To define the territory of the Savoy amounts following, using a topographic chart, the watersheds which define the basins slopes of the tops of the the Alps in the Léman and its Rhone-native outfall, even on the slopes is Massif of Chartreuse. In its center, on the same principle, the six intra-alpine large valleys delimit what will become the six historical provinces of Savoy, the Savoy Propre, the Maurienne, the Tarentaise, the French Chablais, the Genevois, and the Faucigny.

The History of Savoy merges with that of its Masters resulting from the Maison of Savoy, appeared dice the 11th century, with Humbert with the White Hands, first Count, in Maurienne. Limited to this valley, future the Maison of Savoy increases politically and territorialement progressively alliances and combat. It obtains in 1416 the ducal title with Amédée VIII of Savoy, legitimating at the European level the role geostrategic of its territory which was worth with its sovereigns the nickname of Portiers of the Alps . Looking at more and more “beyond the mounts”, the Maison of Savoy forsakes Savoy with the profit of its Italian policy, making it pass from cradle of the family to the one of the components of the States of Savoy.

The history of Savoy is often limited to the six historical provinces integrated into the two French communities which are the Savoy and the Haute-Savoie, sometimes it accompanies its sovereigns in a universal history.

See also: Chronology of Savoy

Protohistoire

The retreat of the glaciations on the alpine territories date between 13.000 and 7.000 years before our era, from where a late occupation in the area. The first archaeological excavations of the 19th century updated several attesting sites or layers the human presence in Savoy (Magdalénien, then Azélien). The first nomads are mainly present in the tectonic foreland (approximately 600 m of altitude), Saint-Thibaud-with-Couz, the caves of Saint-Christophe-the-Cave, in Chartreuse, and the shelters - under - rock of Balme-with-Thuy, in Genevois, dating between -11.000 and -5.000.

With the Neolithic (between -5.000 and - 2.500), of the sedentary communities is installed in these regions, in particular lake villages on the lake of the Léman, Annecy, the Le Bourget or of Aiguebelette. The conditions being more favorable, the men colonize also more high-altitudes as attests it the discovery of a vase with Bozel (800 m) in 1909, dated of the average Neolithic era. Other traces attest of an increasingly high occupation with the presence of stones to cups in the valleys of Tarentaise or Maurienne, as well as necropoles. Thus at Lanslevillard (in Maurienne), the excavations updated of the Nécropole S with the localities Skilful the , gone back to Tène, just as of the traces of Cupule S with more than 2.000, just as in Tarentaise, on the commune of Saint-Martin-of-Belleville, with the hamlet Villarenger, the Pierre with the Owls . With the Collar of the Small-Saint-Bernard (2 188 m), one can also observe a quarentaine Menhir S.

The first Celtic migrations colonize Savoy only from before J. - C. Among these people, in fact the Allobroges occupy almost the whole of the plains préalpines and in particular the surroundings of Geneva, of Lémenc (near Chambéry). More inside the grounds, in the intra-alpine valleys, one finds the Ceutrons in Tarentaise and Faucigny, as well as the Médulles and the Graiocèles in the high-valley of the Arc. According to certain sources, Ligures would be them also present dice before J. - C. in Beaufortain and the high-valley of the Isere. " First gatekeepers of the Alps, Medullas and Ceutrons control the copper, amber, iron trafice organized through the large Alpine collars. " and this until the romanisation.

Antiquity

Roman Savoy

The contact with the romanisation goes up with the hypothetical passage by the Alps of the army of Hannibal into -218, that the mountain tribes would have helped. However, the Roman interest for this area delays until Allobroges and of the Arvernes come to lend strong hand to the Celto-Ligurians of Provence, into 122, against Marseilles, it even helped by the Romans. This conflict is a failure for the Celto-Ligurians. The Romans, who started the conquest of the country of the Allobroges (or Allobrogie), towards -125 with the passage by the Col of Montgenèvre by the Fulvius consul, are carried out by the consul Q. Fabius Maximus and they demolish Allobroges into -121. This area is incorporated in the Narbonaise. Only the three intra-alpine large valleys of the Maurienne, the Tarentaise and the Faucigny remain unoccupied.

