Saturday, March 26, 2005
Corsica: Recent and Reluctant French Territory- Beautiful but Troubled Refuge- Home of the Famous Italian- Napoleon

The ANNOTICO Report
In an Earlier Report, I touched on Corsica, and it's successive occupations for nearly 3,000 years of Iberians, Ligurians, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Etruscans, Syracuseans, Romans, Vandals, Pisans and Genoeses, an obviously mostly Italic influence.

Throughout the 16th century, the Genoese dotted the coasts with towers in an attempt to offer better protection against the raiders of the Barbary Coasts. The towns and citadels of Calve and Bonifacio date from this time. Ajaccio was endowed with a new cathedral.

Despite numerous efforts, the development of farming in the Eastern plain is thwarted by malaria. Farm economy remains for the main part pastoral whereas economic development asserts itself in the region of the Corsican Cape.

However, the Corsicans chafed under Genoese rule, yearned for independence, that led to a series of four insurrections between 1729 - 1769. This Corsican Revolution forced Genoa which was on the wane, to repeatedly call on the intervention of Austria and then looked to France for help.
These troubles only stirred up the competition in Mediterranean of the great powers involved in the War of Succession of Austria: England, helped by Sardinia, and Spain allied to France.
At the 1768 Treaty of Versailles to end the War of Succession - France was granted Corsica. The Corsicans resisted and were defeated by the French at Ponte-Novo on the 8th of May 1769. Three months later, the 15th of August 1769 Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica.

How do you figure whether Napoleon was French or Italian? By the Date of the Treaty, the Date France was to take Possession under the Treaty , the Date the French defeated Corsicans, the Date Napoleon, was Conceived, The Date Napoleon was Born, or the fact that the Bonaparte's family considered themselves Italian, except when Napoleon "converted" to French, "franconizing" his name.

The entire Bonaparte family spoke Italian and had ties to Italy. Napoleons' mother was so pro Italian, and anti French that while living in the Palace in Paris, she refused to speak French, and required the speaking of Italian by her staff, and anyone in her presence!!

