It seems that the Corsican people, at least historically, have much closer ties to Italy than France, both culturally and linguistically, so got me wondering?
How did the annexation go over originally?
Was there notable rise in irredentism during the Risorgimento?
If not... why? If so, how strong was it? Mostly just talk or did France have to fight at all to preserve their hold?
Has much changed in that regards over the span of the 20th century?
There has been what could be a mild, or "soft" terrorist campaign on Corsica for decades, which has, on occasion been much harder. These have included bombing campaigns aimed at government and military buildings and installations, and some assassinations and incidents of armed violence resulting in fatalities. There has been a long standing and ongoing campaign of painting out French text on roadsigns etc and replacing them with Corsican, rather like the similar campaign in Vlaandern, and as happened in Wales in the 1960's and 1970's. There is a very strong Corsican nationalist movement, indeed, several organisations. These include Corsican Regionalist Action, the National Liberation Front of Corsica, the Party of the Corsican Nation, and Corsica Libera. There was, of course, an attempt by the "Corsican Patriot", Paoli, to detach Corsica from France during the Revolution.
One thing, didn't the French buy Corsica? Does the term annexation still apply?