Governorate of Dalmatia | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918–1943 | |||||||||||||||||
| Motto: FERT (Motto for the House of Savoy) | |||||||||||||||||
| Anthem: Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza[a] ("Royal March of Ordinance") | |||||||||||||||||
 The second Governorate of Dalmatia in 1941 | |||||||||||||||||
| Status | Provinces of theKingdom of Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital | |||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||||||
• 1918–1920 | Victor Emmanuel III | ||||||||||||||||
• 1941–1943 | Victor Emmanuel III | ||||||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||||||
• 1918–1920 | Enrico Millo | ||||||||||||||||
• 1941 | Athos Bartolucci | ||||||||||||||||
• 1941–1943 | Giuseppe Bastianini | ||||||||||||||||
• 1943 | Francesco Giunta | ||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | World War I andWorld War II | ||||||||||||||||
| 21 November 1918 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 November 1920 | |||||||||||||||||
| 18 May 1941 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 September 1943 | |||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
• Total | 5,242[2] km2 (2,024 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 1941 | 380,100 | ||||||||||||||||
• Density | 61.6[2]/km2 (159.5/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Italian lira | ||||||||||||||||
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TheGovernorate of Dalmatia (Italian:Governatorato di Dalmazia;Croatian:Guvernatorat Dalmacija) was an administrative division of theKingdom of Italy established in from 1918 to 1920 and from 1941 to 1943. The first Governorate of Dalmatia was established following the end ofWorld War I, given theLondon Pact (1915), and was disastablished following theTreaty of Rapallo. The London Pact also promised Italy part of Dalmatia (for the presence ofDalmatian Italians). However, both the peace settlement negotiations of 1919 to 1920 and theFourteen Points ofWoodrow Wilson, who advocatedself-determination, took precedence, with Italy being permitted to annex only Zadar from Dalmatia, with the rest of Dalmatia being part ofYugoslavia. Enraged Italian nationalists considered the decision to be a betrayal of the promises of the London Pact, so this outcome was denounced as a "mutilated victory".
The second Governorate of Dalmatia was established following the military conquest of YugoslavianDalmatia by GeneralVittorio Ambrosio, duringWorld War II. It had the provisional purpose of progressively importing Italian national legislation in Dalmatia in place of the previous one, thus fully integrating it into the Kingdom of Italy. It was a territory divided into threeprovinces of Italy during theFascist Italy andItalian Empire epoch. It was created as an entity in April 1941 at the start ofWorld War II in Yugoslavia, by uniting the existingprovince of Zara withoccupied Yugoslav territory annexed by Italy after theinvasion of Yugoslavia by theAxis powers and the signing of theRome Treaties.[3]
TheRepublic of Venice, between the9th century and 1797,extended its dominion toIstria, the islands ofKvarner andDalmatia, when it was conquered byNapoleon.[4] Istria and Dalmatia were then aggregated to theNapoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805, and annexed to theIllyrian Provinces in 1809 (for some years also theRepublic of Ragusa was included, since 1808).
After the fall ofNapoleon (1814) Istria, the islands of Kvarner and Dalmatia were annexed to theAustrian Empire.[5] From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Italian and Slavic communities in Dalmatia had lived peacefully side by side because they did not know the national identification, given that they generically defined themselves as "Dalmatians", of "Romance" or "Slavic" culture.[6]
Later, manyDalmatian Italians looked with sympathy towards theRisorgimento movement that fought for theunification of Italy. The first events that involved the Dalmatian Italians in the unification of Italy were therevolutions of 1848, during which they took part in the constitution of theRepublic of San Marco inVenice. The most notable Dalmatian Italians exponents who intervened wereNiccolò Tommaseo andFederico Seismit-Doda.[7] However, after 1866, when theVeneto andFriuli regions were ceded by theAustrians to the newly formedKingdom 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. The Italians in Dalmatia supported the Italian Risorgimento; as a consequence, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Slav communities of Dalmatia.
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:[8]
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.
