Short answers, pulled from the story.
Pasquale Paoli founded the Corsican Republic, proclaiming it in July 1755. He sought independence from the Republic of Genoa and went on to draft the Corsican Constitution, the first constitution written in the Italian language.
Women who were heads of their families are reported to have voted in national elections under the Corsican Republic, and women had traditionally voted in local village elections for podestà and other officials. France revoked these suffrage provisions after taking control of the island in 1769.
The republic fell in May 1769 at the Battle of Ponte Novu, where Paoli's forces were defeated by the vastly superior French army commanded by the Comte de Vaux. Genoa had sold its claim to Corsica to France by the Treaty of Versailles in 1768, and France formally made Corsica a province in 1770.
Paoli's ideas of independence, democracy, and liberty aligned with Enlightenment principles championed by Rousseau, Voltaire, Raynal, and Mably, all of whom lent support to his project. James Boswell's 1768 publication An Account of Corsica spread Paoli's fame further throughout Europe.
Alexander Hamilton was among the students at New York's King's College, now Columbia University, who formed a militia group originally called "The Corsicans" in tribute to the republic. The group later renamed itself Hearts of Oak, but the original name reflected admiration for the Corsican Republic as a model for American independence.
Italian remained the official language of Corsica until 1859, ninety years after France crushed the Corsican Republic and took control of the island in 1769-1770.