Allobrogie is raised again, in before J. - C., with Catugnat, " the chief of the whole nation of Allobroges". The army allobroges is beaten into -61 by the Dominius consul.

The tender of the whole of the alpine territories accelerates. The Tarentaise and the Faucigny, country of the Ceutrons become the province of the the Alps Graies or Grées. Axima (today Likes) becomes the capital about it, under the name of Forum Claudii Ceutronum , in the year -42. The Maurienne made up of Médulles belongs to the province of the the Alps Cottiennes, with for capital Suse (the king Cottius becomes prefect of the province). The arc of Suse (9 av. J. - C.) and the Trophy of Turbie (6 av. J. - C.), above Nice, celebrate the victory of the Roman legions over the people of the Alps.

In 171, the administrative reform and territorial with for consequence unification of the provinces of the the Alps Graies and the the Alps Pennines (canton of the Were worth). Again in 286, a new reorganization amalgamates the the Alps Graies and of the the Alps Pennines, and the Viennese, and old Allobrogie, becomes a province with for capital Vienna (with the detriment of the province of the Narbonnese).

Towards 290, the " legion thébaine" has as an order to kill the population of Octodure (Martigny). Among the legionaries refusing this treatment, the Martyr Maurice d' Agaune (future Maurice saint), which becomes patron saint of the family of Savoy (with the creation of the Ordre of the Saints Maurice-and-Lazare). The site where this revolted legion disappeared sees the establishment of a abbey into 515.

Burgondes

Towards 443, the Roman general Aetius concedes the Sapaudia with German people , the Burgondes, originating in the Main. Burgondes form a first kingdom, the Burgondie, from 435 to 534, fixing their capital at Geneva which they burn and which they rebuild. In 502, the king burgonde Gondebaud writes a code of law known as of Loi gombette (collection of Germanic laws strongly influenced by the Roman law).

In 534, in the construction of their kingdom, the Frank via wire of Clovis, Childebert and Clotaire, annexes the Burgondie, before conquering the Provence. However, the Mérovingiens leave the management of the territory to the first counts, Burgondes or Gallo-Romans. The Burgondie finds even a kind of autonomy during the period.

With the Carolingian , Savoy takes form. At the time of the passage of Charlemagne in Savoy (left to subject the Lombards), the évêché of Moûtiers becomes Archevêché, on which from now on Aoste depends, the Valais (of which the abbey of Saint-Maurice) and Suze, corresponding to the old Roman province of the the Alps Pennines. Charlemagne also benefits from it to divide Savoy into counties whose names and contours always correspond to the traditional provinces of the Savoy Propre, of the Maurienne, the Tarentaise, the Chablais, the Genevois, the Faucigny and the Albanian. With the division of the Empire (Treated of Verdun, 843), Savoy is allotted to the kingdom of Lothaire. Vis-a-vis the difficult successions, a new kingdom of Burgondie septentrional is born.

During this period, Savoy undergoes invasions sarrasines. Novalaise, Geneva is plundered and set fire to. “If the invasions of Buckwheats occupy a place unfortunately too real in annals of Western Europe, the romantic role which they play in the records of this region is differently broad still” (Henri Ménabréa). Thus in Maurienne some fables circulate, in particular about the ethymology of the name of the province. The kingdom burgonde survives these passages. The last king, Rodolphe II of Burgundy, brings his kingdom closer to the Saint Germanic Roman Empire. He chooses for successor a descendant of Othon, Conrad II, to which he sends the lance of Saint-Maurice, mystical symbol of the royalty burgonde. For the Empire this territory means the control of the Western Alps and the Mount-Cenis (by where the Via Francigena passes, road of the pilgrimage between Canterbury and Rome), carries Italy.

The fight of accession to the capacity between Conrad and the count de Champagne make it possible the ancestor of future the Maison of Savoy to appear. However, Savoy becomes ground of Empire in 1032.

