8000 years of Corsican history
Prehistory
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Since prehistoric times there have been people on Corsica , the oldest
known human skeleton on the island is the socalled "Dame of Bonifacio" a skeleton that has been found in a cave called l'abri d'Araguina-Sennola
in Bonifacio (6610 B.C.). She lived in the Neolithicum, the period in which people began to use stone tools
and made pottery.
These have been dated back to the Mesolithic period or Middle Stone Age, 8.000
years ago. Some more recent discoveries, however, could possibly go back a further two or three millennia.
Some of the buildings and monoliths from the second and third millennia B.C. are indicative of more advanced civilisations. But the
people that built them disappeared in about 800 B.C.
Man's first settlement in Corsica dates from the VIIth millennium BC. The proximity to Taravo's fertile plain, the presence of an easily developed butte
and numerous rock shelters make this site ideal for a very long period of occupation. ( see also www.filitosa.fr )
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The first settlers on Corsica were Greeks from Phocaea on the coast of Asia Minor. In 565 B.C. they founded the
colony of Alalia (now Aléria) on the east coast of the island, which they called Kalliste or 'the most beautiful one'.
In 540 B.C., in a decisive battle at Alalia, the Greeks were beaten by an alliance of the Carthaginians and Etruscans, which
limited their expansion in the western Mediterranean. The Carthaginians took over the colony and called the island by the
old Greek name Kyrnos, which means 'full of forests'. But in spite of this and the later military domination by
Carthage (278-259 B.C.), the Greeks still continued to exercise power in the colony, controlling the trade in wood,
resin and honey.
Soon after the beginning of the first Punic War (264-241 B.C.), the Romans took Alalia (259 B.C.) and began their conquest
of Corsica. But the interior was not pacified till 162 B.C. In 420 Aléria was set on fire, totally destroyed
by the Vandals in 456.
In 552 Corsica became an Eastern Roman province when it was taken over by the Emperor Justinian in his bid to rebuild
the Roman Empire.
In 568 the Lombards began to invade Italy from the north. They
advanced southwards, and in 725 they took over Corsica, however, their desire to unite Italy did not meet with the
approval of the Papacy, and in 754 the Pope turned to France for assistance.
Pippin the Short of France engaged in a successful campaign against the Lombards, and in 756 handed over some of
the territory he had gained to the Pope. Known as Pippin's Gift, it later formed the basis for the
the development of the Papal States. Corsica was part of this gift, but was one of the territories whose
administration the Pope left to others. So the Corsicans were at the mercy
of whatever governor happened to be in charge.
The following 200 years Corsica was repeatedly invaded by the Saracens.
With the retreat of the Saracens a unified government was apparently established in the 10th century under a Count
of Corsica, but collapsed in the 11th century, when power fell into the hands of local nobles. Some communities had
elected chieftains, who often succeeded in making their authority hereditary. They took over Bonifacio in 1187 and
Calvi in 1268. In the meantime Sinucello della Rocca, profiting by the discord between the rival republics made
himself Master of Corsica, promulgated a primitive constitution at a national assembly at Mariana in 1264.
He was captured by the Genoese after the defeat of Pisa and died in prison in 1306.
Genoa and Aragon
As soon as the Pisans had withdrawn, another rival power appeared. For in 1297 the Pope had handed over
Corsica and Sardinia to the kingdom of Aragon. In the struggle for supremacy, the Corsican nobility supported Aragon,
while the people now supported Genoa. In 1420 King Alfonso staged a military invasion, and after Bonifacio was
besieged for 5 months, he left Corsica. Bastia was founded by the Genoese in 1380.
In 1453 the bank of Saint George took over the administration of Corsica.They showed no mercy in putting down local
rebellions. The existing town of Ajaccio was founded in 1492.
Sampiero Corso (1498-1567)
This Corsican hero was born in 1498 in Bastelica; he was a tall man with a black beard and very intelligent. He was an
officer in the French army, attempted to improve the lot of his homeland by bringing it under French sovereignty.
