 Attempting to gain control of key Alpine passes and establish a buffer against hostile monarchies, France first invaded associates of the Swiss Confederation; part of the bishopric of Basel was absorbed by France in 1793.In 1797, Napoleon annexed the Valtellina (on the border with Graubünden) into the new Cisalpine Republic in northern Italy and invaded the southern remainder of the bishopric of Basel.In 1798 the confederacy was invaded by the French Revolutionary Army at the invitation of the Republican faction in Vaud, led by Frédéric-César de La Harpe.