1860 treaty between France and Piedmont-Sardinia
The Treaty of Turin (; ) concluded between France and Piedmont-Sardinia on 24 March 1860 is the instrument by which the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice were annexed to France, ending the centuries-old Italian rule of the region.
Background.
Emperor Napoleon III of France and the Count of Cavour, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, met in secret at Plombières-les-Bains on 21 July 1858. They agreed that France would support the unification of Italy by Sardinia, provided that the Pope should retain control of Rome. In return Sardinia was asked to cede the Duchy of Savoy to France along with, more contentiously, the predominantly Italian speaking County of Nice.
In April 1859, Austria, complaining that Sardinia had been supplying arms to Lombard separatists, declared war on Sardinia. The Franco-Sardinian forces defeated the Austrians in several battles: Palestro, Montebello, Magenta, and Solferino.
But Napoleon III, who had taken personal command of his army, professed himself horrified by the extent of the bloodshed involved and resolved to end the war. The fighting ended with the armistice of Villafranca on 12 July 1859. The armistice led to the Treaty of Zurich of 10 November 1859, which transferred Lombardy to Sardinia. Complete Italian unification was deferred, though as matters turned out, not for long.
The late King Charles Albert of Sardinia (1798–1849) had been an active Italian nationalist. Among the liberal elites in francophone Savoy, the idea had grown up that the "House of Savoy" in Turin had little concern for their province beyond Mont Blanc. In practical terms, at a time when the extent of state activity was increasing across Europe, this was manifest in a perceived discrimination against French speakers when making government appointments. On 25 July 1859 about 30 leading citizens of Chambéry presented an address to Napoleon III, calling for Savoy to be annexed to France.
Elsewhere in Savoy, especially in the north, opposition to the idea of French annexation began to mobilise. The formerly Savoyard province of Carouge, adjacent to Geneva, had been transferred to Switzerland in 1816 under an earlier Treaty of Turin, as part of the unbundling of Napoleon I's First French Empire. Scenarios now under discussion included continuing with Savoy as a province of Sardinia, or joining more or even all of the territory with Switzerland, an outcome favored by Great Britain. There was very little support for the idea of a totally autonomous Savoy, the vulnerability of small quasi-autonomous territories having been vividly demonstrated within living memory by Napoleon I.
Treaty.
Faced with the uncertainties implicit in the conflicting scenarios and unwilling to countenance any further expansion of Switzerland, French and Sardinian diplomats swung into action. The 1860 Treaty of Turin, signed on 24 March 1860, was the outcome. Savoy and Nice found themselves annexed to France as discussed at Plombières in 1858 but subject to certain conditions.
Article 1 of the finalized document also stated, in deliberately vague terms, that the annexation would take place after the populations of Nice and Savoy had consented to the arrangement. Sardinian troops evacuated Savoy during March 1860. On 1 April the King of Sardinia released his Savoyard subjects from their oaths of loyalty to the Kingdom of Sardinia and a suitably crafted plebiscite (restricted to adult males, following the pattern already established in France by Napoleon III) was held in Nice on 15 and 16 April and in Savoy on 22 and 23 April to provide popular endorsement of the treaty.
To deflect anticipated resistance from the north of Savoy, where the Swiss solution had its strongest appeal, the creation was confirmed of a form of duty-free zone north of a line defined by Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers, Le Châtelard, Faverges and Ugine. The effect of that provision was that Savoy's northern frontier posts, now to become a part of the French frontier, would be located a significant distance away from the actual frontier with Switzerland. The Treaty of Turin restated the political neutrality of the strip of Savoy north of the frontier posts but south of Switzerland, the neutrality of that land, along with that of Switzerland itself, having already been agreed in 1815 under the terms of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.
The outcome of the plebiscite held in Savoy on 22 April was an overwhelming "Yes" to the question: "Does Savoy wish to be unified with France?" In northern Savoy, the accepted vote was "Yes and Zone", indicating acceptance of the duty-free zone with Switzerland. A similar public vote of support for French annexation had been achieved by plebiscite one week earlier in the County of Nice.
Logically, it should have been necessary for the outcome of the plebiscite to be known before the treaty could be signed off by the respective monarchs. The fact that the treaty was actually signed off a month before the plebiscite took place, the size of the majority supporting the treaty and the wording of the question used for the plebiscite were some of the factors giving rise to subsequent doubts about the conduct of the "popular consultation", which was carried out under the control of French police, since the Piedmontese army and police had already been withdrawn after the signature of the treaty.
Text.
Signed in Turin
24 March 1860
In the name of the Most Holy and indivisible Trinity, His Majesty the Emperor of the French having explained the considerations which, in consequence of the changes made in the territorial relationships between France and Sardinia, made him desire the annexation ("réunion") of Savoy and of the "arrondissement" of Nice ("circondario di Nizza") to France, and His Majesty the King of Sardinia having shown himself disposed to accede thereunto, their said Majesties have decided to conclude a treaty to that effect, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries: His Majesty the Emperor of the French, Baron de Talleyrand Périgord [...] and M. Benedetti [...]; and His Majesty the King of Sardinia, his Excellency Count Camille Benso de Cavour [...], and his Excellency the Chevalier Charles Louis Farini [...] who, having exchanged their full powers in due form, have agreed upon the following articles:–
Art. 1. His Majesty the King of Sardinia consents to the annexation ("réunion") of Savoy and of the "arrondissement" of Nice ("circondario di Nizza") to France, and renounces for himself and all his descendants and successors his rights and claims to the said territories. It is agreed between their Majesties that this "réunion" shall be effected without any constraint upon the wishes of the populations, and that the Governments of the Emperor of the French and of the King of Sardinia shall concert together as soon as possible on the best means of appreciating and taking note of ("constater") the manifestations of those wishes.
