Transpadane Republic

The Transpadane Republic was a French client state in northern Italy that existed from 1796 until mid-1797, with its capital at Milan. It grew out of the French occupation of the Duchy of Milan after the victory at Lodi on 10 May 1796, when Napoleon replaced the Austrian administration with a provisional General Administration of Lombardy. The name refers to the lands across the Po, distinguishing the new republic from the Cispadane Republic on the south side of the river. In October 1796 the administration received full civil powers, though its decisions still required approval by the French commander in Lombardy; it was organised into departments for religion and culture, transport and engineering, finance and taxation, and trade. After the Peace of Leoben in April 1797 the republic expanded eastward toward Bergamo and the Oglio, and in May it received the former Modena territories from its southern neighbour. On 29 June 1797 Napoleon reorganised the whole area and proclaimed the Cisalpine Republic, which absorbed the Transpadane state after little more than a year of existence. The episode illustrates how the sister republics were constructed as instruments of French power rather than as lasting institutions.