The Middle Ages

Counts of Savoy

A lord of the name of Humbert (v. 980-v. 1048), called White-hands (according to the sources, affiliated with the powerful comtale family of Arles, marquis de Provence and relative many dignitaries of the clergy), appear about 1003. Lord of strongholds in Genevese, Tarentaise, Valley of Aoste (1034), in the Viennese and the valley of the the Rhone, it obtains the title of count (without precise details), then that of count in Maurienne in 1039. His/her son, Odon or Othon, marries the countess Adélaïde de Suse, in 1045, allowing Savoy the seizure on the valley of Suse and the Piedmont.

The territory of Savoy is divided by other important seigniories which future the Maison of Savoy will have to take into account: the Counts de Genève, barons of Faucigny then the counts d' Albon (heirs to the Faucigny), the bishop of Geneva, counts of Chablais, the counts de Belley, the counts de Sermorens, the counts de Grésivaudan…

Its successors obtain the possessions of the Bugey and the Marquisat d' Ivrée in 1077, at the time of the passage of the emperor Henri IV. Amédée III receives the title of count de Savoie , in 1143.

Deceased at the time of the Third crusade, Humbert III is made bury with the Abbaye of Hautecombe (founded in 1139). Towards 1150, appearance of the blazon of mouths to the money cross, replacing the eagle of kings de Bourgogne.

In 1232, the comtale family buys Chambéry which becomes the capital of the counts de Savoie, the acquisition of the castle (1295) until the French conquest and its transfer to Turin in 1536.

In 1248, crumbling of the Mount-Granier forming the Abysses of Myans.

About 1350, Savoy extends from the country of Vaud (1244) to the Piedmont, of the Bresse (1266) to the Valais. Amédée VI continues the territorial unit with obtaining the Faucigny, the Beaufortain and part of the Bresse and baronnie of Gex, by the treated of Paris in 1355. Territorial construction is completed by the purchase of the Genevois (1401).

Dynastic list of the counts de Savoie

  • v. 1047 - v. 1051: Amédée I {{er}}, wire of the precedent
  • v. 1051 - v. 1060: Othon I {{er}}, brother of the precedent
  • v. 1060 - v. 1078: Pierre I {{er}}, wire of the precedent
  • v. 1078 - 1094: Amédée II (v. 1048-1094), brother of the precedent
  • 1094 - 1103: Humbert II (death in 1103), wire of the precedent
  • 1103 - 1149: Amédée III (v. 1095 - August 30th, 1149), wire of the precedent, died at the time of the Second crusade
  • 1149 - 1189: Humbert III (1136-1189), wire of the precedent
  • 1189 - 1233: Thomas I {{er}} (v. 1177-1233), wire of the precedent
  • 1233 - 1253: Amédée IV (1197-1253), wire of the precedent
  • 1253 - 1263: Boniface '' the Roland '' (1244-1263), wire of the precedent
  • 1263 - 1268: Pierre II (v. 1203-1268), uncle of the precedent
  • 1268 - 1285: Philippe I {{er}} (1207-1285), brother of the precedent
  • 1285 - 1323: Amédée V '' Large the '' (v. 1249-1323), nephew of the precedent
  • 1323 - 1329: Edouard '' the Liberal '' (1284-1329), wire of the precedent
  • 1329 - 1343: Aymon '' the Pacific '' (1291-1343), brother of the precedent
  • 1343 - 1383: Amédée VI '' the green Count '' (1334-1383), wire of the precedent
  • 1383 - 1391: Amédée VII '' the red Count '' (1360-1391), wire of the precedent
  • 1391 - 1416: Amédée VIII '' the Pacific '' (1383-1451), wire of the precedent

The principality

At the 13th century, the House of Savoy has ten Baillif S: Clean Savoy, whose chief town is Montmélian (and not Chambéry); Chablais (Castle of Chillon); Country of Vaud (Moudon); Valley of Suse (Avigliana); Valley of Aoste (Châtel-Money Villeneuve); Bugey - Valromey (Castle of Rossillon /Saint-Germain); Novalaise (Voiron); Bresse (Borough); Viennese, until 1355, (Saint-Georges-with Espéranche); after 1355, Valbonne (Castle of Montluel) and Faucigny (Châtillon/Cluses); since 1402 Genevese (Annecy).

