Sister republic



A sister republic (république sœur) was a republic established by French armies or by local revolutionaries and assisted by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. Ideals favored by the National Convention and Robespierre during the period were popular sovereignty, rule by law, and representative democracy. The republicans also borrowed ideas and values from Whiggism and Enlightenment philosophers.

The French Republic supported the spread of republican principles in Europe, but most of these sister republics became a means of controlling occupied lands through a mix of French and local power as client states. The institution of republican governments promoted nationalism over the monarchy, primarily the Bourbons and Habsburgs.

In France, Revolutionary Republicanism was, in part, based on limiting corruption and greed, which the revolutionaries saw as endemic at the time but more readily preventable in a popular republic. A genuinely virtuous citizen was one that ignored monetary compensation and made a commitment to resist and eradicate corruption. The Republic was sacred; therefore, it was necessary to serve the state in a truly representative way, ignoring self-interest and individual will.

Republicanism required the service of those who were willing to give up their own interests for a common good. According to Bernard Bailyn, "The preservation of liberty rested on the ability of the people to maintain effective checks on wielders of power and hence in the last analysis rested on the vigilance and moral stamina of the people." Virtuous citizens needed to be strong defenders of liberty and challenge the corruption and greed in government. The duty of the virtuous citizen become a foundation for the American Revolution. The French Revolution looked to incorporate these founding ideals and to export them throughout the balance of Europe as well. However, most of these French client republics were quite short-lived. As the revolutionary republic became the Napoleonic Empire, they were often annexed to France proper or subsumed into more openly French puppet regimes.

Background
Ideals favored by the National Convention and Robespierre during the period were popular sovereignty, rule of law and representative democracy. The republicans also borrowed ideas and values from Whiggism and Enlightenment philosophers.

The French Republic supported the spread of republican principles in Europe, but most of these sister republics became a means of controlling occupied lands through a mix of French and local power as client states. The republican governments promoted nationalism over the monarchy, primarily the Bourbons and Habsburgs.

In France, Revolutionary Republicanism was, in part, based on limiting corruption and greed. The revolutionaries saw these vices as endemic at the time, but were more readily preventable in a popular republic. A virtuous citizen was defined as one who ignored monetary compensation and made a commitment to resist and eradicate corruption. The Republic was sacred; therefore, it was necessary to serve the state in a truly representative way, ignoring self-interest and individual will.

Republicanism required supporters who were willing to give up their own interests for a common good. According to Bernard Bailyn, "The preservation of liberty rested on the ability of the people to maintain effective checks on wielders of power and hence in the last analysis rested on the vigilance and moral stamina of the people." Virtuous citizens needed to be strong defenders of liberty and challenge the corruption and greed in government. The duty of the virtuous citizen became a foundation for the American Revolution. The French Revolution looked to incorporate these founding ideals and to export them throughout Europe. However, most of these French client republics were short-lived. As the revolutionary republic became the Napoleonic Empire, they were often annexed to France proper or subsumed into more openly French puppet regimes.

French sister republics of Italy

 * Republic of Alba (1796) reconquered by the Kingdom of Sardinia
 * Republic of Pescara (1799)
 * Parthenopean Republic (1799) reconquered by the Sanfedisti for the King of Naples and Sicily
 * Roman Republic (1798–1799) ended with the restoration of the Papal States
 * Republic of Ancona (1797–1798) joined Roman Republic
 * Tiberina Republic (1798–1799) joined Roman Republic
 * Lémanique Republic (1798) joined the Helvetic Republic
 * Subalpine Republic (1802) annexed to the French Republic (Novara to the Italian Republic)
 * Piedmontese Republic (1798–1799), conquered by Austro-Russian troops and rendered back to Sardinia, but reconquered by Napoleon in 1800 and renamed Subalpine Republic
 * Ligurian Republic (1796–1805) annexed to the French Empire
 * Republic of Lucca (1799 and 1801–05), replaced by the Principality of Lucca and Piombino
 * Italian Republic (1802–1805) transformed into the Kingdom of Italy
 * Cisalpine Republic (1797–1802) transformed into the Italian Republic
 * Cispadane Republic (1796–1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic
 * Bolognese Republic (1796) annexed to the Cispadane Republic
 * Republic of Bergamo (1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic
 * Transpadane Republic (1796-1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic
 * Republic of Crema (1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic
 * Republic of Brescia (1797) formed the Cisalpine Republic

Other French sister republics



 * Republic of Bouillon (1794–1795)
 * Republic of Liège (1789-1791)
 * Republic of Rauracia (Raurakische Republik; Republique Rauracienne) revolutionary French republic in Basel (1792–1793)
 * Republic of Mainz revolutionary French republic in Rhenish Hesse and the Electoral Palatinate (1793)
 * Batavian Republic (1795–1806) Netherlands
 * Cisrhenian Republic (1797) Germany
 * Republic of Connacht (1798) accompanied Humbert's Irish expedition in support of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
 * Helvetic Republic (1798–1803) Switzerland
 * Republic of Danzig (1807–1814)
 * Illyrian Republic (1809)
 * Rhodanic Republic (1802-1810) (Valais)