Illyrian Provinces
| Illyrian Provinces Provinces illyriennes |
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| Autonomous province of the French Empire | ||||||
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| Capital | Laybach (Ljubljana) | |||||
| History | ||||||
| • | Treaty of Schönbrunn | 1809 | ||||
| • | Disestablished | 1816 | ||||
The Illyrian Provinces (French: Provinces illyriennes) was a short-lived autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire, established in 1809 on the territories along the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea, which had been conquered in the War of the Fifth Coalition. Its capital was established at Ljubljana (Laybach). The name "Illyrian" was used to refer to ancient Illyrian tribes who once lived in the area and constitutes a Neoclassicist relabeling of the Dalmatian coast, which was known as Illyria in antiquity.
The first occupation of the Slovene Lands in the Habsburg Monarchy by the French Revolutionary Army after the Battle of Tarvis in March 1797, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte, had caused huge civil disturbances. The French troops under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte tried to calm the worried and scared population by issuing special public notices that were published also in the Slovene language. During the withdrawal of the French army, the commanding general Bonaparte and his escort made a stop in Ljubljana on April 28, 1797. Upon the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz and the Peace of Pressburg, French troops once again occupied parts of Slovene territory. Supply of the French troops and steep war dues were a huge burden for the population of the occupied territories. The foundation of the provincial brigades in June 1808 and extensive preparations for the new war did not stop Napoleon's Grande Armée, which completely defeated the Austrian troops at the Battle of Wagram on July 6, 1809.
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