité niçoise'', Nice: Serre, 1995. * (flag/history).

External links

*
Territorial changes in the history of the County of Nice
*
Dances and traditional musics used in the County of Nice
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nice, County of Duchy of Savoy Kingdom of Sardinia Alpes-Maritimes

County of Nice The County of Nice (; ; Niçard ) was a historical region of France and Italy located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent to the modern arrondissement of Nice. It was part of the Savoyard state within the Holy Roman Emp ...

1100s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1108 establishments in Europe States and territories established in the 1100s 1860 disestablishments in Europe 1860 disestablishments in Italy Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Savoyard state