 |
| History of Sardinia |
Archaeological evidence of prehistoric human settlement on the island ofSardinia is present in the form ofnuraghes and other prehistoric monuments, which dot the land. The recordedhistory of Sardinia begins with its contacts with the various people who sought to dominate westernMediterranean trade inclassical antiquity:Phoenicians,Punics andRomans. Initially under the political and economic alliance with the Phoenician cities, it was partly conquered byCarthage in the late 6th century BC and then entirely by Rome after theFirst Punic War (230 BC). The island was included for centuries in theRoman province ofSardinia and Corsica, which would be incorporated into thediocese ofItalia suburbicaria in 3rd and 7th centuries.
In theEarly Middle Ages, through the Europeanbarbarian movements, the waning of theByzantine Empire influence in the westernMediterranean and theSaracen raids, the island fell out of the sphere of influence of any higher government; this led to the birth of four independent kingdoms calledJudicates (Latin:Judicati;Sardinian:Judicados) in the 8th through 10th centuries. Falling underpapal influence, Sardinia became the focus of the rivalry ofGenoa,Pisa, and theCrown of Aragon, which eventually subsumed the island as theKingdom of Sardinia in 1324. The Iberian Kingdom was to last until 1718, when it was ceded to theHouse of Savoy; fromPiedmont, the Savoyards pursued a policy of expansion to the rest of the Italian peninsula, having their Kingdom of Sardinia be later renamed into "Kingdom of Italy" in 1861.
The oldest trace in Sardinia of theanthropomorphicprehistoric primate calledOreopithecus bambolii is dated to 8.5 million years ago. In 1996 ahominid finger bone, dated up to 250.000 BC, was found in a cave in theLogudoro region.[1]
Modern humans appeared in the island during theUpper Paleolithic, a phalanx dated to 18000 BC had been found in theCorbeddu cave, nearOliena.[2]Mesolithic human remains had been discovered atSu Coloru cave ofLaerru[3] but also in the south (Sirri,Arbus).
Already in the Stone Age,Monte Arci played an important role. The old volcano was one of the central places whereobsidian was found and worked for cutting tools and arrowheads. Even now the volcanic glass can be found on the sides of the mountain.
TheNeolithic began in Sardinia in the6th millennium BC with theCardial culture. Later, important cultures like theOzieri culture and theArzachena culture of the late Neolithic and the Abealzu-Filigosa and Monte Claro culture of theChalcolithic period, developed in the island contemporaneously with the appearance of themegalithic phenomenon.
The dolmens culture, around the end of the 3rd millennium BC, passed with other typical material aspects ofWestern Europe (e.g.Bell Beaker) through by the Sardinian coast even inSicily.[4]
Prehistoric and Pre-nuragic monuments and constructions that characterise the Sardinian landscapes are theDomus de Janas (Sardinian:House of the Fairies, House of the Witches), themenhir andStatue menhir and thedolmens.
Archeological cultures of Sardinia in the pre-Nuragic period:[5]
| Archaeological culture | Years before Christ |
|---|---|
| Cardium pottery orFiliestru culture | 6000–4000 |
| Bonu Ighinu culture | 4000–3400 |
| San Ciriaco culture | 3400–3200 |
| Ozieri culture | 3200–2700 |
| Abealzu-Filigosa culture | 2700–2400 |
| Monte Claro culture | 2400–2100 |
| Bell Beaker culture | 2100–1800 |
| Bonnanaro culture (A phase) | 1800–1600 |
Bronze Age Sardinia is characterised by stone structures callednuraghes, of which there are more than 8,000. The most famous is thecomplex of Barumini in theprovince of Medio Campidano. The nuraghes were mainly built in the period from about 1800 to 1200 BC, though many were used until the Roman period. Characteristics of this period are also theholy well temples (for example Santa Cristina,Paulilatino), the megara temples and theGiants' graves.
The Nuragic Sards also produced a vast collection ofbronze statuettes and the so-calledgiants of Mont'e Prama, which might constitute the first anthropomorphic statues of Europe.
It is known that theSardinians had contact with theMyceneans, who traded with the western Mediterranean. Contact with powerful cities of Crete, such asKydonia, is clear from pottery recovered inarchaeological excavations in Sardinia.[6] The alleged connection with theSherden, one of the sea peoples who invadedEgypt and other areas of eastern Mediterranean, has been supported by scholars like the professor Giovanni Ugas from theUniversity of Cagliari;[7][8][9] this hypothesis has been however opposed by other archaeologists and historians.[10]
The name of the island could result fromSardus (known amongst the Romans asSardus Pater), a mythological hero of the Nuragic pantheon.
