Treaty of Turin - The Treaty

The Treaty

Faced with the uncertainties implicit in the conflicting scenarios, and unwilling to countenance any further expansion of Switzerland, French and Sardinian diplomats swung into action. The 1860 Treaty of Turin, signed on March 24, 1860, was the outcome. Savoy and Nice found themselves annexed to France as by the Plombières agreement of 1858, but subject to certain conditions. Article 1 of the finalized document also stated, in deliberately vague terms, that the annexation would take place after the populations of Nice and Savoy had consented to the arrangement. Sardinian troops evacuated Savoy during March 1860. On April 1 the King of Sardinia released his Savoyard subjects from their oaths of loyalty to the Kingdom of Sardinia and a suitably crafted plebiscite (restricted to adult males, following the pattern already established in France by Napoleon III) was held in Nice on April 15 and 16 and in Savoy on April 22 and 23 to provide popular endorsement of the Treaty. In order to deflect anticipated resistance from the north of Savoy, where the Swiss solution had its strongest appeal, the creation was confirmed of a form of duty free zone north of a line defined by Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers, Le Châtelard, Faverges and Les Contamines-Montjoie. The effect of this provision was that Savoy's northern frontier posts, now to become a part of the French frontier, would be located a significant distance away from the actual frontier with Switzerland. The Treaty of Turin restated the political neutrality of the strip of Savoy north of the frontier posts but south of Switzerland, the neutrality of this land, along with that of Switzerland itself, having already been agreed in 1815 under the terms of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.

The outcome of the plebiscite held in Savoy on 22 April was an overwhelming "Yes" to the question, "Does Savoy wish to be unified with France?" In northern Savoy, the accepted vote was "Yes and Zone," indicating acceptance of the duty-free zone with Switzerland. A similar public vote of support for French annexation had been achieved by plebiscite one week earlier in the County of Nice. Logically, it should have been necessary for the outcome of the plebiscite to be known before the treaty could be signed off by the respective monarchs. The fact that the treaty was actually signed off a month before the plebiscite took place, the size of the majority supporting the treaty, and the wording of the question used for the plebiscite were some of the factors giving rise to subsequent doubts about the conduct of this 'popular consultation'.