The Napoleonic Age in Italy (1800-1815)

The Cisalpine Republic, which was re-established after the French victory at Marengo in 1800, was renamed the Italian Republic following the Lyon Congress called by Napoleon in January 1802. Napoleon was named President, the Vice-President was Milanese noble man Francesco Melzi d’Eril, a representative of moderate Lombard reformism; the state's territories included the Lombard provinces and stretched as far as Romagna. The new government, placed under the control of France, proceeded with the elimination of the most revolutionary and democratic forces and with the reorganization of the state and its administration. In 1805 the Republic was transformed into the Kingdom of Italy and Napoleon became its king; Marche and Veneto and Dalmatia, taken from Austria after the victory of Austerlitz, subsequently became part of it. In 1805 Liguria was annexed by France; the same fate that Piedmont experienced in 1801.

Napoleon's policy of expansion continued throughout Italy in the following years and he gained control of the whole peninsular, except for Sicily and Sardinia: after the expulsion of the Bourbons, in 1806 the Kingdom of Naples was entrusted first to Giuseppe Bonaparte and then, in 1808, to Gioacchino Murat; the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was annexed by France; Parma and Piacenza experienced the same fate. The Pontifical State was also under the control of Napoleon in 1809 and Pius VII was sent into exile.

Important reforms were implemented in the Kingdom of Italy, such as the abolition of feudalism, the exploitation of ecclesiastic assets and administrative reorganization; reforms aimed at modernizing the state were also embarked upon in the Kingdom of Naples, especially under the Murat's government.

The defeats Napoleon suffered after the disastrous 1812 campaign of Russia led to the end of French hegemony on the peninsular; in 1814 most of the Italian states passed under the control of the Austrians.