Treaty of Campo Formio

Map showing Central Europe after the Treaty of Campo Formio.

The Treaty of Campo Formio or Peace of Campo Formio or better Treaty of Campoformido was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire, Year VI of the French Republic) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Ludwig von Cobenzl as representatives of France and Austria. It marked the collapse of the First Coalition, the victorious conclusion to Napoleon's campaigns in Italy and the end of the first phase of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Beyond the usual clauses of "firm and inviolable peace" the treaty passed a number of Austrian territories into French hands. Lands ceded included the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) and certain islands in the Mediterranean, including Corfu and other Venetian islands in the Adriatic. Venice and its territories (Venetia) were divided between the two states: Venice, Istria and Dalmatia were turned over to the Austrian emperor. Austria recognized the Cisalpine Republic and the newly-created Ligurian Republic, formed of Genovese territories, as independent powers.

The treaty also contained secret clauses, which divided up certain other territories, made Liguria independent, and also agreed to the extension of the borders of France up to the Rhine, the Nette, and the Roer. Free French navigation was guaranteed on the Rhine, the Meuse and the Moselle. The French Republic had been expanded into Germany and Italy's natural boundaries.

The treaty was composed and signed after five months of negotiations. It was basically what had been agreed earlier at the Peace of Leoben in April 1797, but the negotiations had been spun out by both parties for a number of reasons. During the negotiating period the French had to crush a royalist coup in September. This was used as a cause for the arrest and deportation of royalist and moderate deputies in the Directory.

Napoleon's biographer, Felix Markham, wrote "the partition of Venice was not only a moral blot on the peace settlement but left Austria a foothold in Italy, which could only lead to further war." In fact the Peace of Campo Formio, though it reshaped the map of Europe and marked a major step in Napoleon's fame, was only a respite.

As a result of the treaty, Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, a prisoner from the French revolution, was released from Austrian captivity.

Campo Formio, now called Campoformido, is a village west of Udine in north-eastern Italy, in the middle between Austrian headquarters in Udine and Napoleon's residence. The French commander resided at Villa Manin near Codroipo, country mansion of Ludovico Manin, last Doge of Venice. It was there that Napoleon signed the treaty.^[1]

See also

• List of treaties
• Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars

External links

• The Columbia Encyclopedia (2001) - Treaty of Campo Formio
• Treaty of Campo Formio (extracts in English)
• Background to the Treaty
• Istria Military - The Town of Rijeka and the Contingencies of Napoleonic Warfare in the Years 1796-1797

References