The result was 3 years of war, followed by 3 years of French rule, 5 years of Genoese rule and a further 3 years of war.
At the end of this the Genoese remained the sole rulers. Many Corsicans left the island; some of them went to Rome
to serve the Pope, where they became the famous Corsican Guard.
The struggle for independance
The war began in 1729, when the Corsicans rebelled against the oppressive
rule of the Genoese, whose power was now waning. In 1735 a constitution was drawn up and declared themselves independent under
the leadership of Andrea Ceccaldi, Luigi Giafferi and Ghjacinto Paoli.
On 12 march 1736 a ship under the English flag arrived in Aléria. They carried canons, munition, rifles and grain.
With it a German adventurer called Baron Theodor von Neuhoff came ashore and promised
to rescue them from Genoese tyranny. They made him king for a few months, but soon came to realise that what he had
promised was no more than bluff. He also showed no understanding of Corsican customs, immediately declaring the vendetta
to be punishable by death. It was soon obvious that the promised reinforcements from abroad were mere fantasy, and he
was forced to flee the island under cover of darkness.
Since 1745 the Corsicans had a new leader: Gianpietro Gaffori from Corte. His storming of the citadel in Corte has become
a legend. In his distress, the military Genoese commander had Gaffori's young son kidnapped and held him over the fortress
wall in order to stop the Corsican attack. Gaffori's wife begged her husband to continue the siege regardless. Gaffori then went
on to take the citadel and by miracle his son survived. In 1746 the Assembly proclaimed Corsica's independance once more.
Gaffori was elected the sole leader of the country. He succeeded in winning back almost the entire island; the Genoese
Governor finally had to instigate a conspiricy to get rid of him; Gaffori was murdered in 1753.
King of Corsica
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Theodor von Neuhoff was born in Cologne as the son of a Westphalian nobleman. Educated at the court of France, he served first in the French Army and
then in that of Sweden. Baron de Goertz, minister to King Charles XII of Sweden, realizing Neuhoff's capacity for intrigue, sent him to England and Spain
to negotiate with Cardinal Alberoni. He remained in Spain, where he was made colonel and married one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting. Soon afterwards he
repaired to France and became mixed up in the Mississippi Company boom; then he led a wandering existence visiting Portugal, the Netherlands, and Italy.
At Genoa, Neuhoff made the acquaintance of some Corsican rebels and exiles, and persuaded them that he could free their country from Genoese tyranny if
they made him king of the island. With the help of the Bey of Tunis, he landed in Corsica in March 1736 with military aid. The islanders, whose campaign
had not been successful, elected and crowned him king. He assumed the title of King Theodore I, issued edicts, instituted an order of knighthood, and waged
war on the Genoese, at first with some success. But in-fighting among the rebels soon led to their defeat. The Genoese put a price on his head and published
an account of his colourful past, and he left Corsica in November 1736, ostensibly to seek foreign assistance. After sounding out the possibility of protection
from Spain and Naples, he set off to Holland where he was arrested for debt in Amsterdam.
On regaining his freedom, Theodore sent his nephew to Corsica with a supply of arms; he himself returned to Corsica in 1738, 1739, and 1743, but the combined
Genoese and French forces continued to occupy the island. In 1749 he arrived in England to seek support, but eventually fell into debt and was confined
in a debtors' prison in London until 1755. He regained his freedom by declaring himself bankrupt, making over his kingdom of Corsica to his creditors, and
subsisted on the charity of Horace Walpole and some other friends until his death in London in 1756.
Source of the text about Theodor von Neuhoff en.wikipedia.org |
 Pasquale Paoli |
Pasquale Paoli "Babbu di a Patria" (1725-1807)
Corsica independant (1755-1769)
In 1755 Pasquale Paoli (son of Ghjacintu ) was proclaimed General of the Corsican Nation.