— Franz Joseph I of Austria, Council of the Crown of 12 November 1866[9]
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,[10] but this was reduced to 2.8% in 1910.[11] The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major coastal cities. In the city ofSplit in 1890 there were 1,969 Dalmatian Italians (12.5% of the population), inZadar 7,423 (64.6%), inŠibenik 1,018 (14.5%), inKotor 623 (18.7%) and inDubrovnik 331 (4.6%).[12] In other Dalmatian localities, according to Austrian censuses, Dalmatian Italians experienced a sudden decrease; in the 20 years spanning 1890–1910, onRab they went from 225 to 151, onVis from 352 to 92, onPag from 787 to 23, and completely disappearing in virtually all the inland locations.
In 1909, theItalian language lost itsstatus as the official language of Dalmatia in favor of Croatian only (previously both languages were recognized); thus Italian could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.[13]
Dalmatia was a strategic region duringWorld War I that both Italy and Serbia intended to seize from Austria-Hungary. Italy joined theTriple EntenteAllies in 1915 upon agreeing to theLondon Pact that guaranteed Italy the right to annex the northern of Dalmatia in exchange for Italy's participation on the Allied side. From 5 to 6 November 1918, Italian forces were reported to have reachedVis,Lastovo,Šibenik, and other localities on the Dalmatian coast.[14] At the end of hostilities in November 1918, the Italian military hadseized control of the entire portion of Dalmatia that had been guaranteed to Italy by the London Pact, and by 17 November, it had seized Fiume as well.[15] In 1918, AdmiralEnrico Millo declared himself the Italian governor of Dalmatia.[15] TheItalian nationalistGabriele d'Annunzio supported the seizure of Dalmatia and proceeded to Zadar in an Italian warship in December 1918.[16]
The ships of theItalian Royal Navyoccupied the main Dalmatian ports, where they made contact with the headquarters of theFasci nazionali [it], i.e. the local sections of the Italian political party expression of the dissidentItalian fascist movement.[17] Following the withdrawal of the Austrian army from Dalmatia, the Yugoslav National Council, which was formed inZagreb awaiting the union ofCroatia withSerbia, established a provisional government of Dalmatia which extended fromSplit toZadar.[17] In Zadar, the former mayorLuigi Ziliotto, who belonged to theItalian-DalmatianistAutonomist Party, organized a local government that opposed the Slavic governorship, proclaiming the authority of the Fascio nazionale over the municipality of Zadar, investing it with the powers previously held by the Zadar municipal council dissolved in 1916.[17]
On 31 October 1918, theKingdom of Italy, with the consent of theAllies, militarily occupied Dalmatia, including many areas not promised by the London Pact but provided by theArmistice of Villa Giusti between the Kingdom of Italy and Austria-Hungary, which foresaw the end of the war and the surrender of the latter.[17] On 4 November 1918, the Italian Royal Navy occupied the islands ofVis,Lastovo,Molat, andKorčula, where the Yugoslav national committees offered no armed resistance.[17] Also on 4 November 1918, the ship that docked in Zadar was welcomed by Luigi Ziliotto, amidst the exultation of theDalmatian Italians of the city.[17] On the Yugoslav side, there were only diplomatic protests.[17] In the following days the situation around Zadar changed, with the Yugoslavs starting to organize themselves militarily in the areas surrounding the city.[17] The Italian military occupation ofŠibenik, city not included in the London pact, was slightly more difficult, given the hostility of the Croatian population.[17] The Italian Royal Navy then continued to occupy the Dalmatian coast, continuing southwards, arriving, on 9 November 1918, atCape Planka on behalf of theAllies.[17]
All the other Dalmatian islands were occupied during November. For example, among the largest,Hvar on 13 November, andPag on 21 November.[17] InCres andLošinj there was a enthusiastic welcome from the Italian Dalmatians who lived on the two islands.[17] On 26 November, the Italian Royal Navy also occupiedKrk andRab, islands not included in the London Pact.[17] The main pro-Yugoslav element that opposed the Italian occupation was the local clergy, so much so that the Italian authorities decided to expel the bishop of Krk,Anton Mahnič, who established and led theCroatian Catholic Movement.[17]
