Sister republic

1799 caricature, in which the Prussian ("God, how it grows; It's terrifying"), Russian ("That should be good to eat") and Austrian ("Don't touch, my friend, it's poisonous) monarchs watch how republics spring up like mushrooms around France, spreading towards other European capitals.

A sister republic (French: république sœur) was a republic established by the French army that was catalyzed by local revolutionaries and assisted by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars.

History

The French Revolution was a period of social and political upheaval in France from 1789 until 1799. The Republicans who overthrew the monarchy were driven by ideas of popular sovereignty, rule of law and representative democracy. The Republicans 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 as client regimes through a mix of French and local power.[1]

In France, Revolutionary Republicanism was based on limiting corruption and greed. The revolutionaries saw these vices as endemic, but as more preventable in a 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. The French Revolution looked to incorporate these founding ideals and to export them throughout Europe. Most of these sister 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

Other French sister republics

France and sister republics in 1798.

References

  1. ↑ Van Wie, Paul D. (1999). Image, History, and Politics: The Coinage of Modern Europe. pp. 116–7. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
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