The Illyrian Provinces
The Illyrian Provinces were an autonomous province of France during the First French Empire that existed under Napoleonic Rule from 1809 to 1814. The province encompassed modern-day Slovenia, Gorizia, Trieste, and parts of Croatia, Austria, and Montenegro. Its capital was Ljubljana (German: Laybach, Laibach) in Slovenia. It encompassed six départements, making it a relatively large portion of territorial France at the time. Parts of Croatia were split up into Civil Croatia and Military Croatia, the former served as a residential space for French immigrants and Croatian inhabitants and the latter as a military base to check the Ottoman Empire.
In 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the region with his Grande Armée after key wins during the War of the Fifth Coalition forced the Austrian Empire to cede parts of its territory. Integrating the land into France was Bonaparte's way of controlling Austria's access to the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea and expanding his empire east. Bonaparte installed four governors to disseminate French bureaucracy, culture, and language. The most famous and influential governor was Auguste de Marmont, who undertook the bulk of Bonaparte's bidding in the area. Marmont was succeeded by Henri Gatien Bertrand (1811–12), Jean-Andoche Junot (1812–13), and Joseph Fouché (1813–14).
Marmont pushed the Code Napoléon throughout the area and led a vast infrastructural expansion. During 1810, the French authorities established the Écoles centrales in Croatia and Slovenia. Although the respective states were allowed to speak and work in their native languages, French was designated as the official language and much of the federal administration was conducted as such. French rule contributed significantly to the provinces even after the Austrian Empire recovered the area in 1814. Napoleon introduced a greater national self-confidence and awareness of freedoms, as well as numerous political reforms. He introduced equality before the law, compulsory military service for men, a uniform tax system, abolished certain tax privileges, introduced modern administration, separated church and state and nationalized the judiciary. French presence in this region saw to a diffusion of French culture and the creation of the Illyrian Movement.
Etymology
The name "Illyrian" was probably suggested to Napoleon by Auguste de Marmont, who was influenced by the civic and revolutionary intelligentsia in Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and Carinthia, and wanted to use it to support the sense of commonality of the peoples living in the Provinces, which went beyond Napoleon's basic geostrategic rationale to form the provinces, though historians have discussed the extents of the influence of historical ideas of Illyrism both in France and locally, as well as a Neoclassicist allusion to the ancient names of the Dalmatian coast, known as Illyria in antiquity and Illyricum during the Roman era.
History
The Slovene Lands, ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, were first occupied by the French Revolutionary Army after the Battle of Tarvis in March 1797, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte. The occupation caused huge civil disturbances. The French troops under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte tried to calm the worried population by issuing special public notices that were published also in Slovene. During the withdrawal of the French army, the commanding general Bonaparte and his escort made a stop in Ljubljana on April 28, 1797. Upon the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz and the Peace of Pressburg, French troops once again occupied parts of Slovene territory. Supply of the French troops and steep war dues were a huge burden for the population of the occupied territories. The foundation of the provincial brigades in June 1808 and extensive preparations for the new war did not stop Napoleon's Grande Armée, which completely defeated the Austrian troops at the Battle of Wagram on July 6, 1809.
After the Austrian defeat, the Illyrian Provinces were created by the Treaty of Schönbrunn on 14 October 1809, when the Austrian Empire ceded the territories of western ("Upper") Carinthia with Lienz in the East Tyrol, Carniola, Gorizia and Gradisca, the Imperial Free City of Trieste, the March of Istria, and the Croatian lands southwest of the river Sava to the French Empire. These territories lying north and east of the Adriatic Sea were amalgamated with the former Venetian territories of Dalmatia and Istria, annexed by Austria in the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio, and the former Republic of Ragusa, which all had just been adjudicated to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805 and 1808, into the Illyrian Provinces, technically part of France.
The Royal Navy imposed a blockade of the Adriatic Sea after the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit (July 1807), which brought merchant shipping to a standstill, a measure which seriously affected the economy of the Dalmatian port cities. An attempt by joint Franco-Italian force to seize the British-held Dalmatian island of Vis (Lissa) failed on 22 October 1810.
