CroatisationorCroatization (Serbo-Croatian:kroatizacija, hrvatizacija, pohrvaćenje;Italian:croatizzazione) is a process ofcultural assimilation, and its consequences, in which people or lands ethnically only partiallyCroatian or non-Croatian become Croatian.
Even with a predominant Croatian majority,Dalmatia retained relatively large Italian-speaking communities in the coastal cities. ManyDalmatian Italians looked with sympathy towards theRisorgimento movement that fought for theunification of Italy.[1][better source needed] However, after 1866, when theVeneto andFriuli regions were ceded by theAustrians to the newly formedKingdom of Italy, Dalmatia remained part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic. This triggered the gradual rise ofItalian irredentism among many Italians in Dalmatia, who demanded the unification of theAustrian Littoral,Fiume and Dalmatia with Italy. As Italian was the language of administration, education, the press, and theAustrian navy before 1859, people who wished to acquire higher social standing and separate from theSlav peasantry becameItalians.[2] In the years after 1866, Italians lost their privileges inAustria-Hungary, their assimilation of the Slavs came to an end, and they found themselves under growing pressure by other rising nations; with therising Slav tide after 1890,italianized Slavs reverted to being Croats.[2] Austrian rulers found use of the racial antagonism and financed Slav schools and promoted Croatian as the official language, and many Italians chose voluntary exile.[2]
During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, EmperorFranz Joseph I of Austria outlined a wide-ranging project aimed at theGermanization orSlavization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:[3]
His Majesty expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work inSouth Tyrol,Dalmatia andLittoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard. His Majesty calls the central offices to the strong duty to proceed in this way to what has been established.
Dalmatia, especially its maritime cities, once had a substantial local Italian-speaking population (Dalmatian Italians). According to Austrian censuses, the Italian speakers in Dalmatia formed 12.5% of the population in 1865,[6] but this was reduced to 2.8% in 1910.[7] The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major coastal cities. In the city ofSplit in 1890 there were 1,971 Dalmatian Italians (9% of the population), inZadar 7,672 (27%), inŠibenik 1,090 (5%), inKotor 646 (12%) and inDubrovnik 356 (3%).[8] In other Dalmatian localities, according to Austrian censuses, Italians experienced a sudden decrease: in the twenty years 1890-1910, inRab they went from 225 to 151, inVis from 352 to 92, inPag from 787 to 23, completely disappearing in almost all inland locations.
There are several reasons for the decrease of the Dalmatian Italian population following the rise ofEuropean nationalism in the 19th century:[9]
While Slavic-speakers made up 80-95% of the Dalmatia populace,[10] only Italian language schools existed until 1848,[11] and due to restrictive voting laws, the Italian-speaking aristocratic minority retained political control of Dalmatia.[12] Only after Austria liberalised elections in 1870, allowing more majority Slavs to vote, did Croatian parties gain control. Croatian finally became an official language in Dalmatia in 1883, along with Italian.[13] Yet minority Italian-speakers continued to wield strong influence, since Austria favoured Italians for government work, thus in the Austrian capital of Dalmatia,Zara, the proportion of Italians continued to grow, making it the only Dalmatian city with an Italian majority.[14]
BothItalian andCroatian were recognized as official languages in Dalmatia until 1909, when Italian lost its official status, thus it could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.[15] After theWorld War I, Dalmatia was annexed toKingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Italian community underwent a policy of forced Croatisation.[16]The majority of the Italian Dalmatian minority decided to transfer in the Kingdom of Italy.[17]
During theItalian occupation of Dalmatia in World War II, it was caught in the ethnic violence towards non-Italians during fascist repression. What remained of the Italian community in Dalmatia fled the area after World War II during theIstrian–Dalmatian exodus:[18] from 1947, after the war, Dalmatian Italians were subject by Yugoslav authorities to forms of intimidation, such as nationalization, expropriation, and discriminatory taxation,[19] which gave them little option other than emigration.[20][21][22]
In 2001 about 500 Italians were counted in Dalmatia. In particular, according to the official Croatian census of 2011, there are 83 Italians inSplit (equal to 0.05% of the total population), 16 inŠibenik (0.03%) and 27 inDubrovnik (0.06%).[23] According to the official Croatian census of 2021, there are 63 Italians inZadar (equal to 0.09% of the total population).[24]
The Croatisation duringIndependent State of Croatia (NDH) was aimed primarily towards Serbs, and to a lesser degree, towards Jews and Roma. TheUstaše aim was a "pure Croatia" and the main target was the ethnic Serb population ofCroatia,Bosnia andHerzegovina. The ministers of NDH announced the goals and strategies of the Ustaše in May 1941. The same statements and similar or related ones were also repeated in public speeches by single ministers, such asMile Budak inGospić and, a month later, byMladen Lorković.[25]
ACroatian Orthodox Church was established in order to try and pacify the state as well as to Croatisize the remaining Serb population once the Ustaše realized that the complete eradication of Serbs in the NDH was unattainable.[26]
Notable individuals, of Croatian origin, partiallyMagyarized through intermarriages and thenCroatized again, include families:
Nel 1909 l'uso della lingua italiana viene proibito negli uffici dello Stato.[In 1909 the use of the Italian language was prohibited in the offices of the State]
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