Editing Savoy (section)

====Annexation to France====
{{main|Annexation of Savoy}}
The [[French Second Republic]] first attempted to annex Savoy in 1848. A corps of 1,500 was dispatched from Lyon and invaded Savoy on 3 April, occupying Chambéry (capital city) and proclaiming the annexation to France. On learning about the invasion countrymen rushed to Chambéry. The corps were chased away by the local population. Five Frenchmen were killed and 800 captured.<ref>Mike Rapport, ''1848: Year of Revolution'' (Basic Books, 2010), 115–16.</ref>

On 21 July 1858 in [[Plombières-les-Bains]], [[Vosges (department)|Vosges]], the prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour]], met in secret with [[Napoleon III]] to secure French military support against the [[Austrian Empire]] during the conflicts associated with the [[Italian unification]]. During the discussion, Cavour promised that Sardinia would cede the [[County of Nice]] and Duchy of Savoy to the [[Second French Empire]]. Though this was a secret arrangement, it quickly became widely known.<ref>[[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell]], address to the House of Common, July 5, 1861,[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1861/jul/05/question-2 HC Deb 05 July 1861 vol 164 cc436-61] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313044610/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1861/jul/05/question-2 |date=13 March 2017 }}</ref>

The treaty annexing Nice and Savoy to France was signed in Turin on 24 March 1860 ([[Treaty of Turin (1860)|Treaty of Turin]]).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/traites/1860turin.htm | title = Traité de Turin, Signé à Turin le 24 mars 1860 entre la France et la Sardaigne. | access-date = 2010-01-01 | publisher = mjp.univ-perp.fr | archive-date = 2016-03-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193623/http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/traites/1860turin.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> In the northern provinces of the Chablais and Faucigny, there was some support for annexation to neighboring Switzerland, with which the northern provinces had longstanding economic ties. To help reduce the attractiveness of Switzerland, the French government conceded a Free-Trade Zone that maintained the longstanding duty-free relationship of northern Savoyard communes to Geneva. After the treaty was already signed, a [[referendum|plebiscite]]  was held on 22–23 April. Employing universal male suffrage, voters in the ceded provinces were offered the option of voting "Yes" to approve the treaty and join [[France]] or voting "No" and rejecting the treaty. Voters were not permitted the options of either joining [[Switzerland]], remaining with [[Italy]], or regaining its independence, were the source of some opposition. With a 99.8% vote in favour of joining France, there were allegations of [[vote-rigging]], notably by the British government, which opposed continental expansion by its traditional French enemy. The correspondent of ''[[The Times]]'' in Savoy who was in [[Bonneville, Haute-Savoie|Bonneville]] on 22 April called the vote "the lowest and most immoral farce(s) which was ever played in the history of nations".<ref>[http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/ The Times] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006085756/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive |date=2008-10-06 }}, April 28, 1860, [http://blog.regionleman.com/post/annexion-rattachement-reunion-annexation-savoie-savoy-150-ans-anniversaire Universal Suffrage In Savoy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920233804/http://blog.regionleman.com/post/annexion-rattachement-reunion-annexation-savoie-savoy-150-ans-anniversaire |date=2010-09-20 }}.</ref> He finished his letter with those words: <blockquote> I leave you to draw your own conclusions from this trip, which will show clearly what the vote was in this part of Savoy. The vote was the bitterest irony ever made on popular suffrage. The ballot-box in the hands of those very authorities who issued the proclamations; no control possible; even travellers suspected and dogged lest they should pry into the matter; all opposition put down by intimidation, and all liberty of action completely taken away. One can really scarcely reproach the Opposition with having given up the game; there was too great force used against them. As for the result of the vote, therefore, no one need trouble himself about it; it will be just as brilliant as that in Nice. The only danger is lest the Savoy authorities in their zeal should fare as some of the French did in the vote of 1852, finding to their surprise rather more votes than voters inscribed on the list. </blockquote> In his letter to the ambassador of Vienna Lord Augustus Loftus, the then–[[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]], [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Lord John Russell]], said, "Voting in Savoy and Nice a farce ... we are neither entertained or edified".<ref>PRO 30/22/98 Austria. Vol 1. Legation (from Nov. 1860) embassy in Vienna. Private correspondence (drafts). Lord John (earl from 1861) Russell, foreign secretary to Hon. Julian Fane, legation later embassy secretary; Lord Augustus Loftus, envoy; Lord Bloomfield, ambassador. Document conserved at [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The National Archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010031337/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ |date=2010-10-10 }}</ref>

The annexation was promulgated on 14 June 1860. On 23 August 1860 and 7 March 1861, two agreements were signed between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia to settle the remaining issues concerning the annexation.<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cngDAAAAQAAJ | title = Convention entre la France et la Sardaigne destinée à régler diverses questions auxquelles a donné lieu la réunion de la Savoie et de l'arrondissement de Nice à la France; signée a Paris le 23 août 1860. G.Fr.de Martens, Nouveau Recueil Général de Traités et autre actes relatifs aux rapports de droit international, t. XVII, p.460 (pdf) | year = 1843 | access-date = 2010-01-01 | publisher = Oxford University | archive-date = 2021-05-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210529131401/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nouveau_recueil_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral_de_trait%C3%A9s_co/cngDAAAAQAAJ?hl=en | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cngDAAAAQAAJ | title = Convention de délimitation entre la France et la Sardaigne, conclue a Turin le 7 mars 1861. G.Fr.de Martens, Nouveau Recueil Général de Traités et autre actes relatifs aux rapports de droit international, t. XVII, p.406 (pdf) | year = 1843 | access-date = 2010-01-01 | publisher = Oxford University | archive-date = 2021-05-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210507202028/https://books.google.com/books?id=cngDAAAAQAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref>

This was part of a secret agreement ([[Plombières Agreement|the Plombières Agreement]]) brokered between the French emperor [[Napoleon III]] and the Count [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour|Camillo of Cavour]] (Prime Minister of Sardinia at that time) that allowed the final steps in the process of [[Italian unification|unification of Italy]]. Victor Emmanuel's dynasty, the House of Savoy, retained its Italian lands of [[Piedmont]] and [[Liguria]] and became the [[Kings of Italy|ruling dynasty of Italy]].

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Rattachement de la Savoie à la France 1860 (tableau).JPG|People of [[Chambéry]] with [[French flag]]s celebrating the annexation in 1860.
File:Italy 1843.svg|Map of Savoy in the 19th century and other Italian states in 1843.
File:Italia 1843-fr.svg|French annexation in 1860 (black) after the signing of the [[Treaty of Turin (1860)|Treaty of Turin]] and a regional [[referendum]] in favor of the attachment to France (French)
Image:ChâteauChambéry1.JPG|The Château de Chambéry, seat of government, was given a grand new façade following annexation
</gallery>