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Once all of Dalmatia had been occupied, theItalian government appointed Vice Admiral of the Italian Royal NavyEnrico Millo as its governor, who had already held political roles, given that he was alsoMinister of the Navy and had always supported the annexation of Dalmatia to Italy.[17] Initially the capital of the Governorate of Dalmatia was established in Šibenik, a political decision which signified the intention of the Kingdom of Italy to retain control of the whole of Dalmatia.[17] In the spring of 1919, the capital was moved to Zadar.[17] As his first action, Millo officially removed civil and political authority from the local Yugoslavian national committees.[17] At the same time he allowed pro-Yugoslav representatives to remain in the Dalmatian Provincial Diet and in the Dalmatian Court of Appeal.[17] The former members of the pro-ItalianAutonomist Party merged massively into the Fasci nazionali, and began to cover political roles and some of them were hired by public institutions.[17] The former officials of Austria-Hungary, although they were contacted by the Italian administration, did not want to hold political and civil roles for fear of reprisal in the event that Dalmatia was annexed to Yugoslavia.[17]
The Dalmatian hinterland was not occupied by any army for the entire month of November, even though it wasde facto administered by the Yugoslav national committees dependent onZagreb. TheItalian Armed Forces, after having consolidated their control over the ports and islands, and with the arrival of reinforcements from the homeland, began to penetrate the hinterland of the Dalmatia, occupyingVodice (on 3 December 1918), and Scardona/Skradin (on 5 December 1918).[17] The case of the occupation of Tenin/Knin was much more complex, given the scarce presence of Dalmatian Italians, while the Serbian presence was conspicuous.[17] Enrico Millo ordered theSerbian army, which had arrived in the meantime, to withdraw, given that they were territories granted to the Kingdom of Italy by the Armistice of Villa Giusti.[17] After repeated armed clashes between the two armies, Italian troops occupiedKnin on 1 January 1919.[17]
Enrico Millo tried to gain the political consensus of the Slavic Dalmatians by improving living conditions, creating health services, distributing food, and stimulating the agricultural economy by decreeing a ban on the import of oil and wine from Italy.[17] More generally, to encourage the growth of the Dalmatian economy, he established a favorable exchange rate between the formerAustrian crown and theItalian lira for the local economy. The Italian authorities also left freedom of association to the Slavs, allowing the establishment of political parties and cultural associations, and granting freedom of the press even to pro-Yugoslav newspapers, without prejudice to the fact that censorship was frequent.[17] InZadar,Šibenik,Hvar andKrk, popular demonstrations against the Italian occupation and in favor of the union of Dalmatia with Yugoslavia were frequent, which were organized by the aforementioned Catholic and Orthodox clergy.[17] On the other hand, the Italian Fasci nazionali organized demonstrations in favor of the annexation of Dalmatia to the Kingdom of Italy.[17] To try to avoid anti-Italian protests, Millo decreed expulsions from the Governorate of Dalmatia and ordered the confinement of civilians in special facilities without trial, causing official criticism and protests from the United States.[17]
