Marching inland to overcome any Corsican opposition, the French force initially suffered an unexpected defeat at the Battle of Borgo.

Pasquale Paoli fled to Great Britain, where he was immensely popular, and became a member of Samuel Johnson's dining club.

[3] Despite four decades of intense fighting, the Corsican Republic proved unable to eject the Genoese from the major coastal fortresses of Calvi and Bonifacio.

France's first offensive failed after the initial and rather small French expeditionary force suffered a significant setback at the Battle of Borgo in October 1768.

France therefore dispatched large numbers of reinforcements, swelling the size of their army on the island to 24,000 men, and tasked a new commander with the renewal of the endeavor.

[7]: 556 The leader of the Corsican Republic, Pasquale Paoli, went into exile in Britain where he remained until the French Revolution allowed him to return to Corsica.

He went on to become ruler of mainland France, adopted the ideals of the French Revolution as his own, and triggered the Napoleonic Wars that devastated much of Europe and changed it permanently.

Some groups that claim to support Corsican independence, such as the National Liberation Front of Corsica, have carried out a ongoing violent campaign since the 1970s that includes bombings and assassinations, usually targeting buildings and officials representing the French government.