Lucchese Republic
The Lucchese Republic (Repubblica Lucchese) was an Italian subsidiary republic established by French revolutionary exports , formed from the aristocratic republic of Lucca , proclaimed on February 4, 1799, dissolved on July 18, 1799, renewed on January 1, 1802 and finally dissolved by conversion into the principality Lucca on June 27, 1805.
First democratic government
The aristocratic republic of Lucca had remained neutral during the first coalition war ( Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Northern Italy 1796/1797). The subsequent war between France and Naples in 1798/1799 led to the French occupation of Lucca on January 2, 1799, after Neapolitan troops marched into nearby Livorno (Grand Duchy of Tuscany ). Under French pressure, the Senate of Lucca abolished on January 15, 1799 the laws of December 9, 1556 and January 21, 1628, as well as all titles of nobility and privileges, which were fundamental to the state. On 2/3 In 1799 , a new parliament was elected to create a democratic constitution, excluding the nobility and clergy, who were also subject to a property tax. Due to the unsatisfactory result, the French military administration declared the election invalid and set up new provisional authorities on February 4: a two-chamber legislature of 48 or 24 members and an executive board of five members, which in turn were subordinate to ministers; the lower levels of administration, on the other hand, were mostly retained in the form they had previously existed. The powers of this government were severely limited by the French occupation, but it was able to pass some important laws, including the repeal of entails , which secured noble families their property even in the event of bankruptcy.
First and second reggenza , second and third democratic government
The military successes of the Austro-Russian troops in the second coalition war forced the French occupation to withdraw from Lucca. On July 17, 1799, the legislative and executive branches handed over their power to a reggenza provvisoria (provisional rule) of ten members, who, however, were replaced by the Austrian military authorities on July 24, 1799 for members of the former aristocratic government. The bureaucratic apparatus, with the exception of the ministries, was taken over, since it was already part of the continuity of the fallen aristocratic republic. The Reggenza could not pursue an actual restoration policy, although it repealed the laws of the previous government. The government failed to stabilize; its members replaced each other in quick succession, so that within less than a year there were 36 officials. The government faced a problem similar to the previous one, namely transferring the cost of military occupation to the citizenry and having only very limited political room for maneuver.
On July 9, 1800, the Reggenza was deposed by the French army, which had invaded again after the Battle of Marengo . An eleven-member provisional government took office (second democratic government), and on July 25, 1800, the abolished democratic laws came back into force. As early as September 15, 1800, as a result of the alternating war successes, the Austrians returned (second Reggenza ), to finally give way to the French on October 9, 1800, who left the recently installed aristocratic government of ten in office for the time being, but with two French commissioners Supplementary supervision (third democratic government).
Fourth democratic government and conversion into a principality
Napoléon Bonaparte sent the Corsican diplomat Cristoforo Saliceti (1757-1809) on November 7, 1801 as a special envoy to Lucca with the task of creating a new democratic constitution there. From mid-December 1801 Saliceti consulted the government, the ministers and selected citizens. The government adopted the new constitution on December 23, 1801 and published it on December 26, 1801; it came into force on January 1, 1802 (fourth democratic government). The authorities of the Lucchese Republic consisted mainly of the three hundred-member Gran Consiglio (legislature), four magistratures (ministries), the administrative council for the preliminary consultation of laws and the government formed from the twelve Anziani .
The transformation of France into an empire in 1804 also led to profound changes in the French subsidiary republics of Italy. After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy (formed from the Italian, formerly Cisalpine Republic) and the coronation of Napoleon in Milan in May 1805, it became clear that the Lucche Republic, which was dependent on Napoleon's power, had to adapt its previous form of government to the new monarchical circumstances. After holding a controlled plebiscite, the Corsican nobleman Pasquale Baciocchi , married to Elisa Bonaparte , a sister of Napoleon, was raised to Prince Felix I of Lucca and Piombino, and the new monarchical constitution of the Principality of Lucca came into force on June 27, 1805.
Flags and symbolism
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| 1799-1801 | 1801-1802 | 1803-1805 |
Despite the short life of the republic from 1799 to 1805, it used three different national flags during its existence: The first and third flags were adopted by the Cisalpine (from 1802 Italian) republic, but as a tricolor with horizontal instead of vertical stripes or as a diamond pattern blue instead of green field; the second flag was identical to the traditional white and red city flag of Lucca.
The insignia of the old aristocratic republic was replaced by new ones based on the French Republic : a tricolor, the state motto Libertà - Egualianza (freedom - equality), supplemented by the second democratic government with religions (religion) and as a symbol the goddess of freedom with a Phrygian cap and Bundle of rods . The symbols of the noble families and the old state motto Libertas had to be removed from all houses .
Web links
- Italian language links: