Editing Parthenopean Republic (section)

==Origins of the Republic==

On the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]] King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand IV of Naples]] and Queen [[Maria Carolina of Austria|Maria Carolina]] did not at first actively oppose reform; but after the fall of the French monarchy they became violently opposed to it, and in 1793, joined the [[first coalition]] against France, instituting severe persecutions against all who were remotely suspected of French sympathies. [[Republicanism]], however, gained ground, especially among the [[aristocracy]].

In 1796, peace with France was concluded, but in 1798, during [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon's]] absence in [[Egypt]] and after [[Horatio Nelson|Nelson's]] victory at the [[Battle of the Nile]], Maria Carolina induced Ferdinand to go to war with France once more. Nelson himself arrived at [[Naples]] in September 1798, where he was enthusiastically received. The Neapolitan army had 70,000 men hastily summoned under the command of the [[Austria]]n general [[Karl Mack von Leiberich|Karl Mack]]. On 29 November, this army entered Rome,{{sfn|Acton|2009}} which had been evacuated by the French, wishing to restore [[Pope|Papal]] authority. However, after a sudden French counter-attack, his troops were forced to retreat and were eventually routed. A contemporary satirist said of the King's conquest of Rome: "He came, he saw, he fled".<ref>{{cite book|last=Astarita|first=Tommaso|title=Between Salt Water and Holy Water: a History of Southern Italy|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|year=2006|isbn=0-393-32867-8|page=250}}</ref>

The King hurried back to Naples. Although the ''[[Naples Lazzaroni|lazzaroni]]'' (the lowest class of the people) were devoted to the [[Bourbon house|Bourbon dynasty]] and ready to defend it, he embarked on Nelson's ''Vanguard'' and fled with his court to [[Palermo]] in a panic. Prince [[Francesco Pignatelli Strongoli]] took over the city and the fleet was burned.

The wildest confusion prevailed, and the ''lazzaroni'' massacred numbers of persons suspected of republican sympathies, while the nobility and the educated classes, finding themselves abandoned by their King, began to contemplate a [[republic]] under French auspices to avoid [[anarchy (word)|anarchy]]. On 12 January 1799, Pignatelli signed in [[Sparanise]] the surrender to the French general [[Jean Étienne Championnet]]. Pignatelli also fled to Palermo on 16 January 1799.

When the news of the surrender to the French reached Naples and the provinces, the ''lazzaroni'' rebelled. Though ill-armed and ill-disciplined, they resisted the enemy with desperate courage. In the meantime, the [[Jacobin (politics)|Jacobin]] and [[French Revolution|Republican]] parties of Naples surged, and civil war broke out. On 20 January 1799, the Republicans under General Championnet<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Italy |volume=15 |page=44 |first=John Holland |last=Rose}}</ref> conquered the fortress of [[Castel Sant'Elmo]], and the French entered the city the next day. The casualties were 8,000 Neapolitans and 1,000 French.