Early history (light green). Savoy was occupied by the
Allobroges, a
Gallic people that the
Roman Republic subdued in 121 BC. The name
Savoy stems from the
Late Latin Sapaudia, a region originally further north than Savoy, referring to a
fir, or upland, forest. Saupadia, which has its modern counterparts in western
Switzerland,
Franche-Comté, and parts of
Burgundy, was bounded by the
Vosges in the north, the
Aar river in the east, the upper
Rhône river in the south, and extended throughout the
Saône river valley in the west. The word is likely ultimately from Gaulish – sapin itself is a blend of Gaulish
sappos (fir tree) and Latin
pinus (pine tree). Saupadia is first recorded in
Ammianus Marcellinus (354), to describe the southern part of
Maxima Sequanorum. According to the
Chronica Gallica of 452, the
Burgundians were settled in the territory of Sapaudia in 443, after the Burgundian defeat by
Flavius Aetius.
Early and High Middle Ages By the 8th century, the territory that would later become known as Savoy was part of
Francia, and at the division of Francia at the
Treaty of Verdun in 843, it became part of the short-lived kingdom of
Middle Francia. After only 12 years, at the death of
Lothair I in 855, Middle Francia was divided into
Lotharingia north of the Alps,
Italy south of the Alps, and the parts of Burgundy in the Western Alps, inherited by
Charles of Provence. This latter territory comprised what would become known as Savoy and
Provence. For a short time, this province fell to the Arabs. From the 10th to 14th century, parts of what would ultimately become Savoy remained within the
Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles. Beginning in the 11th century, the gradual rise to power of the
House of Savoy is reflected in the increasing territory of their
County of Savoy between 1003 and 1416. The County of Savoy was detached
de jure from the Kingdom of Arles by
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1361. It acquired the
County of Nice in 1388, and in 1401 added the
County of Geneva, the area of
Geneva except for the city proper, which was ruled by its
prince-bishop, nominally under the duke's rule: the
bishops of Geneva, by unspoken agreement, came from the
House of Savoy until 1533.
Duchy of Savoy On 19 February 1416
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, made the County of Savoy an independent
duchy, with
Amadeus VIII as the first duke. Straddling the Alps, Savoy lay within two competing spheres of influence, a French sphere and a North Italian one. At the time of the Renaissance, Savoy showed only modest development. Its towns were few and small.
Vaud was annexed by
Bern in 1536, and Savoy officially ceded Vaud to Bern in the Treaty of Lausanne of 30 October 1564. In 1714, as a consequence of the
War of the Spanish Succession, Savoy was technically subsumed into the
Kingdom of Sicily, then (after that island was traded to
Austria for
Sardinia) the
Kingdom of Sardinia from 1720. While the heads of the House of Savoy were known as the Kings of Sardinia, Turin remained their capital.
French Revolutionary Wars Savoy was occupied by
French revolutionary forces between 1792 and 1815. The entire region was first created to form the département of
Mont-Blanc. In 1798, it was then divided between the departments of Mont-Blanc and
Léman (French name of Lake Geneva). In 1801, Savoy officially left the
Holy Roman Empire. On 13 September 1793 the combined forces of Savoy, Piedmont and
Aosta Valley fought against and lost to the occupying French forces at the
Battle of Méribel (Sallanches). Two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia in the First Restoration of 1814 following Napoleon's abdication; approximately one-third of Savoy, including the two most important cities of Chambéry and Annecy, remained in France. Following Napoleon's brief return to power during the Hundred Days and subsequent defeat at Waterloo, the remaining one-third of Savoy was restored to the
Kingdom of Sardinia at the
Congress of Vienna to strengthen Sardinia as a buffer state on France's southeastern border.
