March 1860, Treaty of Turin, the County of Nice is almost entirely ceded to France following the Franco-Piedmontese alliance against Austria in 1859. Despite growing popular disapproval leading to marked hostility, the villages of Tende and La Brigue, along with some other territories, are retained by Italy for reasons publicly declared to be whimsical, namely the insistence of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel, on preserving his hunting grounds. In reality, thanks to these lands, the Italian state and Cavour have a significant strategic advantage with crests and passes.
On the side of the population, the people of Tende and La Brigue remain in constant contact with Nice, which has become French, either for family reasons or for practical reasons, as connections with Piedmont are difficult in winter, and customs facilities are therefore accepted. However, Tende and La Brigue and their Upper Roya are enclosed, and the isolation of these two microcosms makes the economic situation delicate to the point that until the Great War, Franco-Italian relations will move towards openness, notably with the Tende Pass tunnel (1882), the railway passing through Tende since 1913, and the construction of the border station located at St-Dalmas.
All these efforts made and realized, holding negotiations between France and Italy, the rise to power of the Mussolini regime will harden the customs, and the system of fascism will extend to the two communes. Restrictions on movement, fortifications of strategic crests, increased taxation, and extensive logging will be complemented by the annexations of Fontan and Saorge, rendering relations with Nissa challenging. The war is in full swing, subjecting the people of Tende and La Brigue to the wrath of a precarious economic and human situation. Gradually, Dr. Paschetta and his dissertation, an article published in the “Combat de Nice” and taken up by the CDI of the Alpes-Maritimes, push for the creation of a study committee for the rectification of the Franco-Italian border in the department, on September 15, 1944. The provisional government led by Charles de Gaulle and Foreign Minister Georges Bidault examine the dossier, particularly focusing on the fate of the two communes of Roya after the two leaders received communiqués from a lobbying group for the attachment of Tende and La Brigue to France, chaired by the Brigasque Aimable Gastaud and composed of locals.
On April 26, 1945, Upper Roya is liberated, the attachment movement strengthens, and in general euphoria, the committee gathers, organizes, and advocates for a vote that will express the wish to see the two Italian hamlets join France. Current affairs are then managed by a provisional French administration, and the municipality is led by Committee members, but under Anglo-Saxon pressure, French troops once again give way to the Italian authorities, with Francophobic reactions against French supporters beginning to emerge. In this oppressive and hostile climate to progress, Paris will attempt to resolve this chronic dispute by signing the saving treaty on February 10, 1947, making Tende and La Brigue French territories (as well as Piene and Libre) with Pierre Dalmasso and Aimable Gastaut as mayors of Tende and La Brigue. As for the franc, the French currency will only appear in 1952… only to disappear 50 years later.
Article written by Olivier Fazio
