Italian occupation of Corsica Africa. In response, Nazi Germany formulated Operation Anton, as part of which Italy occupied the island of Corsica on November 11 (Italian operation codename: "Operazione C2"), and some parts of France up to the Rhone. The Italian occupation of Corsica had been strongly promoted by the Italian irredentist movement during Italy's Fascist period. The occupation force initially included 30,000 Italian troops and gradually reached the size of nearly 85,000 soldiers. This was a huge occupation force relative to the size of the local population of 220,000. The VII Army Corps of the Regio Esercito was able to occupy Corsica, which
Invasion of Corsica (1794) in August 1794. Corsica proved a mixed asset for the British; the island's anchorages provided some relief for a fleet operating at the end of a long supply chain, but the instability of Corsican politics and repeated French efforts to disrupt British control consumed valuable resources. By late 1796, with the French victorious in Northern Italy and the Spanish declaration of war on Britain following the Treaty of San Ildefonso, British control of Corsica was no longer tenable. British forces withdrew from the island, which was rapidly seized once more by the French. Corsica is a large, mountainous island in