Modern history Annexation to France The
French Second Republic first attempted to annex Savoy in 1848. A corps of 1,500 was dispatched from Lyon and invaded Savoy on 3 April, occupying Chambéry (capital city) and proclaiming the annexation to France. On learning about the invasion countrymen rushed to Chambéry. The corps were chased away by the local population. Five Frenchmen were killed and 800 captured. On 21 July 1858 in
Plombières-les-Bains,
Vosges, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia,
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, met in secret with
Napoleon III to secure French military support against the
Austrian Empire during the conflicts associated with the
Italian unification. During the discussion, Cavour promised that Sardinia would cede the
County of Nice and Duchy of Savoy to the
Second French Empire. Though this was a secret arrangement, it quickly became widely known. The treaty annexing Nice and Savoy to France was signed in Turin on 24 March 1860 (
Treaty of Turin). In the northern provinces of the Chablais and Faucigny, there was some support for annexation to neighboring Switzerland, with which the northern provinces had longstanding economic ties. To help reduce the attractiveness of Switzerland, the French government conceded a Free-Trade Zone that maintained the longstanding duty-free relationship of northern Savoyard communes to Geneva. After the treaty was already signed, a
plebiscite was held on 22–23 April. Employing universal male suffrage, voters in the ceded provinces were offered the option of voting "Yes" to approve the treaty and join
France or voting "No" and rejecting the treaty. Voters were not permitted the options of either joining
Switzerland, remaining with
Italy, or regaining its independence, were the source of some opposition. With a 99.8% vote in favour of joining France, there were allegations of
vote-rigging, notably by the British government, which opposed continental expansion by its traditional French enemy. The correspondent of
The Times in Savoy who was in
Bonneville on 22 April called the vote "the lowest and most immoral farce(s) which was ever played in the history of nations". He finished his letter with those words: I leave you to draw your own conclusions from this trip, which will show clearly what the vote was in this part of Savoy. The vote was the bitterest irony ever made on popular suffrage. The ballot-box in the hands of those very authorities who issued the proclamations; no control possible; even travellers suspected and dogged lest they should pry into the matter; all opposition put down by intimidation, and all liberty of action completely taken away. One can really scarcely reproach the Opposition with having given up the game; there was too great force used against them. As for the result of the vote, therefore, no one need trouble himself about it; it will be just as brilliant as that in Nice. The only danger is lest the Savoy authorities in their zeal should fare as some of the French did in the vote of 1852, finding to their surprise rather more votes than voters inscribed on the list. In his letter to the ambassador of Vienna Lord Augustus Loftus, the then–
Foreign Secretary,
Lord John Russell, said, "Voting in Savoy and Nice a farce ... we are neither entertained or edified". The annexation was promulgated on 14 June 1860. On 23 August 1860 and 7 March 1861, two agreements were signed between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia to settle the remaining issues concerning the annexation. This was part of a secret agreement (
the Plombières Agreement) brokered between the French emperor
Napoleon III and the Count
Camillo of Cavour (Prime Minister of Sardinia at that time) that allowed the final steps in the process of
unification of Italy. Victor Emmanuel's dynasty, the House of Savoy, retained its Italian lands of
Piedmont and
Liguria and became the
ruling dynasty of Italy. File:Rattachement de la Savoie à la France 1860 (tableau).JPG|People of
Chambéry with
French flags celebrating the annexation in 1860. File:Italy 1843.svg|Map of Savoy in the 19th century and other Italian states in 1843. File:Italia 1843-fr.svg|French annexation in 1860 (black) after the signing of the
Treaty of Turin and a regional
referendum in favor of the attachment to France (French) Image:ChâteauChambéry1.JPG|The Château de Chambéry, seat of government, was given a grand new façade following annexation
20th century In 1919, contrary to the annexation treaty, France officially ended the military
neutrality of the parts of the country of Savoy that had originally been agreed to at the
Congress of Vienna, and also eliminated the
free trade zone – both treaty articles having been broken unofficially in
World War I. France was condemned in 1932 by the international court for noncompliance with the measures of the Treaty of Turin regarding the provinces of Savoy and Nice. In 1960, the term
annexation having acquired negative connotations in France, particularly after Germany's 1871 annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the annexation was renamed
Rattachement de la Savoie à la France (Incorporation of Savoy to France). It was the latter term which was used by the French authorities during the festivities celebrating the 100th anniversary of the annexation. Daniel Rops of the
French Academy justified the new title with these words: Savoy has begun to solemnize the feasts in 1960, commemorating the centenary of its incorporation (
rattachement) to France. It is on purpose that the word incorporation (
rattachement) is highlighted here: the Savoyards attach great value to it, and it is the only one they have resolved to use in the official terminology of the Centenary. In that, they are infinitely right. Yesterday another term that was used: annexation. Looking at it more closely it was wrong! Can we say annexation when we talk about a decision which was approved by 130,889 voters over 135,449? [...]. Savoy was not annexed [...] but actually incorporated freely and by the will of its inhabitants. A former French deputy, P. Taponnier, spoke of the annexation: In late March 1860, the betrothal ceremony of Savoy to France took place in Tuileries Palace [...], a ceremony which was a pact of love and fidelity [...] it is with free consent that she [Savoy] gave itself to France by a solemn plebiscite of which our leaders can ignore neither the terms nor the commitments. [...] May the bells of our cities [...] in Savoy vibrate in unison to glorify, in this magnificent Centenary, the indefectible commitment of Savoy to France. The Savoyards did not feel Italian. Besides, they spoke French. This explains why in 1858–1859 when rumours ran of the Plombières secret agreement, where Napoleon III and Cavour decided of the fate of Savoy, the Savoyards themselves took the initiative to ask for the incorporation (
rattachement). [...] Incorporation, not annexation [...] The incorporation was an act of free will, in the logical order of geography and history [...]. ==Politics==