but recently
In 1769, when Napoleon was born, Corsica had but recently been acquired by France.

If there is no 'but recently', does the meaning change?

(source : The Elements of Style)

Question

but recently
In  1769, when Napoleon was born, Corsica had but recently been acquired by France.

If there is no 'but recently', does the meaning change?

(source : The Elements of Style)

Answer

Hi! Here the word "but" means "just", so "but recently" means "just recently/very recently". The sentence is saying that Corsica had been acquired by France very shortly after Napoleon was born and the "very shortly after Napoleon was born" part is shown by using the phrase "but recently".If you remove the phrase "but recently" from the sentence, it will become less emphatic and doesn't mean that conquering Corsica happened shortly after Napolean's birth.