Pasquale Paoli1 launches a visionary political project: a representative government, an elected assembly, public education. A beta version of modern democracy. A glitch in the system of the Ancien Régime.
It had a constitution and separated powers. It was secular, invested in education and granted women the right to vote.
It was 1755, not America, not France, but Corsica.
A micro-state with an idea too big.
Too clear to be ignored.
Too ahead of its time to survive.
Before the Bastille, before Washington.
It had already pioneered what we now consider standard in democratic governance.
Clear-sighted.
Forward-thinking.
It was the Corsican Republic.
An outlier in a Europe of kings and subjects.
A disruptive anomaly in the Mediterranean.
In 1768, a beacon was besieged by darkness.
Monarchy vs. democracy. Louis XV launched his attack. But the light refused to die.
Epic. Corsica resisted.
Chances are, you’re already thinking of modern parallels.
Voltaire, the Enlightenment thinker, watched with admiration.
The aristocrat trembled. In a private letter, he warned:
“Toute l’Europe est corse”2
All of Europe is Corsican.
If the idea spreads, the status quo collapses.
Paris made its decision. War.
The free island became French.
It was 1769, and Voltaire, with biting sarcasm, wrote:
“Toute l’Europe a été contre elle. Heureusement, elle est soumise.”3
All of Europe stood against her. Fortunately, she is subdued.
Much ado about nothing?
Strange how a small spark can terrify the dark and still ignite a blaze.
14 July 1789. Ironic twist of fate.
Revolution erupts in France.
The monarchy trembles.
The little Corsican Republic had already shown the world:
Another way is possible.
Today, we celebrate the grand, “successful” revolutions. The ones that built empires.
But we often forget the humble, courageous experiments in self-determination, born from a thirst for freedom, not conquest.
They didn’t seek to rule, only to exist.
They weren’t asking for power, but for dignity.
Self-determination still frightens us.
It gets mistaken for separatism or nationalism.
But confusing the demand for recognition with nationalism is a crude error.
True self-determination doesn’t say “us first.”
It says “us too.”
It is the opposite of nationalism.
The opposite of centralism.
It’s the idea that you can belong, without disappearing.
A struggle shared by countless peoples, communities, and regions under pressure.
They’re not asking for the privilege to be different, just the right to be themselves without having to become someone else.
Today in Europe, there’s growing risk that the most mature demands, those seeking participation, not domination, are being silenced. Or worse: hijacked by those who shout “identity” only to chase votes.
The truth is, the Europe of peoples imagined by some enlightenment thinkers isn’t born from control, but from recognition.
Not from assimilation, but from plurality.
Not from borders, but from bridges.
Bridges like the one at Ponte Novu4, torn down.
Bridges we still struggle to rebuild.
Paoli’s Corsica was erased.
But its example remains: a just, participatory government, profound in its simplicity.
And that, then as now, is what truly scares.
Because every time a people rise to claim dignity,
someone is always quick to label them a “threat”.
Notes related to the article:
- Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who is often called the “Father of the Corsican Nation.” He led the island’s fight for independence from Genoese (and later French) rule and established one of the first democratic constitutions in Europe. ↩︎
- Voltaire, Letter to Marie Louise Denis, November 18, 1768.
The full quote is: “Cela est d’autant plus triste que toute l’Europe est corse.”
Translation: “This is all the sadder because all of Europe is Corsican.” ↩︎ - Voltaire, Précis du siècle de Louis XV, specifically Chapter XL: On Corsica.
The full quote is: “Il y avait une nation dans l’Europe qui avait osé vouloir être libre. Toute l’Europe a été contre elle. Heureusement, elle est soumise.”
Translation: “There was a nation in Europe that had dared to want to be free. All of Europe stood against her. Fortunately, she is subdued.” ↩︎ - Ponte Novu: A decisive battle in Corsica in 1769 between the Corsican forces and the French army, marking the end of Corsican resistance. The bridge, located over the Golo river, was destroyed during the conflict. ↩︎
Original article written in Italian on officinaprogetti.org website, faithfully translated and adapted into English by the author, Emanuele Mulas (MSc). Feel free to share this article, as long as proper credit is given and the source is cited.