He was the greatest of a long line of Corsican heroes during their long struggle for freedom.
He made Corte his capital and declared this newly independant state a constitutional
democracy.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on whose theories the constitution was based, offered his admiring support.
Paoli built a new port at Ile Rousse because Calvi and Bastia were still under Genoese domination.
In 1765 he founded a university in Corte, which lasted only 25 years.
He also founded the first Corsican printing presses, the first operative mint, a gazette.
He opened mines, started an arms factory and promoted the cultivation of potatoes. |
 Statue of Paoli in Corti |
 Battle of Ponte Nuovo |
The blow came in 1768, when the news came
that Genoa had effectively sold Corsica to the French. Pasquale Paoli pursued all possible
diplomatic channels in his efforts to retain Corsica's hard-won
independence, but to no avail.
The French brought in their troops,who defeated Paoli's army at Ponte Nuovo on the 9th of May 1769.
The Corsicans had been forced down to the bottom of the
valley, and had not been able to attack from above as was their wont. Paoli himself fled to England. |
On 15 August that year, Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, the son of a Corsican notary. About twenty years later
Pasquale Paoli was pardoned by Louis XVI, and returned to his native island. In 1790 he was made governor of
Corsica, but soon came into conflict with the French revolutionary authorities. He immediately convened his
old Corsican parliament, which declared the island independent for a second time,
requesting the British to provide military support.
Admiral Hood came along and took both Calvi and Bastia. Horatio Nelson, the great British admiral,
lost his eye in this campaign as a result of a shot from a Corsican gun.
Corsica spent a period of two years under the rule of a British viceroy. One migth have expected this to be Paoli, but King
George II decided to send sir Gilbert Elliot. The king requested Pasquale Paoli to return to England, which he did for the
last time in October 1795. He died in London at the age of 82 in 1807.
In 1889, 82 years later, his ashes were brought home by his fellow Corsicans to Morosaglia. Today, the house in which he
had been born serves as a memorial to the Corsicans' patriotic struggle.
Under pressure both from the Corsicans and from the French army in Italy, Britain renounced its claim to the island.
Ironically, the French army was under the command of a Corsican general called Napoleon Bonaparte, who in 1793 had
held on to Bonifacio for France.
By this time the Corsicans had resigned themselves to French rule, realising that they were unable to retain their
independance and having decided that the French were the lesser of the two evils.
From 1815 the Corsicans remained loyal subjects of France. Conditions improved very gradually, but not enough to
prevent an increasing emigration, especially at the end of the century.
Monument aux Morts
1914-18 Zonza
World War I
During World War I more than half of the soldiers did not return from the War. They counted at least 20.000 dead. It was
not only the losses and mourning that counted, but women couldn't find husbands anymore and there were no more men
to cultivate the neglected land.
Again Corsicans left their island to try to find work elsewhere. Often it was on the continent, in Marseille.
World War II
In 1940 Corsica was anti-German and anti-Italian.In 1942 the Corsicans came under occupation again. It was only a short
time from 1942-43, but it was enough to rekindle the old spirit of freedom. They resisted the Germans and Italians and
from the maquis they fought a heavy guerilla.
In october '43 when Corsica was liberated, De Gaulle visited Ajaccio. He praised the Corsicans for their brave struggle:
"Corsica has the honour and the luck to be the first free part of France".
The recent years
The late fifties saw an alarming increase in the number of people leaving the island. Corsica experienced a
real "diaspora". Lack of educational and professional opportunities forced the
Corsicans again to leave their beloved island. This mass exodus has meant that worker shortages have added to the
economical problems of Corsica.
On the island there was a wave of protest against the proposed construction of an underground atomic testing station and
at the plan to sink atomic waste in the see between the French mainland and Corsica. Further adding to the tension
was the stationing of French Foreign Legionnaires; these troops were viewed as an army of occupation.
