Kingdom of Italy

Under the influence of the French conquests, the Cisalpine Republic (1797-1802), with headquartered in Milan, would first come to the north of the foothills. Despite its formal independence, it was an area of military occupation regime with all the consequences: permanent requisitions, high levies, looting of works of art, etc. Its rulers were chosen by Napoleon, and they never had any real freedom to treat the emissaries of the Directory. But with such restrictions, two years of the Republic's life meant that for the first time, the barrier of municipalism was broken, and residents from various northern Italian provinces found themselves together at Cisalpine assemblies and governing bodies. However, the Habsburg forces would render the French influence in the area unstable, but with the victory of Marengo (1800) Napoleon reasserted his rule.

This time, the Italian republic, convened by Napoleon, created the Italian Republic (1802-05), and when he himself took the imperial title, proclaimed himself the Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814). It covered the area of the old Cisalpine Republic and the provinces of Veneto, Marche and Trentino. Nor has it ever ceased to be a satellite state. Financial and tax policies were subject to French military needs. The territories that were not part of the Italian kingdom - Piedmont, Liguria, the Parma Duchy, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio - were annexed one after the other to France. Only Sicily and Sardinia remained outside Napoleon's domination, taking refuge in them alternately Savoy from Turin and Bourboni from Naples. After the final Napoleonic fall, all parts of the Italian kingdom would either be annexed to the Austrian Empire or come under the control of the Habsburgs with marital ties.