Raurak Republic

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The Principality of Basel in the 18th century

The Raurakian Republic or Raurachian Republic ( République rauracienne ) was a subsidiary republic established by French revolutionary exports , formed from the parts of the Principality of Basel belonging to the Holy Roman Empire . It was built on December 17, 1792 and dissolved by incorporation into the French Republic on March 23, 1793. The name refers to the Celtic tribe of the Rauriks , who settled on the southern Upper Rhine in antiquity .

Based on the defensive alliance of the Principality of Basel with France from 1780, French troops occupied the northern parts of the Principality, which belonged to the German Empire, after the beginning of the First Coalition War in April 1792. The southern areas of La Neuveville , Montagne de Diesse , Biel , Erguel and Moutier and Montsevelier were not occupied because they were under the military protection of the Swiss Confederation .

After the proclamation of the French Republic in September 1792, there was unrest in the prince-bishopric and revolutionary bodies were formed. On December 17th, the Raurak Republic was proclaimed the first subsidiary of the French. After the failure of two national assemblies, the third voted in a vote forced and manipulated by France in favor of annexation to France, which took place on March 23, 1793 with the creation of the Département du Mont Terrible . With the Peace of Campo Formio at the end of 1797, the department expanded to include the still unoccupied parts of the prince-bishopric in the south, but as early as 1800 it was integrated into the Haut-Rhin department .

With the end of Napoleonic rule in Europe, the question of the state affiliation of the former prince-bishop's areas arose again. Troops of the sixth coalition marched in at the end of 1813 , but the département remained with France in the first Peace of Paris . On March 20, 1815, the Congress of Vienna finally decided to incorporate it into Switzerland and to split it between the cantons of Bern and Basel . The canton of Jura , which was only created in 1979, largely coincides with the former parts of the empire of the Principality of Basel and sees its statehood as firmly rooted in the Raurak Republic.

In contrast to other French subsidiary republics, the Raurak Republic did not introduce an independent national flag in its short existence . However, it is known that a state coat of arms was adopted. It essentially consisted of the Roman bundle of lictors that can still be found in the seal of France today.

The Basel student association AKV Rauracia derives its name as a toponym from the Raurak republic. The same derivation applies to the name of the hymn of the canton of Jura: La Nouvelle Rauracienne .

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