Bonaparte's Italian Campaign

In 1796 Bonaparte took command of a poorly supplied French army in Italy, meant to be a secondary front. In a rapid series of campaigns he defeated Piedmont and then Austrian armies, winning battles such as Lodi, Arcole and Rivoli. He set up the Cisalpine Republic and other sister republics, raised large sums from occupied territories, and sent art treasures to Paris.

In April 1797 he negotiated preliminaries of peace with Austria at Leoben largely on his own initiative, and in October the Treaty of Campo Formio confirmed French control of Belgium and recognised the Cisalpine Republic, while handing the ancient Republic of Venice to Austria. Bonaparte also founded newspapers that celebrated his victories. The campaign shows how he combined military skill, political independence and propaganda, and how the Directory's dependence on his success gave him growing power.