This secret Franco-Sardinian pact secured passage rights and military cooperation that directly enabled French intervention in Italy during the War of the Polish Succession.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 26 September 1733
- Type
- Secret bilateral treaty
- French signatory
- Louis XV of France
- Sardinian signatory
- Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
- Territory promised to Sardinia
- Duchy of Milan
- Conflict enabled
- War of the Polish Succession
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Charles Emmanuel III sought French military backing to acquire the Duchy of Milan, while France needed safe overland passage through Savoy to project power into the Italian peninsula. Both parties found mutual benefit in a secret arrangement that could reshape Italian territorial control amid the broader dynastic contest of the War of the Polish Succession.
On 26 September 1733, Louis XV of France and Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia signed the secret Treaty of Turin. France pledged military support for Sardinian conquest of the Duchy of Milan; in return, Sardinia granted French forces transit rights through Savoy for operations targeting the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The treaty opened an Italian front in the War of the Polish Succession, allowing French armies to operate across the peninsula with Sardinian cooperation. It redrew expectations over Italian territorial distribution and strengthened the Franco-Sardinian alliance, setting conditions for subsequent peace negotiations that would alter Italian political boundaries.
Political Outcome
Secret alliance formed; France gained transit rights through Savoy, Sardinia was promised the Duchy of Milan, enabling coordinated military operations in Italy.
France lacked overland access to Italian territories; Sardinia sought Milan without sufficient military backing.
France secured Italian transit rights; Sardinia gained a powerful military ally committed to supporting its claim over the Duchy of Milan.