Venetian decline and Campo Formio

The Treaty of Campo Formio ended the First Coalition and divided Venetian territory between France and Austria. Venice's weakness also followed from changing trade routes that let Portuguese, Ottoman, Dutch, British, and French commerce bypass its Levantine middleman role. The republic faced the costly transition from a galley-based navy to the infrastructure required for sailing ships of the line. Repeated defence of Corfu and the other Ionian islands imposed a further burden as those possessions ceased to produce returns proportionate to their cost. By the time French troops arrived, Venice's surrender reflected centuries of strategic and economic attrition rather than one failure of courage.