Abbey foundations

According to the European movement, abbeys reformed (bénédictines, cistercians, augustines, chartreuses) appear a little everywhere in Savoy, on banks of the lakes or in the small valleys of the Préalpes, becoming development centres agricultural, artisanal and cultural.

Duchy and Kingdom of Savoy (1416 to 1792)

See also: History of Savoy of 1416 to 1792

In 1416, Savoy surrounded of the duchies of Milan and Burgundy, Dauphine French, obtains, with Amédée VIII '' the Pacific '' the statute of duchy of the Empire. In 1418, the duke of Savoy inherits the Italian province of the Piedmont. The Maison of Savoy has the control of the collars and passages of the Valais to the the Mediterranean. Between monarchies French, Germanic, Spanish or Austrian, the Savoyard sovereigns by their alliances become impossible to circumvent in Europe. In the legislative field, the Statuts of Savoy put order in the inextricable maquis of the local customs and habits. It is the apogee of the States of Savoy.

The end of the reign of Amédée VIII opens one period of decline which will perdurera at least until 1630. This decline rises mainly from impossibility for the duchy of being maintained with the variation conflicts between European great powers. Savoy will know 5 French occupations; respectively in 1536-1553, 1600-1601, 1630-31, 1690-96 and 1703-1713, a Spanish occupation in 1742-49, without counting the occupation of the Chablais by the Bernese between 1590 and 1600. In fact France does not want the annexation of Savoy, but except for this one, the duchy is gradually seen stripping of all its possessions in the west of the Alps: Bresse and Bugey and in the north of the lake Léman: Was worth and Geneva, so that the center of gravity of the duchy slips more and more of with dimensions Italian and this slip leads in 1563 to the official displacement of the capital with Turin at the expense of Chambéry (removal in fact since 1536). The amalgam between Savoy and Piedmont will never be made really, undoubtedly more for cultural reasons that geographical: Savoy belongs to the French surface whereas Piedmont is Italian.

When part of Europe is gained by the Reform, Savoy mainly remains catholic, even if at the time of its occupation by the Berneses, in 1538, Chablais has one moment rocked in the other camp the Counter-Reformation is symbolized by François de Sales, former lawyer and intellectual brilliance become bishop who undertakes to reconquer Chablais.

Even when peace is established in a durable way, Savoy remains a poor country where the majority of the country population often lives in precariousness. As from the 16th century, the emigration directed towards the south of Germany and Lyon becomes a tradition. The village identity remains very strong and is based in particular on the relatively important importance of the communal goods.

In 1713, Victor-Amédée II receives the crown of Sicily which it exchanges with the Sardinia. Henceforth, the States of Savoy will be called Royaume of Sardinia or " Kingdom sarde". Victor-Amédée II who belongs to the generation of the enlightened despotic manages his States healthily and implements a batch of reforms of which some are in advance over their time, like the Sardinian Mappe, a land register on the scale 1:2400, intended to improve the taking away of the tax.

Its successor, Victor-Amédée III of Sardinia allows the Savoyard communities to repurchase part of the seigneuriaux rights, which involves a certain rancour of the nobility.

Territories of the Duchy

Until 1780, principal the bailliages becomes Judicature S magi: Clean Savoy, Maurienne, Tarentaise, Genevese, Faucigny, Chablais and bailliages of Ternier and Gaillard. Beyond, it is necessary to count Carouge like new province, made up of part of the Genevese and bailliages of Ternier and Gaillard.

French Savoy of 1792 to 1815

See also: History of Savoy of 1792 to 1815

In 1792, the French again pass the borders, it acts this time of the revolutionists. An National Assembly of Allobroges at this meeting in Chambéry requests the meeting of Savoy from France. Savoy and its six provinces become the department of Mont Blanc, on November 27th, 1792 (a part will form with Geneva in 1798 the department of Léman). The republican laws apply in Savoy, however the civil Constitution of the clergy is badly accepted. In 1794, the representative of the Convention Antoine Louis Albitte called the “Savoyard Robespierre”, fights the enemies of the Revolution, but in the final analysis, the guillotines built for the occasion are not used. On the other hand, repression against the refractory priests lasts until the Concordat of 1801. The period of the Empire represents one period of appeasing after the revolutionary upheaval, in spite of the conscription which remains unpopular. With the repurchase of the national goods, the town middle-class continues its rise started in the current of the 18th century. The fall of the Napoleonean Empire marks the return of Savoy in the monarchical bosom of the Maison of Savoy.