In August 1813, the Austrian Empire again declared war on France. Austrian troops led by General Franz Tomassich invaded the Illyrian Provinces. Croat troops enrolled in the French army switched sides. Zara (now called Zadar) surrendered to Austrian and British forces after a 34-day siege on 6 December 1813. At Dubrovnik an insurrection expelled the French and a provisional Ragusan administration was established, hoping for the restoration of the Republic. It was occupied by Austrian troops on 20 September 1813. The Cattaro area (now called Bay of Kotor) and its environs were occupied in 1813 by Montenegrin forces, which held it until 1814, when the appearance of an Austrian force caused the Prince of Montenegro to turn over the territory to Austrian administration on 11 June. The British withdrew from the Dalmatian islands as the final part of the handover of these islands to their Austrian allies in July 1815, following the conclusion of the Battle of Waterloo.
Administration
The capital was established at Laybach, i.e. Ljubljana in modern Slovenia. According to Napoleon's Decree on the Organization of Illyria (Decret sur l'organisation de l'Illyrie), issued on April 15, 1811, the Central Government of the Illyrian Provinces (Gouvernement general des provinces d'Illyrie) in Ljubljana consisted of the governor-general (gouverneur-général), the general intendant of finance (intendant général des finances) and the commissioner of the judiciary (commissaire de justice). With two judges of the Appellate Court in Ljubljana they formed the Minor Council (Petit conseil) as the supreme judicial and administrative authority of the Provinces.
Subdivision
The area initially consisted of eleven departments, though the subdivision was never completely enacted:
Name Capital
Adelsberg Adelsberg (Postojna)
Bouches-du-Cattaro Cattaro (Kotor)
Croatie Karlstadt (Karlovac)
Dalmatie Zara (Zadar)
Fiume Fiume (Rijeka)
Gorice Gorice (Gorizia)
Laybach Laybach (Ljubljana)
Neustadt Neustadt (Novo Mesto)
Raguse Raguse (Dubrovnik)
Trieste Trieste
Willach Willach (Villach)
In 1811, the Illyrian provinces saw an administrative reorganization, when the country was divided initially in four – Laybach (Ljubljana), Karlstadt (Karlovac), Trieste (Trst), Zara (Zadar) – on 15 April in seven provinces (intendances, similar to French départements). Each province was further subdivided into districts, and these into cantons. A province (intendancy) was governed by a provincial intendant, districts were administered by subdelegates (each district capital that was not a province capital had a subdelegation with a subdelegate, similar to French subprefect) and in cantons justices of the peace had their seats. Municipalities – with municipal council, mayor and deputy mayors in larger municipalities; or council, municipality president-syndic and deputy president-deputy syndic – were units of local government. All officials and councillors were appointed by the emperor or the governor-general, depending on their relevance and/or size of the subdivision unit in which they served.
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In 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the region with his Grande Armée after key wins during the War of the Fifth Coalition forced the Austrian Empire to cede parts of its territory. Integrating the land into France was Bonaparte's way of controlling Austria's access to the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea and expanding his empire east. Bonaparte installed four governors to disseminate French bureaucracy, culture, and language. The most famous and influential governor was Auguste de Marmont, who undertook the bulk of Bonaparte's bidding in the area. Marmont was succeeded by Henri Gatien Bertrand (1811–12), Jean-Andoche Junot (1812–13), and Joseph Fouché (1813–14).
Marmont pushed the Code Napoléon throughout the area and led a vast infrastructural expansion. During 1810, the French authorities established the Écoles centrales in Croatia and Slovenia. Although the respective states were allowed to speak and work in their native languages, French was designated as the official language and much of the federal administration was conducted as such. French rule contributed significantly to the provinces even after the Austrian Empire recovered the area in 1814. Napoleon introduced a greater national self-confidence and awareness of freedoms, as well as numerous political reforms. He introduced equality before the law, compulsory military service for men, a uniform tax system, abolished certain tax privileges, introduced modern administration, separated church and state and nationalized the judiciary. French presence in this region saw to a diffusion of French culture and the creation of the Illyrian Movement.
Etymology
The name "Illyrian" was probably suggested to Napoleon by Auguste de Marmont, who was influenced by the civic and revolutionary intelligentsia in Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and Carinthia, and wanted to use it to support the sense of commonality of the peoples living in the Provinces, which went beyond Napoleon's basic geostrategic rationale to form the provinces, though historians have discussed the extents of the influence of historical ideas of Illyrism both in France and locally, as well as a Neoclassicist allusion to the ancient names of the Dalmatian coast, known as Illyria in antiquity and Illyricum during the Roman era.
