The History of Corsica

Corsica is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to France. It is located west

of the Italian Peninsula, southeast of the France. Corsica was not always apart of France, in fact

there are many today that still believe that Corsica is not a part of France. Why is this so you

may ask? Well from the 11th to 13th century Corsica was under the control of Italy. This small

island was a strategic stronghold to prevent seaborne raids attempts of foreign invaders.

Although Corsica was ruled by Italy revolt was inevitable. Being an island those of Corsica were

far from their rulers which eventually lead to a revolution in 1755 led by Pasquale Paoli (1725–

1807), under whose rule they established a National Assembly and adopted the most democratic

constitution in Europe. (lonely) Now this revolution ended in success but was short lived. In

1768 the Genoese ceded Corsica to the French king Louis XV, whose troops crushed Paoli’s

army in 1769. (planet) The defeat of Paoli is what gave France claims to the island of Corsica.

The island has since been part of France, except for a period (1794–96) when it was under

English domination, and during the German and Italian occupation of 1940–43. (lonely) Now

Corsica is very important to the history of France. Corsica was the birth place of Napoleon

Bonaparte. Napoleon’s drive to conquer derived from his home land. With the quote “On Corsica

I was given life, and with that life I was also given a fierce love for this my ill-starred homeland

and fierce desire for her independence. I too shall one day be a ‘Paoli’.” (napoleon) Between a

brutal defeat and such a controversial figure emerging from this island it is no surprise that many

local and foreign to the island question Corsica’s relation to France. Even though there are many

people who do not wish to believe that Corsica is a part of France it most certainly is.
 Modern day Corsica

During world war one Corsica payed a high price for France. Agriculture was disrupted

by the years-long absence of almost all of the young workers, and the percentage of dead or

wounded Corsicans in the conflict was double that of those from metropolitan France. The

decrease of population had a large effect on the economy of Corsica. Suffering a larger loss of

life than mainland France was devastating and had a hefty effect on those who were native to

Corsica. Corsica had and still suffers from regulations passed in 1880 that ruined all export of

wine and olive oil force many to emigrate. Regulations and loss of life was a one, two, hit to the

economy that took very long to recover from. Soon after this economic decline world war two

soon followed leading to the French losing Corsica to German forces. “After the collapse of

France to the German Wehrmacht in 1940, Corsica came under the rule of the Vichy French

regime, which was collaborating with the Nazis.[14] In November 1942 the island, following the

Anglo-American landings in North Africa was occupied by Italian and German forces. After the

Italian armistice in September 1943, Italian and Free French Forces pushed the Germans out of

the island, making Corsica the first French Department to be freed.[15] Subsequently, the US

military established 17 airfields, nicknamed "USS Corsica", which served as bases for attacks on

targets in German-occupied Italy.” The by the time the war was over Corsica was regained by

the French and is still a French island to this day.

 Sources

 http://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/itineraries/napoleon-and-corsica

 http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/corsica/history#ixzz4NIspPFIM

 "National Geographic Magazine: Corsica Map". National Geographic Society. 2003.

Retrieved 5 May 2008.[dead link]

 "Corsica rejects autonomy offer by Paris". CNN. 6 July 2003. Archived from the original

on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2008.

 Keyser, Will. "Corsica from the inside!". Corsica Isula. Retrieved 26 April 2008.

 jabro. "Getting around in Corsica by bicycle". jabro.net. Retrieved 28 August 2009.

 Guiderdoni, jf. "A different visit of Corsica". corsica_experience. Retrieved 5 June 2011.

 Ferries to Corsica Detailed technical specifications of the various ferry vessels, history,

deckplans. (Italian)