Political opposition to the Italian administration gradually waned, also due to the political evolution of theKingdom of Yugoslavia, within which Serbian excessive power was increasingly evident.[17] In fact, already at the beginning of 1919, in Yugoslavia, there was a decisive repression against the Croatian peasant movement of the Radic brothers and against theYugoslav Social-Democratic Party.[17] In this situation, the Croatian Catholic peasants, who were previously pro-Yugoslav, began to be indifferent to the Italian occupation.[17] Enrico Millo, consequently, changed his government's political strategy.[17] In fact, he began to present himself as a guarantor of social order and as a defender of Dalmatian Catholics against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[17] As a consequence, anti-Italian sentiment continued to wane.[17] In fact, it remained limitedly active in Zadar, Šibenik andKnin, as well as inKrk andHvar.[17]
However, in spite of the guarantees of the London Pact to Italy of a large portion of Dalmatia and Italian military occupation ofclaimed territories of Dalmatia (for the presence ofDalmatian Italians), both the peace settlement negotiations of 1919 to 1920 and theFourteen Points ofWoodrow Wilson, who advocatedself-determination, took precedence, with Italy being permitted to annex only Zadar from Dalmatia, with the rest of Dalmatia being part ofYugoslavia. Enraged Italian nationalists considered the decision to be a betrayal of the promises of the London Pact, so this outcome was denounced as a "mutilated victory". The rhetoric of "mutilated victory" was adopted byBenito Mussolini, led to therise ofItalian fascism, and became a key point in thepropaganda of Fascist Italy. Historians regard "mutilated victory" as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuelItalian imperialism and obscure the successes ofliberal Italy in the aftermath of World War I.[18]
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The Governorate of Dalmatia was made up of parts of coastalYugoslavia that were occupied and annexed byItaly from April 1941 to September 1943 at the start ofWorld War II in Yugoslavia, together with the prewar Italian Province of Zara on the Dalmatian coast, including the island ofLastovo and the island ofSaseno, now Albania, and totalling about 200 km2 (77 sq mi), which Italy had possessed since 1919. The town ofZadar, which had included most of the Italian population of Dalmatia since the beginning of the 20th century and was largely Italian-speaking,[19] was designated as its capital.
The creation of the Governorate of Dalmatia fulfilled the demands of Italianirredentism, but not all of Dalmatia was annexed by Italy, as the Italian-German quasi-protectorate known as theIndependent State of Croatia took parts. Nevertheless, the Italian army maintainedde facto control over the whole of Dalmatia.
The Kingdom of Italy divided the Governorate in three Italian provinces:
Officially, however, no Italian region was ever created with the name "Dalmatia". While the Governorate was not called a region of Italy, the northern Dalmatian islands ofKrk andRab were administratively united to the Italianprovince of Fiume (nowRijeka) and became areas ofItaly.
In September 1941, Italy's fascist dictator,Benito Mussolini, ordered the military occupation of the entire Dalmatian coast, including the city ofDubrovnik ("Ragusa"), and islands such asVis (Lissa) andPag (Pago) which had been given to the puppetIndependent State of Croatia ofAnte Pavelić. Mussolini tried to annex these areas to the Governorship of Dalmatia creating the province of Ragusa di Dalmatia, but was temporarily stopped by the strong opposition of Pavelić, who retained nominal control of them.[21] Fascist Italy even occupiedMarindol and other villages that had previously belonged to theBanovina of Croatia, Milić-Selo, Paunović-Selo, Žunić-Selo, Vukobrati, Vidnjevići and Vrhovci. In 1942, these villages were annexed to Cernomegli (nowČrnomelj, inSlovenia), which was then part of the ItalianProvince of Lubiana, even though their population was not Slovene, but Serbian.
Many public works were undertaken, such as new hospitals and sewages. At the end of 1941, an attempt was made to "normalize" civil life; inSplit, for example, the creation of sporting activities linked to the Italian championships was promoted. For this purpose, in 1942 theCalcio Spalato [it] team was re-established with the name Associazione Calcio Spalato, according to the directive of theItalian Football Federation (FIGC) which recognized AC Spalato as a new club affiliated to the Football Federation.[22] However, due to the war events, AC Spalato did not play any championships.