History
The Slovene Lands, ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, were first occupied by the French Revolutionary Army after the Battle of Tarvis in March 1797, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte. The occupation caused huge civil disturbances. The French troops under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte tried to calm the worried population by issuing special public notices that were published also in Slovene. During the withdrawal of the French army, the commanding general Bonaparte and his escort made a stop in Ljubljana on April 28, 1797. Upon the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz and the Peace of Pressburg, French troops once again occupied parts of Slovene territory. Supply of the French troops and steep war dues were a huge burden for the population of the occupied territories. The foundation of the provincial brigades in June 1808 and extensive preparations for the new war did not stop Napoleon's Grande Armée, which completely defeated the Austrian troops at the Battle of Wagram on July 6, 1809.
After the Austrian defeat, the Illyrian Provinces were created by the Treaty of Schönbrunn on 14 October 1809, when the Austrian Empire ceded the territories of western ("Upper") Carinthia with Lienz in the East Tyrol, Carniola, Gorizia and Gradisca, the Imperial Free City of Trieste, the March of Istria, and the Croatian lands southwest of the river Sava to the French Empire. These territories lying north and east of the Adriatic Sea were amalgamated with the former Venetian territories of Dalmatia and Istria, annexed by Austria in the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio, and the former Republic of Ragusa, which all had just been adjudicated to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805 and 1808, into the Illyrian Provinces, technically part of France.
The Royal Navy imposed a blockade of the Adriatic Sea after the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit (July 1807), which brought merchant shipping to a standstill, a measure which seriously affected the economy of the Dalmatian port cities. An attempt by joint Franco-Italian force to seize the British-held Dalmatian island of Vis (Lissa) failed on 22 October 1810.
In August 1813, the Austrian Empire again declared war on France. Austrian troops led by General Franz Tomassich invaded the Illyrian Provinces. Croat troops enrolled in the French army switched sides. Zara (now called Zadar) surrendered to Austrian and British forces after a 34-day siege on 6 December 1813. At Dubrovnik an insurrection expelled the French and a provisional Ragusan administration was established, hoping for the restoration of the Republic. It was occupied by Austrian troops on 20 September 1813. The Cattaro area (now called Bay of Kotor) and its environs were occupied in 1813 by Montenegrin forces, which held it until 1814, when the appearance of an Austrian force caused the Prince of Montenegro to turn over the territory to Austrian administration on 11 June. The British withdrew from the Dalmatian islands as the final part of the handover of these islands to their Austrian allies in July 1815, following the conclusion of the Battle of Waterloo.
Administration
The capital was established at Laybach, i.e. Ljubljana in modern Slovenia. According to Napoleon's Decree on the Organization of Illyria (Decret sur l'organisation de l'Illyrie), issued on April 15, 1811, the Central Government of the Illyrian Provinces (Gouvernement general des provinces d'Illyrie) in Ljubljana consisted of the governor-general (gouverneur-général), the general intendant of finance (intendant général des finances) and the commissioner of the judiciary (commissaire de justice). With two judges of the Appellate Court in Ljubljana they formed the Minor Council (Petit conseil) as the supreme judicial and administrative authority of the Provinces.
Subdivision
The area initially consisted of eleven departments, though the subdivision was never completely enacted:
Name Capital
Adelsberg Adelsberg (Postojna)
Bouches-du-Cattaro Cattaro (Kotor)
Croatie Karlstadt (Karlovac)
Dalmatie Zara (Zadar)
Fiume Fiume (Rijeka)
Gorice Gorice (Gorizia)
Laybach Laybach (Ljubljana)
Neustadt Neustadt (Novo Mesto)
Raguse Raguse (Dubrovnik)
Trieste Trieste
Willach Willach (Villach)
In 1811, the Illyrian provinces saw an administrative reorganization, when the country was divided initially in four – Laybach (Ljubljana), Karlstadt (Karlovac), Trieste (Trst), Zara (Zadar) – on 15 April in seven provinces (intendances, similar to French départements). Each province was further subdivided into districts, and these into cantons. A province (intendancy) was governed by a provincial intendant, districts were administered by subdelegates (each district capital that was not a province capital had a subdelegation with a subdelegate, similar to French subprefect) and in cantons justices of the peace had their seats. Municipalities – with municipal council, mayor and deputy mayors in larger municipalities; or council, municipality president-syndic and deputy president-deputy syndic – were units of local government. All officials and councillors were appointed by the emperor or the governor-general, depending on their relevance and/or size of the subdivision unit in which they served.
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