Welcome to Corsica! Something something Napoleon… hang on…
Right. Corsica is a largish Mediterranean island, which has been occupied since the Mesolithic era (long time ago). Its more recent inhabitants have included Carthiginians, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans and latterly the Genoese and the French. Possibly my favourite sentence from the Wikipedia entry about its classical history is this:
The island produced sheep, honey, resin and wax, and exported many slaves, not well considered because of their fierce and rebellious character.
Skip forward to the 18th century and that rebellious streak found a voice in a revolutionary movement led most famously by Pasquale Paoli. It took 26 years for Corsica to gain its independence, which it lost just 14 years later when it was conquered by France.
Napoleon was born there and was, intially, a supporter of Paoli. When his time came, however, he pretty much let the island go to ruin as he got distracted by all things French and aspirations to European dominance.
For an island with a population of 330,000, Corsica has an incredibly long and rich history. Honestly, go have a read. It feels like the sort of place that is deserving of buying a history book and learning more. Yeay Corsica!
Stamp of the Day 