From the 8th century BC, Phoenicians founded several cities and strongholds on strategic points in the south and west of Sardinia, often peninsulas or islands near estuaries, easy to defend and natural harbours, such asTharros,Bithia,Sulci,Nora and Caralis (Cagliari). The majority of the inhabitants in these cities were of indigenous nuragic stock while the Phoenician element was, although culturally predominant, in minority.[11][12] The Phoenicians came originally from what is nowLebanon and founded a vast trading network in theMediterranean. Sardinia had a special position because it was central in the Western Mediterranean betweenCarthage, Spain, the riverRhône and theEtruscan civilization area. The mining area of theIglesiente was important for the metalslead andzinc. After the Phoenicians, theCarthaginians took over control in this part of the Mediterranean, around 510 BC, after which a first attempt of conquest of the island in 540 BC ended in failure.[13] They expanded their influence to the western and southern coast fromBosa to Caralis, consolidating the existingPhoenician colonies, administered by plenipotentiaries calledSuffetes, and founding new ones such asOlbia,Cornus andNeapolis;[14] Tharros probably became the capital of the province.[14] Carthage stressed the growing ofgrain andcereals and prohibited[why?]fruit trees.[15]
Tharros, Nora, Bithia,Monte Sirai etc. are now important archaeological monuments where architecture and city planning can be studied.
%2c_Sardinia_(16558175351).jpg)
In 240 BC, in the course of theFirst Punic War, the Carthaginian mercenaries on the island revolted and gave the Romans, who some years earlier had defeated the Carthaginians in thenaval battle of Sulci, the opportunity to land on Sardinia and occupy it. In 238 BC the Romans took over the whole island, without meeting any resistance. They took over an existing developed infrastructure and urbanized culture (at least in the plains). Along withCorsica it formed the province ofCorsica et Sardinia, under apraetor.[16] Together with Sicily it formed one of the main granaries of Rome until the Romans conquered Egypt in the 1st century BC.
A revolt, led by two Sardo-Punic notables fromCornus and Tharros,Hampsicora and Hanno, broke out after the crushing Roman defeat atCannae (216 BC). A Roman army of 22,000 infantrymen and 1,200 cavalry, underTitus Manlius Torquatus, reached Sardinia landing in Caralis and defeating Hiostus, the son of Hampsicora, nearMilis. The Romans then met the Carthaginian-Sardinian allied forces in the south of the island, defeating them in apitched battle that took place betweenSestu andDecimomannu, and killing 12,000 men.[17] Another major revolt took place in 177-176 BC when theBalares and theIlienses were defeated byTiberius Gracchus, who, according toLivy, killed or enslaved about 80,000 natives.[18] The last organized revolts were repressed byMarcus Caecilius Metellus in 115-111 BC andTitus Albucius in 106.[19] However the Sardinians living in the impervious mountains of the interior resisted the Roman colonization well intoImperial times.
Punic culture remained strong during the first centuries of the Roman domination. However, in the long run,Romanization prevailed, andLatin became the speech of the majority of the inhabitants,[20] ultimately developing into the modernSardinian language. TheRoman religion began to spread among Sardinians as well.[21] Caralis, the provincial capital, Nora and Sulci obtained the status ofMunicipium within the 1st century AD[20] and aRoman colony named Turris Libissonis (Porto Torres) was founded in the north-west[22] while the village ofUsellus become perphans a Roman colony underTrajan.[23] Four greatroads were built: two along the coasts and two in the interior connecting all the major cities.
During theRoman period, the geographerPtolemy noted that Sardinia was inhabited by the following tribes, from north to south: theTibulati and theCorsi, theCoracenses, theCarenses and theCunusitani, theSalcitani and theLucuidonenses, theÆsaronenses, theÆchilenenses (also called Cornenses), theRucensi, theCelsitani and theCorpicenses, theScapitani and theSiculensi, theNeapolitani and theValentini, theSolcitani and theNoritani.[24]
In the year 212 AD, every inhabitant of the empire became aRoman citizen by theConstitutio Antoniniana, better known as the "Edict of Caracalla".[25] At that time, many islanders from theMunicipia andColoniae were Roman citizens, while those living in the interior were not. Around the year 286 AD, Sardinia was incorporated into the Italiandiocese during the empire ofDiocletianus, and in 324 AD, under the rule of the emperorConstantine the Great, in thesuburbicaria Italian diocese, until the conquest by theVandals in 456 AD.
