French conquest of Corsica French conquest of Corsica The French conquest of Corsica took place during 1768 and 1769 when the Corsican Republic was occupied by French forces under the command of the Comte de Vaux. France received de jure control of the island of Corsica as a pledge from the Genoese Republic via the Treaty of Versailles in 1768. Genoa still claimed ownership of the island, although since 1755, Corsicans had achieved virtual independence and had written a Corsican Constitution (in Italian). After abandoning any hope of recovering Corsica by force, the Genoese chose to sell their rights over the island to France
Medieval Corsica of Massa, to put a stop to the turmoil. A Count of Cinarca was reinstated and the war between Malaspina, Cinarca, Pisa, and Genoa dragged on with no side gaining the mastery until 1298, when Pope Boniface VIII formally bestowed the "regnum Corsicae", Kingdom of Corsica, on James II of Aragon along with the "regnum Sardiniae", Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1325, James finally set out to conquer his dual island kingdom. Sardinia was attacked and the Pisans were destroyed. Unable to sustain themselves at sea, their fortunes in Corsica fell off abruptly. No comparable campaign, however, was launched at Corsica