 From 1794 through 1796 the armies of the French Republic used the road through Albenga to enter Lombardy and the Po Valley in their war against the Austrians.The ideological fervor of the troops and their leaders stimulated local rebellions in Liguria against the governing aristocracy.In June 1797 a civil war broke out in Genoa, which, under the inspiration of General Napoleon Bonaparte, led to the establishment of the Ligurian Republic, of which Albenga became a member.