France is a country with a large number of overseas territories located in Europe. France's overseas territories cover an area of about 129,000 square kilometres and are spread over many parts of the world. France owns French Guiana in South America and Reunion and Mayotte in Africa. In the Pacific, it has Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna.
France covers an area of about 550,000 square kilometers and is located in western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and the Eastern Mediterranean in the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of administrative divisions, mainland France is divided into 13 regions, and overseas territories are divided into 5 overseas regions, 5 overseas administrative regions, and 1 overseas territory.
France's overseas territories are spread all over the world and are very far from France proper. Moreover, the main ethnic groups in the overseas territories of France are not French, but more indigenous peoples. But what is surprising is that the centripetal force of France's overseas territories towards France is very strong, and they all insist on staying in France and refuse independence. However, there is a region in France that is fighting for independence and wants to secede from France. What's going on?
First, the Corsican question. The independent region of mainland France is Corsica, which includes two departments, Hauts-Corsica and Southern Corsica, and the specific scope is Corsica.
Corsica is located in the southeast of France, above the Eastern Mediterranean, with an area of about 8,680 square kilometers, and is the largest island in France. Corsica was incorporated into France relatively late, even later than many overseas territories. For example, in French Guiana, as early as 1604, France had already established settlements in the area of French Guiana and began to colonize it. Corsica was not incorporated into France until 1768.
Corsica has a population of about 330,000, mainly Corsicans. Today's Corsicans already speak French, and only the older Corsicans still speak Corsican. Corsican is a language close to the Tuscan dialect of Italy. Corsican is closer to Italy mainly because of its long history of influence from the Italy peninsula.
Corsica is located about 83 km from the Italy peninsula and about 180 km from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. As early as the 3rd century BC, Corsica was incorporated into the Roman territory and was heavily influenced by ancient Roman culture. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Corsica came under the control of several Italy city-states.
In 1077, Corsica came under the control of the Bishop of Pisa in Italy. In the 14th century, Genoa seized Corsica and annexed it to the Republic of Genoa. At that time, the Corsicans already had a national consciousness and did not want to accept the rule of the Genoese, and they constantly resisted and tried to gain independence.
In 1755, Pauli, the leader of the Corsican independence movement, led the Corsicans to revolt against Genoese rule, established the Corsican Republic, and formulated the first Corsican constitution. Under the constant attacks of the Corsicans, the Genoese became less and less controlled, and from 1755 to 1768 the Corsicans basically achieved de facto independence and established the Corsican navy.
But in 1768, the Genoese sold Corsica to France, and then France invaded Corsica and extinguished the Corsican independence movement, and Pauli was forced to flee to United Kingdom. After this, the Corsicans submitted to France, including Napoleon's father, Charles · Bonaparte, who also succumbed to the France and joined France nationality.
Napoleon was born in Corsica in 1769, and when Napoleon grew up, he aspired to lead Corsica to independence like Pauli. Napoleon once said, "I can never forgive my father, who was Pauli's lieutenant and would have agreed to the annexation of Corsica to France." However, after Napoleon became emperor of France, he did not allow Corsica to become independent, but strengthened France's rule in Corsica.
After the Napoleonic era, the momentum of Corsica's independence was completely suppressed. However, in the 60s of the 20th century, France's African colonies gained independence, and the Corsicans were somewhat encouraged. In addition, after the African colonies broke away from France, many France living in Africa had nowhere to live, and France settled these France in Corsica, causing dissatisfaction among Corsicans. Since then, the Corsican independence movement has reared its head.
Second, Corsica is not short of money. The reluctance of the France Overseas Territories to secede from France is mainly due to the fact that these Overseas Territories are economically backward and dependent on France's economic assistance.
France is a developed country with a strong industrial base and economic strength. Relying on its own economic strength, France has continuously assisted the overseas territories, promoted the economic development of the overseas territories, and helped the residents of the overseas territories to live a good life. For example, in the area of French Guiana, the predominantly inhabited are Creoles.
French Guiana has a weak industrial base and without France aid, its economy is similar to that of southern United States. Relying on France's aid, French Guiana's per capita GDP is about $21,000, far stronger than that of neighboring countries. Corsica, on the other hand, is located in the European region and has a population of only 330,000. Corsica is known as the "Beautiful Island" with beautiful scenery and the local tourism industry is very developed. It can be said that even without the economic support of France, Corsicans are not bad for money.
Therefore, the overseas territories of France insisted on remaining in France, while the mainland island of Corsica became independent. In order to appease the Corsicans, France restored the Pascal · Pauli University, which had been closed for more than 200 years, and also gave Corsica more autonomy.