The most important was the third, proclaimed on 5 June, being the real constitution of the kingdom: Napoleon I was the head of state and had the full powers of government; in his absence, he was represented by the Viceroy, Eugène de Beauharnais.

[2] The fifth and the sixth Statutes, on 21 March 1808, separated the Consulta from the Council of State, and renamed it the Senate, with the duty of informing the king about the wishes of his most important subjects.

[2] The seventh Statute, on 21 September, created a new nobility of dukes, counts and barons; the eighth and the ninth, on 15 March 1810, established the annuity for the members of the royal family.

After the defeat of the Third Coalition and the consequent Treaty of Pressburg, on 1 May 1806, the Kingdom gained from Austria the eastern and remaining part of the Venetian territories, including Istria and Dalmatia down to Kotor (then called Cattaro), though it lost Massa and Carrara to Elisa Bonaparte's Principality of Lucca and Piombino.

The final arrangement arrived after the defeat of Austria in the War of the Fifth Coalition: Emperor Napoleon and King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria signed the Treaty of Paris on 28 February 1810, deciding an exchange of territories involving Italy too.

The kingdom was given a new national currency, replacing the local coins circulating in the country: the Italian lira, of the same size, weight, and metal of the French franc.

[6][7] In 1805 Italian troops served on garrison duty along the English Channel, during 1806–07 they took part in the sieges of Kolberg and Danzig and fought in Dalmatia.

[12][16] In 1813, Eugène de Beauharnais held out as long as possible against the onslaught of the Austrians[13] (Battle of the Mincio) and was later forced to sign an armistice in February 1814.

The state was divided, following the French system, in 14 départements, the twelve ones inherited from the republican era plus Adda (Sondrio) and Adige (Verona).

The chief of the department, the prefect, was the State's representative in each province, improved the administrative decisions of the central government, controlled the local authorities, led of the police and, differently from the republican era, had all the executive powers in its territory.

Following the defeat of Austria and the Treaty of Pressburg, Napoleon annexed to Italy the territory of former Republic of Venice, as announced on 30 March 1806, and ratified on 1 May.

Seven new departments were created, six in the Venetian mainland, and one in Istria (Capodistria), whereas Dalmatia received special institutions led by the General Provider Mr. Dandolo, and maintained its own laws.

The final territorial change came in action on 10 June 1810, when, as announced by Napoleon on previous 28 May, Italy lost Istria and the never fully incorporated Dalmatia, gaining as reward all the southern Tirol up to the city of Bolzano, creating the 24th and last department: Haut Adige.

[21] When Napoleon abdicated both the thrones of France and Italy on 11 April 1814, Eugène de Beauharnais was lined up on the Mincio river with his army to repel any invasion from Germany or Austria, and he attempted to be crowned king.

In the riots, finance minister Count Giuseppe Prina was massacred by the crowd, and the Great Electors disbanded the Senate and called the Austrian forces to protect the city, while a Provisional Regency Government under the presidency of Carlo Verri was appointed.