Sardinia in the Plans of French Diplomacy During the Directory and Consulate of Napoleon Bonaparte (Based on the Notes of Consul A. Coffin From the Archives of the French Foreign Ministry)

French politicians began to show interest in the island of Sardinia quite early, in the first years of the Revolution. In 1792, after the outbreak of the war between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia, this interest acquired a new resonance, and in 1793, under pressure from some diplomats, merchants and politicians, a military expedition to Sardinia was undertaken. The article is devoted to the question of the attitude of French diplomacy during the Revolution and the Consulate to the idea of conquering the island. In historiography, this topic is covered very fragmentarily; in Italian historiography, the version about the autonomous development of the social and political crisis in Sardinia in 1793—1796 dominates, and the question of the role of France in the fate of the island is practically not touched upon. The author of the article shows that some of the sources – diplomatic reports of the French consul Antoine Coffin — have been very little used by historians, but contain vital information both about Sardinia itself and about the policy of revolutionary Paris towards the Sardinian Kingdom and its possessions in the Mediterranean. An analysis of these and similar synchronous sources allows us to conclude that: the French Directory considered the option of conquering Sardinia, but did not make great efforts towards this; First Consul Bonaparte was very cautious in his policy towards Sardinia and, despite all the obvious benefits of its conquest, did not dare to organize a new military expedition to the island; the reports and notes of the consul A. Coffin serve as a valuable source for us on the political history of the island of Sardinia, which, despite its tendentiousness, provides unique information on political conflicts, uprisings, autonomist tendencies of the elite and political leaders of the period 1793—1798.