The Administration of the Illyrian Provinces of the French Empire
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University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 8-1-1966 The dminia stration of the Illyrian provinces of the French Empire, 1809-1813 Frank J. Bundy University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Bundy, Frank J., "The dminia stration of the Illyrian provinces of the French Empire, 1809-1813" (1966). Student Work. 401. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/401 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE A *v 4ftjl Jfi\vV 4LI5|l(>il-:|Sfi3i U* Jr AJfctSU' 1809 - 1813 4 f heals . Presented to the Department el History and the Faculty of-the Gollsge of Graduate Studies Ohlterslty of Omaha In -Partial Fttlf llliaaxit of -the ■Eeqtiircmeafs fo r the Degree Master of Arts hy Frank J, Bundy . w « August 1966 UMI Number: EP73039 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP73039 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest' ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Accepted for the faculty of the College of Graduate Studies of the tJniversity of Omaha » in partial fulfillment the requirements for the degree Hester of Arts* Graduate Gowmittee ..... / /; WSSS l PREFACE The lliyrian Provinces are one of the most obscure and neglected areas of the Nap©leonic Empire. Although they are mentioned by almost every work dealing with the period of the First Empire ? few deal with them in depth. Because of this dearth of material:# an attempt has been made in com piling the bibliography to include all those works pertinent to a study of the history of the Illyrian Provinces. In order to deal with the-, history of the French administration of this region* it was necessary to examine in some detail the various administrative systems which pre- ceded it* Many of the problems which the French were to face stemmed from these past systems; many of the reforms and at tempted reforms were developed in the province of Dalmatia, for nearly four years part of the Kingdom of Italy. An ac count in depth of any one of the divisions of the adminis tration was impossible due to the prohibition by the French government on copying or otherwise reproducing continuous rune of material in either the Archives Rationales or the Archives des Affaires Atrangeres* No attempt was made to give, a detailed treatment of Military Croatia* fully a study in itself# because* except at the highest level of admin istration# the French did nothing to alter the organisation and' administration of the frontier' regiments* leaving them a province apart* Ill order to avoid ambiguity of sources in the text and. bibliography* all unofficial collections of Napoleon’s ■correspondence have bean given#, wberever possible* with the supplemental title which incliides the name of the compiler* several of whom have published different ■collections of Napoleonic correspondence with similar titles* Due to the- adoption of Slavic place-names upon the creation of the King dom of Yugoa la via and- the establishment of 'the People’s Re** public of Yugoslavia* many .of the place-names used in this study have disappeared from the map.* An attempt has been made to supply the modern name of all locations which have been referred to frequently in the text when the former name has been altered drastically* It should be noted "that when the definite article has been used to describe the decrees of 25 December IS §9 and 15 April ISll, this has been done to indicate that each of these decrees was the only one dealing with the Illyrian' Provinces issued on that date* The majority of French terras have been translated into their nearest Eng lish equivalents*, unles#- they are well-known* Finally* in a ll references to the Napoleonic Correspondance* Dernieres lettrae* lettres luddites* etc** only the number of the item has been given t# avoid confusion with other items appearing on the same, page* Because of frequent reference to specific portions of the decrees of 25 December 1805 and 15 A pril 1811 and other lengthy decrees* references to these decrees have 'been by Title* Article* Section or Chapter rather than page number* The use of #,p”for page has been dropped in accord ance with recent usage* T vigli- bo'express my to Dr.