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Corsica 
Section: History
Related: French
Geography
After having belonged to the Romans (3d cent.
BC-5th cent. AD), the Vandals, the Byzantines, and the Lombards, the
island was granted (late 8th cent.) by the Franks to the papacy. It was
threatened by the Arabs from c.800 to 1100. In 1077, Pope Gregory VII
ceded Corsica to Pisa. Pisa and Genoa, later Genoa and Aragón, battled for
control. In the mid-15th cent. actual administration of the island was
taken up by the Bank of San Giorgio in Genoa. Genoese rule was harsh and
unpopular, and unrest was typified by the 1730s episode of “King” Theodore
I (see Neuhof,
Theodor, Baron von ).
In 1755, Pasquale Paoli headed a
rebellion against Genoa, but its success resulted only in the cession
(1768) of Corsica to France. One consequence of the transfer was the
French citizenship of Napoleon I, who was born in 1769 at Ajaccio. With
British support Paoli expelled the French in 1793, and in 1794 Corsica
voted its union with the British crown. The French (under Napoleon)
recovered it, however, in 1796, and French possession was guaranteed at
the Congress of Vienna (1815). French rule brought education and relative
order, but economic life remained agrarian and primitive.
In World War II, Corsica was occupied by
Italian and German troops. Late in 1943 the population revolted, and,
joined by a Free French task force, drove Axis forces out. A postwar
population exodus caused the French government to announce a program of
economic development. In 1958 a right-wing coup, similar to that in
Algeria, contributed to the return to power in France of Charles de
Gaulle. Since the French took control in 1768, Corsica has seen separatist
movements, with repeated incidents of violence, notably the Feb., 1998,
assassination of the French prefect. Beginning in the 1990s the roles of
true nationalists and of criminal gangs appeared to blur. In 2001,
France's parliament voted to give the island's regional parliament power
to amend some national legislation and regulations and to permit the
Corsican language to be taught in schools, but the amending of national
laws by regional parliaments was declared unconstitutional. In 2003, after
constitutional amendments permitting greater local autonomy were approved,
a referendum on autonomy was held, but Corsican voters narrowly defeated
it.
Sections in this
article:
 Introduction
History
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Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright
(c) 2005.
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Corsica.
(includes related article)
Date: 02/01/1995
Publication:
Europe; Author: Tillier, Alan ; Source: MAGAZINES |
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Separatists
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Date:
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Last
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Date: 01/24/2004
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Corsica:
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Date: 04/01/2003
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The
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Date:
10/12/2002
Publication: The Daily Mail (London, England); Author:
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THE
COMPLETE GUIDE TO: Corsica; Small wonder that this
eucalyptus-scented island bursting out of the Mediterranean has been
fought over for so many years. Its wild beauty, sleepy villages and
chic resorts are an...
Date: 08/09/2003
Publication: The
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A
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Date:
10/01/2003
Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder;
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Corsica
Date: 06/17/2001
Publication: The Sunday Telegraph; Author:
EDWARD BISHOP ; Source: NEWSPAPERS |
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CORSICA
VIOLENCE FEARED ISLANDERS, OFFICIALS WARY IN WAKE OF PREFECT'S
DEATH; TWO SUSPECTS QUESTIONED
Date:
02/08/1998
Publication: Denver Rocky Mountain News; Author: Ian
Phillips Associated Press ; Source: NEWSPAPERS |
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Corsica.(Travel)
Date: 06/17/2001
Publication: Sunday Telegraph (London,
England); Author: Bishop, Edward ; Source: NEWSPAPERS |
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Southern
Corsica. Beach of Palombaggia, near Porto-Vecchio. (PAR217807)
Date: 01/01/2001
Publication: Magnum Photos; Author: Bruno
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Southern
Corsica, near Porto-Vecchio. Night-club was destroyed by autonomist
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Date: 01/01/2001
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Haute
Corse region (Upper Corsica region). Village of Calenzana.
Traditional celebrations in honor of Sainte-Restitude, patron saint
of Calenzana, every year on May 21th. (PAR217802)
Date:
01/01/2001
Publication: Magnum Photos; Author: Bruno Barbey ;
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Haute
Corse region (Upper Corsica region). Near the village of Galeria.
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Haute
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Haute
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Haute
Corse region (Upper Corsica region). Village of Lumio. Horse racing.
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FRANCE.
Corsica. 1997. (PAR217738)
Date: 01/01/1997
Publication:
Magnum Photos; Author: Bruno Barbey ; Source: PICTURES |
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FRANCE.
Corsica. 1999. (PAR217740)
Date: 01/01/1999
Publication:
Magnum Photos; Author: Bruno Barbey ; Source: PICTURES |
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Upper
Corsica. Calvi. (PAR4614)
Date: 01/01/1976
Publication:
Magnum Photos; Author: Bruno Barbey ; Source:
PICTURES | |
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