History of Monaco
Part of Liguria's history since the fall of the Roman Empire, from the 14th to the early 15th century the area was contested for primarily political reasons.
Over its history, it has enjoyed differing levels of autonomy from a parent state, which at times included the Republic of Genoa, the Crown of Aragon, Spain, and France.
Despite the loss of the two towns, from the 1860s onward its economy was focused on tourism and the country enjoyed stability until its territory was occupied by the Axis powers during World War II.
According to the accounts of historian Diodorus Siculus and geographer Strabo, the area's first permanent settlers were the mountain-dwelling Ligures, who emigrated from their native city of Genoa, in what is now northern Italy.
"According to some authorities, the Egyptians of the Eighteenth Dynasty, according to others, the early Phoenicians were the first commercial navigators," who found refuge in the Port of Monaco from the mistral of the sea.
[3] The name of the colony derives from the local veneration of the Greek demigod Heracles, also later adopted by the Romans, who was said to have constructed the ancient path that passed through the region from Spain to Italy.
[3] According to the "travels of Heracles" theme, also documented by Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, both Greeks and native Ligurian people asserted that Hercules passed through the area.
After the Gallic Wars, Monoecus, which served as a stopping-point for Julius Caesar on his way to campaign in Greece,[5] fell under Roman control as part of the Maritime Alps province (Gallia Transalpina).
The city was further damaged and nearly abandoned as Saracen raids continued after they had put under their control a part of Provence with a base at Fraxinetum.
On 10 June 1215, a detachment of Genoese Ghibellines led by Fulco del Cassello began the construction of a fortress atop the Rock of Monaco.
As the Ghibellines intended their fortress to be a strategic military stronghold and center of control for the area, they set about creating a settlement around the base of the Rock to support the garrison; in an attempt to lure residents from Genoa and the surrounding cities, they offered land grants and tax exemption to new settlers.
Honoré II, Prince of Monaco secured recognition of his independent sovereignty from Spain in 1633, and then from Louis XIII of France by the Treaty of Péronne (1641).
The Princely family was put in prison (later freed), the art collections and assets were seized and sold off, and the palace was used as hospital and poor house.
[14] (these became the French towns of Menton and Roquebrune Cap Martin) The principality was re-established in 1814, only to be designated a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the Treaty of Stupinigi in 1817.
During this time there was unrest in the towns of Menton and Roquebrune, which declared independence, hoping for annexation by Sardinia and participation in the Italian Risorgimento.
Designated as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon's defeat, Monaco's sovereignty was confirmed by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861.
Nonetheless, his tiny principality was tormented by domestic conflict partly as a result of Louis's indecisiveness, and also because the majority of the population was of Italian descent; many of them supported the fascist regime of Italy's Benito Mussolini.
[16] Soon after in September 1943, following Mussolini's fall in Italy, the German Army occupied Monaco and began the deportation of the Jewish population.
[17] Blum's colleague Raoul Gunsbourg, the director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, helped by the French Resistance, escaped arrest and fled to Switzerland.
Under Prince Louis's secret orders, the Monaco police, often at great risk to themselves, warned in advance those people whom the Gestapo planned to arrest.
[20] The revised Constitution of Monaco, proclaimed in 1962, abolished capital punishment, provided for female suffrage, established a Supreme Court to guarantee fundamental liberties and made it difficult for a French national to transfer his or her residence there.
