Canton of Raetia

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Kanton Rätien (de)
Cantone Raetia (it)
Canton of Raetia

1798 – 1803


Flag	Coat of arms

The Helvetic Republic, as at the constitution of 12 April 1798, showing the canton of Raetia in dark pink at the rightmost extreme. The grey hatched area to Raetia's south is Chiavenna, Valtellina and Bormio, now the Italian province of Sondrio, annexed to the Cisalpine Republic in 1797.

Capital

Chur

History

- Cisalpine Rep. established

June 29, 1797

- Chiavenna, Valtellina and
Bormio annexed to
Cisalpine Republic

October 10, 1797

- Helv. Rep. proclaimed

April 12, 1798

- Canton established

April 21, 1799

- Helv. Rep. disestablished

February 19, 1803

Raetia was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, corresponding to modern Graubünden and composed of the Free State of the Three Leagues. Until 1799, the canton was administered by the central government of the Helvetic Republic.

The districts of Chiavenna, Valtellina and Bormio, previously dependencies of the Leagues, were never a part of the canton, having permanently been detached from the Leagues after Revolutionary France fomented revolt there, leading them to be annexed to the Cisalpine Republic on October 10, 1797. The districts subsequently joined the Austrian client kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia after the Congress of Vienna and eventually become the Italian province of Sondrio. The town of Campione was detached from the Landvogtei of Lugano at the same time, leading to its current position as an Italian enclave within Ticino.

With the Napoleonic Act of Mediation in 1803, the canton was reestablished as Graubünden, finally incorporating the Three Leagues into a decentralised, federal Switzerland.