* Erf J* Gumfor his ideas, advice, assistance and encouragement in the search for' material# -and in the preparation of" this thesis*' ' I would also like to thank the faculty of the De partment of 'History' a f the Municipal tfnivereity' of' Omaha and Dr1*' A,'Stanley tfrickett, Chairman of the Department,#!! of whom have given me their time and- help during the preparation of this thesis and during my undergraduate years*- ■ Mrs:* Arlene Ltolhelm*. Hiss Carol Stanley and the staffs of the Gene Eppley library at the Municipal University of' Omaha' and' the hove Memorial Library at the University of Nebraska have a ll given me their kind- and patient help* "In particular,*. - I would like, to express ay appreciation for the assistance'given me by Miss Ella Jane Dougherty, Interlibrary Loan Librarian at the Gene Eppiey Library* who supplied me with -many rare and crucially needed works,* My mother * Mrs * John H* Bundy * who typed much of the .copy* and my' mother-in-law* Mrs*. M, D* H elling, who typed the final copy of the thesis, are particularly deserving of my thanks* Last, but certainly, not least,* .1, wish to thank my wife, Susan.* for her patience and encouragement* In conclusion* I can only add that the'full respon- ^ sibility for all*errors in this work rest with me?' I have made the final decision on all statements appearing in this thesis* August- 19#B frank J* Bundy mmM m mwmms Page i PREFACE •**.«#•♦ « * * * .................... U 1 introduction. * . * * .»•. , » /* i Chapter I, DALMATIA: FORERUNNER OF THE ILLYRIAN PROVINCES , , i, , , . 4 I I . DANDOLO AND MARMONT: DALMATIA UNDER THE ■■ kingdom m max 19 III. THE ORGANIZATION OF A COUNTRY AND ITS ADMINISTRATORS 4 3 IV. FINANCES— THE PLAGUE OF THE ADMINISTRATION 65 V . REFORM AND FAILURE. 92 VI. COLLAPSE, v ■ 117 APPENDIX A. , 131 APPENDIX B. 132 APPENDIX C. 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY, 136 ■ ' v m m m t m During the first decade of the nineteenth century, french rule penetrate#■ to the Balkans* there it brought the French Revolution* as preserve# by Mapoleon I* to the relatively backward lands of the eastern Adriatic* The first example of this occurred with -the administration of the province of Dalmatia, part of the Kingdom of Italy, under the. ru le of an Enlightenment fig u re , Vlncene© Dan#©!©* His rule, and. his reforms* were- succeeded and continued by the creation of the Illyrian Provinces * an unharmonious conglorn- eration of former Venetian an# Austrian territories* united under a Genera l-Governraent, which formed that most atypical country of the French Empire* In each of these creations, under the supervision of the French Emperor, a number of significant changes were imposed upon, lands and peoples which were at that moment just * r emerging from the la te Middle Ages* Dalmatia ha# been the. most backward part of the larger territorial holdings of the Republic of Venice* Venetian rule was duplicated, in mini- attire, by the government of the Republic of Kagusa* The problems inherent in governing these two Balkan areas were transferred in 1809 t© the French administrators, of. the Il lyrian Provinces who sought to continue Dandoio's reforms, a less in the interest of the spirit..of experimentation than.’., in the interest of' supporting the buffer m m of the King-. dom of Italy, Consequentiy, it is impossible to separate the two. administrations. One was, in regard to reform, the continuation of the- other*- Dalmatia was nothing more than a forerunner, of the later Illyrian Provinces, Both regions were in turn buffer cones for the Kingdom' of Italy* Both were jumping: off points for a Napoleonic penetration of the East* Both represented extensions of the Continental System along the coast of Europe-* Both deprived Austria of terri tory, Both were badly In need of ref orm by the- standards of Western Europe, Both had never enjoyed -a uniform system of ■administration , 1 Of the two administrations, Dandolo fs was .perhaps the more successful* Dalmatia was more compact, contained fewer diverse elements and experienced Napoleonic rule at a time when the power of .Napoleon was s t i l l undiminished* the Illyrian Provinces, created.in 1809, suffered as a re sult of the breakdown of the Napoleonic Empire*. They -were created at the moment when Napoleon had just passed the apex of his power, By September 1809* the Grand Army had been .ground to pieces a t Aspern* Ess ling and Nagram. Napoleon “Indeed, the Illyrian .Provinces were not absolutely uniform* tinder the French* Military Croatia* part of the old Austrian Military Frontier, remained apart'from the Illyrian Provinces, Under the .supervision of "the Governor- General of the Illyrian- Provinces and the Minister of Mar of the Empire of France* if was never integrated in to the Illyrian Provinces* except for purposes of customs adminis tration*.