Art. 2. It is also understood that His Majesty the King of Sardinia cannot transfer the neutralized portions of Savoy except upon the conditions upon which he himself possesses them, and that it will appertain to His Majesty the Emperor of the French to come to an understanding on that subject as well with the Powers represented at the Congress of Vienna as with the Helvetic Confederation, and to give them the guarantees which result from the stipulations alluded to in the present article.
Art. 3. A mixed commission will determine, in a spirit off equity, the frontiers of the two States, taking into account the configuration of the mountains and the necessity of defence.
Art. 4. One or more mixed commissions will be charged to examine and to resolve, within a brief delay, the divers incidental questions to which the annexation will give rise,–such as the decision of the contribution of Savoy and of the arrondissement of Nice to the public debt of Sardinia, and the execution of the obligations resulting from contracts entered into with the Sardinian Government, which, however, engages to terminate itself the works commenced for cutting a tunnel through the Alps (Mont Cénia).
Art. 5. The French Government will take into account, as regards functionaries of the civil and military order belonging by their birth to the province of Savoy, or to the "arrondissement" of Nice, and who will become French subjects, the rights which they have acquired by services rendered to the Sardinian Government; they will especially enjoy the benefits of life appointments in the magistrature and of the guarantees assured to the army.
Art. 6. Sardinian subjects originally of Savoy, or of the "arrondissement" of Nice, or domiciled actually in those provinces, who would wish to maintain the Sardinian nationality, will enjoy during the period of one year, dating from the exchange of the ratifications, and in virtue of a previous declaration made to the competent authorities, the faculty of removing their domicile to Italy, and settling there, in which case their qualifications as Sardinian citizens will remain to them. They will be at liberty to keep their landed property situate on the territory annexed to France.
Art. 7. For Sardinia the present treaty will become law as soon as the necessary legislative sanction has been given by the Parliament.
Art. 8. The present treaty shall be ratified and the ratifications exchanged at Turin within the delay of ten days, or earlier if possible.
In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it and affixed their seals thereunto.
Done in duplicate at Turin the 24th day of the month of March of the year of grace 1860.
TALLEYRAND.
BENEDETTI.
CAVOUR.
FARINI.
Plebiscite.
In March 1860, as Piedmont was in the process of annexing Emilia and Tuscany, Napoleon III agreed to sanction Piedmont's Italian acquisitions in exchange for Nice and Savoy. France annexed the provinces by the provisions of the Treaty of Turin, signed on 24 March 1860. There followed a deeply flawed plebiscite in Nice on 15 and 16 April and in Savoy on 22 and 23 April, in which "apparently and without any doubt" the vast majority of the inhabitants of the two territories voted to approve the treaty and join France. France took formal possession of Nice and Savoy on 12 June 1860. The vote was deeply influenced by the previous agreement between the Savoy-Piedmontese authorities and France, even making the Savoy authorities an active part in promoting a favorable result for France; for various reasons, many Niçards were excluded from the electoral lists, while there were enrolled many French specially transferred, and the operations took place under the control of the French authorities and with the presence in the city of French troops. Anywhere the voting took place freely, the results did not give rise to doubts: for example, 119 sailors from Nice, stationed on the Savoyard ships in the various ports, who could vote freely, expressed themselves as follows: 114 to remain in Italy and 5 to pass to France. This event caused the Niçard exodus, or the emigration of a quarter of the Niçard Italians to Italy, and the Niçard Vespers.
By the treaty of 24 March 1860, it was agreed between France and Sardinia that Savoy and Nice, after the population had been consulted, should be ceded to France, and that Tuscany and the Romagna should also, after a similar consultation, be annexed to Sardinia. By the terms of the treaty the annexation of these respective territories was made no less advantageous to Victor Emmanuel than to Napoleon. With Austria vindictive and powerful, and in a threatening strategic position; with the pope outraged and desperate, and in control of an army which attached to itself a large share of the fanaticism of Europe, there was no hope for struggling Italy but in a firmer alliance with France. In this fact alone is to be found an explanation of the willingness of the Sardinian government to part with so considerable a portion of its territory. Reasons enough existed why the king and emperor were equally anxious that the people should vote for annexation.
The fifth article of the Sardinian Constitution provided that treaties which should make any alteration in the territories of the State should not take effect until after they have obtained the consent of the Chamber. In view of this provision, it was manifestly the duty of the government to submit the treaty to the Chamber for ratification before the popular vote should be taken, inasmuch as it was only by virtue of the treaty that the people would be entitled to vote at all. But there were dangers in this method of procedure which the Sardinian government did