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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



of ideologues — of which the country 

 understands nothing." 



And, turning to Melzi, one of his 

 Milanese adjutants, he continued : "As to 

 your country, it has still less than France 

 the elements of republicanism, and it is 

 necessary to make less ado about it than 

 with any other. We shall do what you 

 wish, but the time has not arrived. We 

 must yield to the fever of the moment. 

 We shall arrange here for one or two re- 

 publics in our own fashion." 



THE CARDHOUSE OF REPUBLICS 



"The fever of the moment" was the 

 orders of the Directory, which had re- 

 solved to impose the French constitution 

 on all the conquered States of Europe. 

 Bonaparte understood the expediency of 

 obedience, but, referring to himself as 

 conquerer, he said to Miot : "I wish to 

 quit Italy only to play in France a role 

 similar to that I play here, but the mo- 

 ment is not yet come. The pear is not 

 ripe !" 



At Venice, where he was received with 

 honor and his wife Josephine was loaded 

 with ornaments, the consummate diplo- 

 macy which had in so many emergencies 

 averted calamity failed to maintain the 

 independence of the Republic. Austria 

 coveted its maritime advantages, while 

 France wanted a free hand at Milan and 

 the Rhine frontier, which Austria could 

 accord. Accordingly, by the treaty of 

 Campo-Formio that bargain was made 

 and the Venetian Republic was delivered 

 into the hands of Austria. 



The remainder of Italy was promptly 

 republicanized, partly to its liking and 

 partly against its will. In rapid succes- 

 sion, in 1797-1798, the territories of Milan 

 and the Lombard plain, at first intended 

 to be divided into two, were constituted 

 into the Cisalpine Republic. Genoa and 

 the neighboring coast were transformed 

 into the Ligurian Republic. Rome and 

 the States of the Church, from which the 

 Pope was expelled, were erected into the 

 Roman Republic. Finally, Naples and the 

 other continental provinces of the King- 

 dom of the Two Sicilies were taken from 

 King Ferdinand and became the Parthe- 

 nopean Republic. 



Even the Swiss Confederation did not 



escape from the hand of the conqueror. 

 Most of the cantons were feudal and 

 oligarchical. Catching from France the 

 contagion of revolution, in 1798 the peo- 

 ple of the Pays de Vaud rose in rebellion 

 against the Canton of Berne. In other 

 cantons insurrection broke out ; appeal 

 was made by the peasants for aid from 

 France ; Switzerland was invaded by a 

 French army ; a constituent assembly was 

 summoned, and the Helvetian Republic 

 was proclaimed with a constitution on the 

 French model. 



But the Swiss found it inconvenient to 

 be reformed by strangers. The "Forest 

 Cantons" — Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwal- 

 den — revolted, and in the end the French 

 were as cordially detested as they had at 

 first been cordially welcomed by the Swiss 

 people, whose problem then was how to 

 regain their independence. 



In 1804 this whole card-house of re- 

 publics fell, and Napoleon I was pro- 

 claimed "Emperor of .the French and 

 King of Italy." 



Then followed the grand distribution 

 of crowns. Joseph Bonaparte was made 

 King of Naples and afterward of Spain; 

 Louis, King of Holland ; Jerome, King 

 of Westphalia ; Murat, a brother-in-law, 

 King of Naples after Joseph was sent to 

 Spain ; Prince Borghese, another brother- 

 in-law, Duke of Guastalla ; Eugene de 

 Beauharnais, a stepson, Viceroy of Italy. 

 More than thirty of Napoleon's marshals 

 and generals were made princes or dukes. 



In 1806 there was only one republic on 

 the map of Europe — the Swiss Confed- 

 eration ! 



THE INEEUENCE OE THE UNITED STATES 

 INCALCULABLE 



All the more wonderful, in view of 

 these events, is the fact of the present 

 vast extension of the republican form of 

 government in every part of the world. 

 What has brought it about? Undoubt- 

 edly the spread of democratic ideas 

 throughout Europe during the Revolu- 

 tion of 1789 greatly promoted the con- 

 stitutional movement between the Peace 

 of Vienna and the Revolution of 1848, 

 which made France a republic for the 

 second time and caused great gains for 

 constitutionalism everywhere. 