Buon governo and Risorgimento (1815 to 1860)

In June 1815 following the treated of Paris of 1815, Victor Emmanuel I {{er}}, brother of Charles-Emmanuel IV returns of his exile of Cagliari and recovers Piedmont and Savoy but must give the province of Carouge to the canton of Geneva (March 16th, 1816). The sovereign profits from a favorable a priori on behalf of the Savoyard ones which, while hating Piedmont, remains attached to the Maison of Savoy

The policy is summarized in a few words: One restores all measurements in force before 1792. In this mode which one calls the Buon governo (“good government”), the police force is extremely active, and the capacities of the army are increased. The clergy finds a strong position and restores a kind of a moral nature.

Gone up on the throne in 1831, Charles-Albert modernizes the kingdom and, in 1848 after demonstrations which had taken place in the main cities of the kingdom, grants a statuto - constitution -: one will speak about the Statut Albertin . Demonstrations had also proceeded in the Savoyard cities. Charles-Albert then embraces the cause of independence and the Italian unit. It is the beginning of the Risorgimento, important moment in the history of Italy, but which hardly relates to the Savoyard ones. In 1849, Charles-Albert abdicates in favor of his son Victor-Emmanuel II. The new king and his president of the Council Cavour will be the major craftsmen of the Italian unit.

The census of 1848 fact state of 582.924 inhabitants in Savoy, whereas that of 1858, with 542.258 inhabitants would tend to show a strong emigration between these two dates.

  • 1796 - 1802: Charles-Emmanuel IV (1751-1819), abdicates in 1802, wire of the precedent

  • 1802 - 1824: Victor-Emmanuel Ier (1759-1824), brother of the precedent
  • 1824 - 1831: Charles-Felix (1765-1831), brother of the precedents
  • 1831 - 1849: Charles-Albert (1798-1849), cousin far away from the precedents
  • 1849 - 1861: Victor-Emmanuel II (1820-1878), wire of the precedent

The Annexation of Savoy (1860)

With the Risorgimento , the populations of Savoy, mainly the elites, develop the idea that their sovereigns give up the cradle of their family by supporting the Piedmontese slope and Italy. They underline also a policy of administrative recruitments discriminatory in their opposition owing to the fact that they are French-speaking.

The July 21st 1858, the Sardinian minister Cavour meets the Emperor of the French Napoleon III, in cure with Plombières (the Vosges). At the time of this secret interview, Napoleon III agrees to help the Piedmont-Sardinia to unify Italy, provided that the Pape keeps under control Rome and that the Comté of Nice and the Savoy are yielded to France.

In April 1859, the Empire of Austria declares the war with the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia which provides weapons to Lombards. The Sardinians are victorious with Palestro and Montebello, but the French allies carry it with difficulty with Magenta (June 4th) and with Solferino (June 24th). Anxious, Napoleon III signs the armistice of Villafranca (July 8th). Cavour resigns and the transfer of Savoy and Nice does not appear any more to be with the day order. The opinion starts to be agitated on a probable French future. One considers the maintenance of the province in the Sardinian kingdom, even a fastening in Switzerland.

Vis-a-vis these ideas of partition of the province, the diplomacy is organized. The March 24th 1860, the Traité of Turin is signed, Savoy is from now on " rattachée" in France, under certain conditions and subject to the adhesion of the populations (requirement of the chancelleries Swiss and British).

April 1st, the king unties his Savoyard subjects of their oath of fidelity (royal renunciation). One decides on a date for the plebiscite, on April 22nd. In order to avoid the tensions in the septentrional territories of Savoy, it is decided to yes publish a special bulletin AND ZONE which corresponds to the ratification of the treaty of Turin, accompanied of the creation of a Grande Free zone in the North of Savoy. This vote is organized on the model of French voting (Only the men having reached the majority vote).