Bombs against speculators
Moreover, there was growing resistance to the sale of the Corsican coast to financial consortia from the French mainland,
which went on to line their pockets with the vast proportion of the islands' income from tourism. As far as the new
holiday villages were concerned, virtually evertything was imported from the mainland, from the building materials to
the food supplies: even the staff was almost exclusively non-Corsican. And thus Edmond Simeoni was speaking for many when he
said: "The loveliest areas of Corsica were handed over to the real estate speculators and industrial tourist agents, who
now destroy the local hotel business, commandeer the beaches and mutilate the countryside without producing any real
profit for the inhabitants."
In radical circles it was claimed that "if the speculators carry on with their construction projects, they will find
that they have built upon sand, for we shall blow it all sky-high."
Autonomy
It began with decent people, dreaming of a free Corsica, a Corsica that would remain pure and where one could live as a Corsican
and speak Corsican. Where land was not to be sold to the usurers; Corsica must not become a second Mallora.In fact, the island owes it
to the pioneers of the FRC (Front Régionaliste Corse) that it has stayed so beautiful. But then the
situation gets more grim.
August 1975, Aléria: the occupation of a wine-vault ends in bloodshed. Paris sends in heavily armed forces and looses two
policemen in a shooting. Dr. Edmond Simeoni, leader of the ARC (Action Régionaliste Corse), surrenders to the police.
In 1976 the FLNC (Front de Libération Nationale de la Corse) is launched.
Corsica gets to know the meaning of
the "blue nights":
111 attacks in 1978, 463 in 1983 and thousands were to follow. On the other hand, the nationalistic movement gets the University
of Corte reopend in 1981!
The movement really degenerates after the collaps of the FLNC in the early nineties. Personal conflicts, failed
alliancies and political interests are dividing the movement. (the nationalist movement has 17% of the votes in the
reginal elections of 1988).
A Cuncolta naziunalista and MPA (Movimientu per l'Autodeterminazione) with their armed branches, Canal 'historique' and
Canal 'habituel' are involved in a gangwar. Meanwhile the French government is negotiating with the movement, but
can't handle the situation.
In 1996 the notorious meeting, in the middle of the night in the maquis of Tralonca, takes place. Canal Historique with
600 of their men, armed to the teeth, gives a press conference.
In july of that same year a carbombe explodes in the very centre of Bastia; twelve people wounded and one deadly injured.
Since the talks of Matignon (initiative of Lionel Jospin) there is real hope that things will change. Many islanders
support the "Process Matignon".
Protests are also heard in particular against article 12 of the "Loi Littoral", but the majority of the Corsican people
hopes that the "Process Matignon" will give Corsica political autonomy and the recognition of a "Corsican People", their
cultural heritage and language; all for which they have fought for many, many centuries.
1998: Murder of the prefect Claude Erignac.
1999: Affaire of the 'paillotte'. Start of the process of Matignon on Corsica.
2000: The assembly of Corsica approves, by 44 voices(votes) on 51, the devolvement in Corsica of a 'supervised'
legislative power.
2002: Resumption of the discussions by the government Raffarin.
2003: Creation of Fronte per has lingua Corsa on 2003
Proces against the presumed murderers of prefect Erignac (June 2003)
Arrest of Yvan Colonna (July 2003)
Referendum to create one region with a measure of autonomy (July 6th, 2003; Corsica voted NON)
More information about Pasquale Paoli: www.pasqualepaoli.com
More information about the Corsican revolution: LA REVOLUTION CORSE (1729-1769)
- Une conférence faite à Cervioni le 1er avril 1989 Par DOROTHY CARRINGTON
For the actual situation on Corsica see: "Actuality"
Sources:
Dorothy Carrington: "Granite Island"
"Le Guide du Routard", edition Hachette Livre,
"A Visitor's Guide to Corsica" edition MPC Ltd
"Corsica" Nelles Guide,
"Comprendre la Corse" Jean-Louis Andreani
"Corsica" Insight Guides APA Publications Ltd