The Corsican Republic (Italian: Repubblica Corsa) was a short-lived state on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea.

After a series of successful actions, Pasquale Paoli drove the Genoese from the whole island except for a few coastal towns.

[2] The Republic minted its own coins at Murato in 1761, imprinted with the Moor's Head, the traditional symbol of Corsica.

Paoli's ideas of independence, democracy and liberty gained support from such philosophers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Raynal, and Mably.

The General was elected by the Council and had to maintain their confidence in order to remain in the position, although there were no term limits.

Minor civil cases were handled by the local judge in each of the 68 pieve (traditional administrative divisions).

The Junta of War was in times of crisis authorized to condemn to prison and corporal punishment, and to confiscate and/or destroy property.

In this legislation, the number of clerical members were unchanged, as was the recently introduced practice of allowing the head of state to invite others to participate in the Diet.

However, in May 1769, at the Battle of Ponte Novu they were defeated by vastly superior forces commanded by the Comte de Vaux, and obliged to take refuge in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

It was seen as a failure of the Grafton Ministry that Corsica had been "lost", as it was regarded as vital to the interests of Britain in that part of the Mediterranean.

A number of exiled Corsicans fought on the British side during the American Revolutionary War, serving with particular distinction during the Great Siege of Gibraltar in 1782.

Conversely, at the beginning of the same war, the New York militia later named Hearts of Oak - whose membership included Alexander Hamilton and other students at New York's King's College (now Columbia University) - originally called themselves "The Corsicans", evidently considering the Corsican Republic as a model to be emulated in America.

On that occasion, British naval and land forces were deployed in defence of the island; however, their efforts failed and the French regained control.

To this day, some Corsican separatists, such as the (now-disbanded) Armata Corsa, advocate the restoration of the island's republic.