At the end of 1941, the Slavic population was subjected to a policy of massive and violentItalianization. The political secretaries of the fascist party, of the after-work club, of the agricultural consortia and doctors, teachers, municipal employees, midwives were sent to administer them, immediately hated by those whose jobs they took away.[23] Italian was imposed as a compulsory language for officials and teachers, althoughSerbo-Croatian was tolerated for communications within the civil administration.[24] In the major centers, various signs written in Croatian were replaced by writings in Italian, Croatian flags, newspapers and posters were prohibited except the bilingual ones published by the Italian civil and military authorities; cultural and sporting societies dissolved, the Roman salute imposed, some Italian surnames restored.[25] A special office for the Adriatic lands offered loans and benefits to those willing to denationalize, and in the meantime purchased land to redistribute to former Italian combatants.[26] Scholarships were established for Dalmatians who wanted to continue their studies in Italy and 52 Dalmatian Italians and 211 Croatians and Serbs made use of them.[27]
Numerous concentration camps were also established in the territory for repressive purposes, especially starting from 1942, such as those inRab,Rijeka, and many others. Already from the end of 1941, against the atrocities committed by theUstaše regime within the territories of theIndependent State of Croatia, both against the Serbs and Jews and against the political opponents (communists and socialists), the communist and socialist partisan resistance led byTito, multi-ethnic and communist, and various Serbian nationalist and monarchist factions known asChetniks, were born.[28] Numerous war crimes were committed by all parties, including the Italian fascists, resulting in a bloody civil war.[29]
The governorship was held until January 1943 byGiuseppe Bastianini, when he was recalled to Italy to join the cabinet, his place as governor being taken byFrancesco Giunta.[30] The Governorate of Dalmatia was cancelled administratively byBadoglio on August 19, 1943; it was substituted by direct rule of the 3 "Prefetti" governing the provinces ofZara,Spalato andCattaro. After the Kingdom of Italy changed sides to the Allies in 1943, German forces took over the area. The territory was not given to the fascistItalian Social Republic, which was a puppet state ofGermany, but was instead completely dissolved and added to the puppetIndependent State of Croatia.
However, Zara (and the surrounding territory that was the originalProvincia italiana di Zara until 1941) remained Italian (even if under nominal control and protection of the German Army) until 1945. The city was exposed tobombings between November 1943 and October 1944; theAllies documented 30 bombing raids, while contemporary Italian accounts claim 54; fatalities recorded range from nearly 1,000, up to as many as 4,000 of the city's 20,000 inhabitants and 60% of the city's buildings were fully destroyed.
TheYugoslav Partisans liberated Dalmatia in 1944. On October 30, 1944, the last Italian authority in Dalmatia – the Zara prefectVincenzo Serrentino – left the destroyed city with the remainingDalmatian Italians. Nearly 89% of the Zara buildings & installations were destroyed and so the city was called the "Dresden of Italy"[32] After 1945, most of the remaining Dalmatian Italians fled the region (350,000 Italians escaped fromIstria and Dalmatia in theIstrian-Dalmatian exodus). Currently there are only 300 Dalmatian Italians in theCroatian Dalmatia and 500 Dalmatian Italians in coastalMontenegro. After World War II, Dalmatia became part of thePeople's Republic of Croatia, part of theFederative People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Governorate of Dalmatia consisted of three provinces:province of Zara,province of Spalato andprovince of Cattaro. The administrative capital was Zara.
After the autumn of 1941, the Dalmatian islands ofPag (Pago),Brač (Brazza) andHvar (Lesina), part of the Independent State of Croatia, were occupied by the Italian army, along with an area of Croatia which was away from the coast ofSinj towards the center ofBosnia, nearSarajevo andBanja Luka. However these were not formally annexed to the Governorate.[33]
| Province | Municipalities | Area[2] | Population[20] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zara | 20 | 3,719 km2 (1,436 sq mi) | 211,900 |
| Spalato | 13 | 976 km2 (377 sq mi) | 128,400 |
| Cattaro | 15 | 547 km2 (211 sq mi) | 39,800 |
| Total | 48 | 5,242 km2 (2,024 sq mi) | 380,100 |
The Governorate of Dalmatia had an area of 5,242 km2 (2,024 sq mi), equal to 35% of Dalmatia.[2] The Governorate of Dalmatia contained 390,000 inhabitants, of which 270,000 (69.2%) Croats, 90,000 (23.0%) Serbs and 30,000 (7.6%)Dalmatian Italians.[34]
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