April 29th, the Court of Appeal of Chambéry proclaims the results:

See also: Treaty of Turin (1860)

See also: Annexation of Savoy

Contemporary Savoy (1860 at our days)

The Great War (1914-1918)

During the First World War, the neutralized zones of Savoy are not respected by France nor by some Savoyards which left according to the devoted expression " The flower with the fusil" thinking of carrying out a war of a few weeks at most. The Savoyard ones actually will pay a heavy tribute. The participation of Savoy in the First World War involves the disappearance of approximately 43.000 inhabitants of Savoy, on a total population of more or less 500.000 inhabitants, that is to say between 8% and 9% of the total population.

The business of the zones

In 1919, at the exit of the war, France chooses to denounce the treated of Turin by article 435 of the Traité of Versailles which removes the zone neutralized in Savoy and the great free zone however established at the time of the Annexation (edition of bulletins " yes and zone " in the Northern part of the duchy).

Later in 1932, the the International Court of Justice of $the Hague condemns France and invites it to position back the free zone (related directly to the conditions of annexation), in accordance with the former treaties then null and void 1815,1816 and 1829, that is to say 650 km ² , against 4.000 km ² in the treated annexation of 1860.

The Second world war

At the beginning of the Second world war, the face of the Alps remains relative with the shelter of the conflict. June 10th, 1940, whereas France is in fight against the German invader, Mussolini declares the war. Savoy will know the Italian occupation, then the German occupation.

The troops of Savoy fight primarily in Maurienne, Tarentaise and in the Vallée of the Rhone. Resistance in Savoy gathers mainly with the Plateau of Glières. The fights against the German army and the French militia know a fine tragedy. The plate of Glières will become a place in charge of the symbol of resistance.

In August and September 1944, Savoy is released by its resistant.

White revolutions

The mountain system rests on triple rationalized space organization: the bottom of the valleys remains strongly related to human development and with its activities (dwelling, circulation, industry, agriculture), the slopes either are left with the abandonment because of the uneven one, or of the sites of villages/large hamlets resting on a forestry undertaking and a mountain agriculture, finally the mountain divided into montagnettes attended by the stockbreeders of spring to the autumn, in mountain pastures where feed the herds and the high-mountain made up of stone and persistent snows associated with the glaciers.

This system is called into question with the industrial development of the end of the 19th century (hydro-electric power) and the development touritistic (white gold). However, as from the Sixties, the awakening of a fragile nature obliges the various actors, official and local, to protect this mountain space, in particular with the creation of the National park of Vanoise, in 1963 or of the Loi mountain (1983).

Hydro-electric power

The mountain system is called in question with the exploitation of the new mountain natural resources: the energy utilization produced by the water falls or Hydro-electric power. The invention of the Dynamo (1870) revolutionizes the use of the hydro-electric power. If this energy is already used locally by the populations in the sawmills along river, this technological innovation allows the development of a genuine industrial fabric, in particular in Tarentaise, Maurienne, in the Valley of Arly or Haut-Faucigny.

Benefitting from topography, one equips, initially, of the factories of transformation of metals (arriving by train) near the falls with low flow, then new technologies helping, near the rivers with more high banc. These pressure pipes (going sometimes up to 12 km) thus give rise to electrochemical industry and electrometallurgic. Actually, the establishment of factories in mountain medium is the consequence of the presence of an renewable energy with low costs, making it possible to compensate for the cost of transport of the raw materials until on the sites.

This industrial development upsets and transforms the local companies (appearance of new social organization with the workman-peasants) and puts a crushing argument at the Rural migration begun at the 19th century.

After war, the nationalization of electricity (1946), the loss of competition and the appearance of new forms of energy and especially the lack of place for the enlarging of the sites cause a crisis dice the Sixties. With main efforts, certain sites are maintained. Socially, the statute of workman-peasant disappears and is maintained only the workman. The effects on the landscape are visible, disappearance of the vines, appearances of waste lands agricultural…

Vis-a-vis this new crisis of the mountain medium, the local government agencies wonder about the development of new activities to mitigate this industrial retreat.

