Best way for an Italian state to acquire Corsica during the 19th century?

What's the best way for any Italian state - either a regional one like Piedmont or Two Sicilies, or a unified Italian state like the one that emerged from the Risorgimento - to acquire Corsica from France, either through military or dynastic means, during the course of the 19th century? An acquisition between 1768 and 1800 is also permitted.
 

Ryan

Donor
I always wondered if it would be possible for Corsica to be granted independence in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars.
 
I think it's much easier to have France never acquire it in the first place. France will not want to give away its territory.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
If the British could somehow manage to hold on to it the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom could emerge in a similar position to Malta after the Napoleonic Wars. But it would probably have more autonomy and its bigger and harder to hold. So perhaps after a period as a recalcitrant British protectorate its gifted to Italy similar to the way the Ionian Islands were presented to Greece. Or maybe to Saridinia-Savoy in exchange for Savoyard participation in the Crimean War. Though the latter seems less likely as Napoleon III would probably object.
 
The only real chance would be at the end of the Napoleonic wars. At that point France was in no position to object or reject terms. Any other time is unlikely. Napoleon III's not gonna cede his family's homeland to Sardinia for help in the Crimean war. And Germany in 1871 was in no position to force France to cede the island to Italy (no way to enforce it).
 

Vitruvius

Donor
No, not France giving it to Italy. I was thinking that the British maintain control via the Anglo-Italian Kingdom through the Napoleonic Wars and after. But then struggling to govern the place, possibly with some rebellion in the interior, or maybe just the rise of Italian Irredentism in the coastal cities they give it up. I'd think it would be either post Risorgimento to Italy if there's a strong Irredentist movement, or less likely in the 1850s to Sardinia. But the later would probably irk the French given that Corsica was the original home of the then current French ruling dynasty.
 
What about Napoleon doing so slightly better in 1813 and 1815 that he is given the kingdom and royal title of Corsica.
No 100 days, as Napoleon deems crossing over 300+ km to the mainland from Corsica as too risky with the Royal Navy presence in the Med.

Small consequences, different illnesses, deaths and births lead to a longer and more stable Bourbon reign in France. The Bonaparte family redirects its ambitions towards Italian unity.

Either a wave of popular revolutions lead to a united Italy under the then head of the house of Buonaparte (he changed the spelling back) as Primo Console of the Italian Republic (everyone awaits his coronation as Italian or Roman Emperor).

Or the revolutions are crushed, the Buonaparte dynasty ousted and a reactionary principality from the peninsula takes over Corsica, before being integrated into an Italian state one revolution later.
 
I agree with Emperor Constantine that the most likely chance is after the Napoleonic wars. The thing is that taking Corsica off France doesn't really make a lot of difference for France; Corsica was never an important naval base, or a settler's colony, or good land for intensive agriculture. So taking Corsica away won't punish or cripple France significantly.

For the same reasons, I can't see a lot of interest in other states to acquire it, save for Britain, and even the Brits didn't push that hard; and I guess mostly to complete the set in the Mediterranean. If they do get Corsica I can't see them giving it away, it's so much larger and closer than the Ionian islands. And to whom? Greece was a loyal ally, but Britain doesn't have a close ally in Italy.

Off the top of my head, I can think of a couple of possible plans: Corsica could get independent before Napoleon, then join a united Italian state, or be invaded by them; or a minor Italian state could be given Corsica for some reason - maybe Tuscany. Giving it to Piedmont-Sardinia makes sense in abstract, but it didn't happen in OTL - was it ever considered? Maybe if they perform much better against Napoleon?
 
Agree with others that doing it after Napoleonic Wars is easiest - especially if it gets given to Sardinia.

Another possibility is a stronger Italian state forming. Perhaps if the Kingdom of Sicily gradually expands northwards and expands its bureaucracy as it goes, the apparatus of state wouldn't be as dysfunctional as it was in OTL. It could then become a major power and simply win a war with France.
 
Something like the Boulanger-Crisis getting hot and France is defeated by a German-Italian alliance. The attitude then is, that France is a notorious troublemaker and even the neutral powers agree that a at least symbolic harsh punishment is needed.
 
Any chance it could be captured and held during the Risorgimento? Or would it be seen as not worth the trouble of riling France more than they already were?
 
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