- Canton of Lugano
Infobox Former Subdivision
native_name = "Cantone Lugano"
conventional_long_name = Canton of Lugano
common_name = Lugano|
continent = Europe
region = Alps
country = Switzerland
subdivision = Canton
nation = Helvetic Republic
status_text = Canton of theHelvetic Republic |
year_start = 1798
year_end = 1803|
event_pre = Helv. Rep.
date_pre =April 12 ,1798
event_start = Canton established
date_start =April 14 1798
event_end = Helv. Rep. disestablished
date_end =February 19 1803 |
p1 = Landvogtei of Locarno
image_p1 =
p2 = Landvogtei of Lugano
image_p2 =
p3 = Landvogtei of Mendrisio
image_p3 =
p4 = Landvogtei of Valmaggia
image_p4 =
s1 = Ticino
image_s1 = |
|
image_map_caption = TheHelvetic Republic , as at the constitution of12 April 1798 , showing the canton of Lugano in orange-brown, lower-centre. Bellinzona is shown immediately to Lugano's north, in green.|
capital = Lugano
languages = ItalianLugano was the name of a canton of the
Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, with its capital atLugano . The canton unified the formerLandvogtei en ofLugano ,Mendrisio ,Locarno and Valmaggia.As with the other cantons of the Helvetic Republic, the
autonomy of Lugano was very limited, the republic having been founded byNapoleon in order further to centralise power in Switzerland. The canton was led by an Directory of five members, who appointed a "nationalpréfet ", the first of whom wasGiacomo Buonvicini .The canton was riven with dispute between "patriots", supporting the
Cisalpine Republic , and traditionalist "aristocrat s". The politics of the central government — the seizure of church property, the introduction ofdirect taxation , mandatorymilitary service , an amnesty favouring Cisalpine patriots and a law regarding municipalities that rejected the secular tradition of communal autonomy — as well as themilitary occupation by theFrench Revolutionary Armies , with its associated violence and requisitions, all combined to maintain a level of hostility to the new régime within the local population, which eventually rose up against the régime.In Lugano, during anti-French protests of
28 April and29 April 1799 , the printer Agnelli's was looted and the abbotGiuseppe Lodovico Maria Vanelli and other Cisalpine patriots were killed; the préfetFrancesco Capra , who succeeded Buonvicini earlier that year, fled and power passed to aprovisional government sympathetic to theHabsburg s. Similar protests erupted inMendrisio andLocarno . The arrival of Austro-Russian troops led to further requisition andpillage , leading to further shortages amongst the local population. French occupation was restored in 1800, with further consequences for the Luganese. CommissionerHeinrich Zschokke re-established the authority of the Helvetic Republic on his arrival; a new préfet was appointed,Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Franzoni .After two abortive attempts to unite Lugano with Bellinzona in the first two years of the 19th century, popular discontent, combined with fiscal pressure and a disastrous economic situation, led to a revolt in
Capriasca early in 1802, which led to the autumn "pronunciamento" ofPian Povrò , named for the location of a district general congress, betweenMassagna andBreganzona , which declared the independence of Lugano from the Helvetic client republic.With the
Act of Mediation , the following year, political agitation was finally quelled, as were the struggles between unionists and federalists; merger with Bellinzona was at last completed, creating theTicino , which endures to the present day.References and external links
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