Napoleon Bonaparte, the great founder of the modern centralised French state, was, of course, from Corsica. Thus it is ironic that the political future of the island should have become such a test case for the integrity and reform of that state. The issue has sharply divided President Jacques Chirac and the prime minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, following the agreement last summer to allow the Corsicans limited autonomy.
The latest exchanges between them have identified alternative visions of a republican France which echo debates in other large European states under pressure from sub-national demands for decentralisation and transfers of sovereignty to the supranational European Union. Mr Chirac and many members of his centre-right support base believe such concessions to Corsica set precedents for other regions such as Alsace, Brittany and the French Basque country which would endanger the very integrity of the French state. It must be borne in mind how profoundly the French have relied on centralism in pursuit of republican integrity. Cultural and political distinctiveness have been systematically given second place to unity by assimilation - often ruthlessly so. That goes back to the Jacobin and Napoleonic traditions, which themselves drew on the statist methods characteristic of the seventeenth and eighteenth century absolute monarchies.
The Jospin plan came after intensive negotiations with Corsican nationalists and 25 years of often violent protests on the island and was approved by the representative assembly there. It would give several autonomous powers, including teaching the Corsican language in schools, exemption from inheritance tax for ten years and, from 2004, the right to alter certain French legislation without the approval of the National Assembly in Paris. The Council of State has raised objections to these powers, which Mr Chirac has invoked to delay their consideration by the cabinet.
Mr Jospin objects that his government is determined to implement the plan and underlines that it forms part of a wider reform project for the French state which will be a central part of his platform in next year's presidential elections when he challenges Mr Chirac.
Mr Jospin firmly believes such reforms are the best way to maintain the integrity of France by heading off demands for independence. Much the same case has been argued about devolution in the United Kingdom or by Spanish political leaders in favour of their substantial regional autonomies.
But both of these states illustrate how thin is the line between autonomy and the growing demands for greater decentralised powers and how divisive this can be between - and within -the mainstream political parties. The Corsican case therefore becomes much more important than its small population might lead one to believe. As in the Spanish Basque country, the Belfast Agreement has influenced consideration of the issues at stake in Corsica and elsewhere in France among communities expecting to make a precedent of what is agreed there.