BEAUTIFUL, BUT TROUBLED REFUGE
By Karen and Bruce Clark
The Daily Pilot
March 24, 2005
The Corsican harbor of Bastia is stunning, unexpected, exotic -- enigmatic. The northern side of the harbor has that typical peaceful Mediterranean harbor look, with pastel colored buildings, window boxes full of bright red geraniums, balconies of tables set with red and white tablecloths waiting for hungry evening diners, and a medieval church tower keeping an eye on the quiet scene.
But the southern side is totally different -- a gloomy, menacing, brooding mass of large gray tenements marching in a jumbled conglomeration up the hill. At first glance, they look as if they were still waiting for repairs from the bombing here in World War II. The buildings look abandoned and perhaps they are: The population of Corsica is dwindling.
We ventured in a rented VW Polo to see the island.
Corsica is now a French island, but through most of the last 1,000 years it was controlled by the Italian cities of Pisa and Genoa, still evidenced by old Pisan and Genoan towers, churches and bridges still scattered through the island.
We knew we were in Mediterranean territory by the food -- those great croissants brought joy to our hearts. There was great lamb and duck at nearly every table, and there was exotic food in abundance from the former French colonies of Morocco and Thailand.
But the Corsican people don't care much for the French. They have been fighting since the island was granted to France in a European peace treaty signed in the late 1700s.
Over the centuries, the island's prime location in the Mediterranean made it a desirable plum for the many ambitious nation states of Europe. The result was a series of invasions, wars and constant suffering, interspersed with what have thus far been futile efforts by the Corsicans to achieve independence.
Evidence of the Corsican independence movement can be seen everywhere, but no real violence has occurred since the 1998 assassination of the most prominent French politician on the island.
French translations of street names, along with the Corsican versions, appear on nearly every street sign, but the French name is consistently obliterated by black spray paint. Liberationist slogans appear in Corsican on walls, rocks, everywhere, apparently emanating from the same spray cans.
In remote mountain areas in the middle of the island, Corsica remains a lawless place. Vendettas are a big part of Corsican history. Horror stories abound of brothers killing brothers and cousins killing cousins, often over some alleged marital infidelity that took place centuries ago.
Yet Corsica is a magical place -- its wonderful food, especially the delicious pork (a result of pigs left to wander free in the mountains to eat the many fallen chestnuts); its rugged mountains blanketed by deep snows in winter; its many vineyards and delicious wines; and its dark and violent history.
It is the birthplace of Napoleon, who left the slow-paced island as soon as possible. It is also alleged by the Corsicans to be the birthplace of Columbus, although most historians give that honor to Genoa, Italy. The Corsican city of Calvi proudly displays Columbus' parents' home, and celebrates his birthday as a major holiday.
The island is shaped like a fist with a raised index finger pointing north. Bastia lies at the base of the index finger. The southern-most city on Corsica, only a three-hour drive from Bastia, at the wrist of the fist, is the most unusual town of Bonifacio. It is stark and white, more like a north African than a French or Italian town. It stares out to sea from high white cliffs of weathered limestone with Sardinia visible on the horizon to the south. Homer's Odysseus is said to have lost 11 of his 12 ships here to the man-eating Laestrogonians, which besieged the ships with rocks and harpoons hurled from the top of the cliffs and then ate the captured crew members.
After a tasty lunch of what was allegedly lamb stew (discounting the possibility that the locals are still cannibals) and goat cheese, we drove northwest to see the prehistoric menhirs dating from 1500 BC -- hundreds of carved tombstone-like monuments lined up like rows of soldiers. There is no written history to explain why they exist and only guesses as to the meaning of these groves of carved stone, many with human faces. Unlike national historical sites in the U.S., there were no tourists, parking lots or souvenirs to distract us. In fact, the menhir site was difficult to find. Following instructions in our guidebook, we turned on an unmarked dirt road and followed it until it became impassable. We then left our car in a clump of brush and walked another kilometer to the site. Not surprisingly, no one else was there.
We spent the following night in our favorite spot in Corsica: the stunning hillside village of Piana, located in the rugged countryside that makes up most of the western coast of Corsica.
Hikes from the tiny village of Piana traverse miles of wind-carved jagged red rock, along steep cliffs high above the deep turquoise fjords below. The impression is one of a Sedona, Ariz., dropped in the midst of a glittering blue sea.
The rocks glowed bright orange as the sun set on the balcony of our room at Les Roches Rouges, a classic grand palace hotel built in 1912. Madame Mady, the friendly owner, is nearly single-handedly restoring this grand old place.
Mady does everything -- checks you in, serves you dinner and socializes with everyone. While the rooms are still sparse, the lobby and patio are grand, and frescoes in the magnificent dining area are restored and beautiful. It seemed expensive for Corsica, but we thought it a steal at less than $100 for the night.
From Piana we drove up the barely inhabited west coast, a tortured drive on tiny winding roads full of pigs, goats and cows, even a nursing sow with piglets sprawled on the side of the road. We drove over steep mountains with harrowing cliffs -- no guardrails of course -- around deeply incised bays, through tiny mountain hamlets and small fishing villages, rarely getting the rental VW out of second gear, but enjoying breathtaking views of red rock and blue water.
This area is extremely popular with campers and hikers from France and Germany. A famous, but strenuous, 10-to-15 day hiking trail runs along the entire length of the island.
Returning to Bastia, we passed many hills that had clearly been recently burned. It had been a hot summer and we had encountered many large forest fires. But we were told that these local fires were deliberately started by landless cattle owners who illegally run their stock on these hills. Their goal is to burn off the inedible native maquis undergrowth, making room for the new grass that will nourish their renegade cattle next spring. Corsica remains a lawless place.
Upon our return to Bastia and a check of our guidebook, we decided it would be opportune to make a quick exit the next morning, Oct 3.
That date is the still-commemorated anniversary of the World War II bombing of Bastia by the Americans, the result of a tragic mistake. The American target was the German occupation force, but the Germans had abandoned the island several days earlier.
The result was a needless death for many Corsican citizens and grave damage to much of the city. Given the Corsican bent for vendettas, we thought it wise to sneak out of Bastia harbor before sunrise, and so we did.
http://www.dailypilot.com/features/
story/7068p-9842c.html