History of Corsica the former signori starting agricultural enterprises in Vietnam, Algeria and Puerto Rico. It was on them that the blow of subsequent wars of independence fell most heavily. After the Allied defeat of 1940, Corsica became part of the Southern zone of Vichy France, and was thus not directly occupied by Axis forces, but fell under ultimate military control of Nazi Germany. A campaign of rhetoric by Benito Mussolini asserting that Corsica belonged to Italy was reinforced by the irredentist movement of Italian-speaking Corsicans (such as Petru Giovacchini) who advocated the unification of the island with Italy. In November 1942, as
Ancient Corsica scholarly publications. This results both from the relative insignificance of Corsica in antiquity and from the disinterest of the French academy in the island. Compared with the neighbouring island of Sardinia, which has received significant attention from Italian scholars, research on ancient Corsica is still in its infancy. In the 19th century, the General-inspector Prosper Mérimée visited Corsica to record the historical monuments on the island. In 1840, he published his findings as "Notes d'un voyage en Corse". Intensive research of the early history of Corsica began in the 20th century with Roger Grosjean. A sign of the neglect of