White gold

Tourism appears in Savoy with the “discovery” of the Alps at the 18th century. First of all limited in to Préalpes and hydrotherapy, the tourists dare the adventure while coming in the middle of the Alps.

As from the 20th century, the Stirs up S or the Alpage S open with new practices. The combinaise of an adequate topography, of a regular snowing up as of the will of certain actors allows Savoy a new dynamism: winter tourism and practice of the ski. The shy person development in basic stations of valleys, as with Chamonix, or of average altitudes, like Megève or Pralognan-la-Vanoise, is upset with official interventionism or of the local ciollectivities of the Sixties. A new type of station emerges - the integrated stations or station known as of " 3ère génération" - like Courchevel or Avoriaz.

Maintenance of the human activities and safeguarding of the environment

Vis-a-vis the increase in the number of tourists, degradations due to new installations and the saturation of the human activities in bottom of valleys, the French State decides to protect by Décret, that of the July 6th 1963, the spaces not-touched by this anthropisation. The National park of Vanoise (PNV) was born (during French of the National park of the Great Italian Paradise, created in 1922). It corresponds to the mountainous solid mass of the same name, ranging between the high-valley of the Arc (Maurienne) and the high-valley of the Isere (Tarentaise), with a surface of 52.840 ha. This first National park makes it possible to protect the fauna and the Flore by preventing any anthropisation from space, exception made with temporary habitats (refuges). This decree envisages a division of the park in two distinct territories, that of the high-mountain, the heart of the park, sanctuary par excellence, and that of the peripheral zone, leaving with the communes the freedom of the development because of the amputations related to this sanctuarisation in altitude. However, the tensions are important between the local populations, wishing to develop, the promoters, wishing to increase the skiables fields in high-altitudes (approx. 3000 m) and the managers of the park, guarantor of the protection and the safeguarding of natural spaces.

In addition, the " object; montagne" fact appears of fragile space to protect, as well from the point of view environmental as human. Savoy located mainly in alpine territory then appears as a national periphery to preserve so that it does not become a zone empty or reserved for the play activities as well estival as winter. The June 9th 1985 is promulgated the law of the n° 85-30 relating to the development and the protection of the mountain , said law mountain whose rapporteur is the Savoyard member of Parliament, Louis Besson. This text recognizes a “specificity of a space, its installation and its protection”, defining the mountain as “a zone where the living conditions are more difficult, thus slowing down the exercise of certain economic activities, amongst other things related on altitude, the climatic conditions and the strong slopes”. The town councilors thus obtain a new support for the development of their commune. In the same dash, with a prospect for “Sustainable development”, the area the Rhone-Alps sets up Regional natural parks whose the Massif from the Wallows in 1995 profits (Regional natural park of the Wallows).

Identity resurgence

If Savoy can prevail itself of a particular identity as a whole national, while becoming the last territory with the Comté of Nice to being attached to the Hexagon by the treated of Turin in 1860, the appearance of organized movements asserting a clean identity is rather late. Indeed, it is necessary to wait a few years after the celebrations of the centenary of the annexation, in the years 1960, to see appearing the first steps of movements cultural, regionalistic, like the Mouvement Area Savoy (1971) then the creation of an independence movement, the Savoyard Ligue, as from 1994.

The local political elites, members of Parliament or personalities, never were really interested by this debate. However, the récurence of the question of a Savoy area since the years 1970 obliges the latter to bring some answers. Thus dice 1983, two Savoyard general advices created the regional Agreement of Savoy , a supradépartemental public corporation having for competence tourist and patrimonial promotion local, the promotion of the products of the soil (Savoy Mark), the management of the subsidy of the University of Savoy as well as the support of religious organizations (of which the Orchestra of the Countries of Savoy). In 1999, following the emergence and the apogee of the movement Leagues Savoyard, the structure tries to counter this independence opening while making evolve/move the Agreement and while creating in 2001 the Assemblée of the Countries of Savoy.

See also: Savoyard Nationalism

Sources

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