History of Corsica various Italian republics that arose began to assume responsibility for the security and prosperity of Corsica, starting with Tuscany, the closest. Corsica was finally removed from the fighting by annexation to the Papal States in 1217. Pisa retained control of the island during most of the Middle Ages but at the start of the Renaissance it fell to Genoa in 1284, following the battle of Meloria against Pisa. Corsica successively was part of the Republic of Genoa for five centuries. Despite take-overs by Aragon between 1296–1434 and France between 1553–1559, Corsica would remain under Genoese control until the Corsican Republic
Corsica Anglo-American landings in North Africa was occupied by Italian and German forces. After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Italian and Free French Forces pushed the Germans out of the island, making Corsica the first French Department to be freed. Subsequently, the US military established 17 airfields, nicknamed "USS Corsica", which served as bases for attacks on targets in German-occupied Italy. During the May 1958 crisis, French paratroopers landed on Corsica on 24 May, garrisoning the island in a bloodless action called Opération Corse. Between the late fifties and the seventies, the project of building a nuclear polygon in the