Territory
Originally, the Kingdom consisted of the territories of the Italian Republic: former Duchy of Milan, Duchy of Mantua, Duchy of Modena, the western part of the Republic of Venice, part of the Papal States in Romagna, and the province of Novara.
After the defeat of the Third Coalition and the consequent Treaty of Pressburg, on May 1, 1806, the Kingdom was given by Austria the eastern and remaining part of the Venetian territories, including Istria and Dalmatia down to Kotor (then called Cattaro), even if it had to give Massa and Carrara to Elisa Bonaparte's Principality of Lucca and Piombino. The Duchy of Guastalla was annexed on May 24.
With the Convention of Fontainebleau with Austria of October 10, 1807, Italy ceded Monfalcone to Austria and gained Gradisca, putting the new border on the Isonzo River.
The conquered Republic of Ragusa was annexed in spring 1808 by general Marmont. That was the only time in modern History that Ragusa was united to Italy. On April 2, 1808, following the dissolution of the Papal States, the Kingdom annexed the present-day Marches. At its maximum extent, the Kingdom had 6,700,000 inhabitants and was composed by 2,155 communes.
The final arrangement arrived after the new defeat of Austria: Emperor Napoleon and King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria signed the Treaty of Paris on February 28, 1810, deciding an exchange of territories involving Italy too. o
On rewards in Germany, Bavaria ceded southern Tirol to the Kingdom of Italy, which in its turn ceded Istria and Dalmatia (with Ragusa) to France, incorporating the Adriatic territories into newly created the French Illyrian Provinces. Small changes to the borders between Italy and France in Garfagnana and Friuli came in act on August 5, 1811.
In practice, the Kingdom was a dependency of the French Empire, which exploited its resources to enrich France.
The Kingdom served as a theater in Napoleon's operations against Austria during the wars of the various coalitions. Trading with the United Kingdom was forbidden.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Italy (Napoleonic)
Famous quotes containing the word territory:
“I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“A Country is not a mere territory; the particular territory is only its foundation. The Country is the idea which rises upon that foundation; it is the sentiment of love, the sense of fellowship which binds together all the sons of that territory.”
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872)
“We found ourselves always torn between the mothers in our heads and the women we needed to become simply to stay alive.With one foot in the past and another in the future, we hobbled through first love, motherhood, marriage, divorce, careers, menopause, widowhood—never knowing what or who we were supposed to be, staking out new emotional territory at every turn—like pioneers.”
—Erica Jong (20th century)