After the fall of theWestern Roman Empire, Sardinia was subject to several conquests. In 456, theVandals, anEast Germanic tribe, coming from North Africa, occupied the coastal cities of the island; they imposed garrisons guarded by African auxiliaries, like theMauri. The Vandals followedArianism and deported a number of AfricanBishops in the island such asFulgentius of Ruspe.[26] In 533, Sardinia rebelled under the Vandal governorGodas, aGoth, who proclaimed himselfrex of Sardinia, asking the Byzantines for aid.[27]
In the summer of 533 Vandal forces (5,000 men and 120 ships), led byTzazo, arrived in Sardinia to stifle Godas' rebellion and conquered Caralis, killing Godas and his followers.[28] In early 534, the Vandals of Sardinia surrendered immediately to the Byzantines when faced with news of theVandal collapse in Africa;[29] thenceforth the island was part of theByzantine Empire, included as a province in thePraetorian prefecture of Africa. The local governor sat in Caralis. During theGothic Wars, much of the island fell easily to theOstrogoths, but the final fall of the Germanic resistance inmainland Italy reassuredByzantine control.[30] Sardinia was subsequently included in theExarchate of Africa until its end by theArabs in 698 AD, when the island was likely aggregated to theExarchate of Ravenna.[31] In 599 and during the 7th century, theLongobard fleet tried to attack Caralis and Turris Libissonis (Porto Torres), but in vain.[32]
One of the few ethnic Sardinians known from this period wasOspitone, a leader of theBarbaricinos (people ofBarbagia). According to thePope Gregory I's letters, a Romanized and Christianized area existed on the island (that of theprovinciales) that co-existed with, in the interior, pagan or semi-pagan cultures (Gens Barbaricina). The ruler of one of the latter,Ospitone, converted to Christianity in 594 after a diplomatic exchange. Christianization however remained long influenced by eastern and Byzantine culture.Other known religious figures of Sardinian origin of that period (5th–6th centuries) arePope Hilarius andPope Symmachus.
Starting from the 8th century, theIberians from Denia and Zaragoza (recently conquered by Muslims) harassed the population of the coastal cities. Details about the political situation of Sardinia in the following centuries are scarce. Due to Saracen attacks, in the 9th centuryTharros was abandoned in favor ofOristano, after more than 1,800 years of human occupation whileCaralis was abandoned in favor ofSanta Igia; numerous other coastal centres suffered the same fate (Nora, Sulci, Bithia, Cornus, Bosa, Olbia etc.).[33] There was anotherDenia invasion in 1015−16 fromBalearics, led byMujāhid al-ʿĀmirī (Latinized asMuseto), theDenians attempt of invasion of the island was stopped by Sardinian Judicates with the support of the Fleets of theMaritime Republics ofPisa andGenoa, called by PopeBenedict VIII.
From the mid-11th century theJudicates ("held by judges") appeared. The title ofJudex (judge,judike in medieval Sardinian) was an heir of that of the Byzantine governor after the creation of theExarchate of Africa in 582 (Prases orJudex Provinciae). In the 8th and 9th centuries the fourpartes depending from Caralis grew increasingly independent, after thatByzantium was totally cut off from theTyrrhenian Sea by theMuslim conquest of Sicily in 827. A letter fromPope Nicholas I in 864 mentions for the first time the Sardinian judges,[34] and their autonomy is clear in a later letter byPope John VIII, which defined them as "Princes". A letter byMieszko I toPope John XV proves that the Judicates were known even inPoland, and that they played a prestigious role in medieval Europe.[35]
During the judicial era Sardinia had some 300.000 inhabitants, of which slightly more than 1/3 were free.[36] These were subjected to the authority of localcurators (administrators), in turn subjected to the judge (who also administered justice and was the commander of the army). The church was also powerful, and at this time it had completely abandoned theEastern Rite. The late 11th-century arrival ofBenedictine,Camaldolese and other monks from theItalian Mezzogiorno,Lombardy andProvence, especially the monasteries ofMontecassino,Saint-Victor de Marseille andVallombrosa, boosted the agriculture in a land which was extremely underdeveloped. Thecondaghes (catalogues, cartularies) of the monasteries, which record property transactions, are an important source for the study of the island and its language in the 11th and 12th centuries. Evidence from thecondaghes of San Pietro di Silki, in Sassari, and Santa Maria di Bonarcado concerning the children of slaves has been adduced to show that differences in agricultural lifestyles between regions may affect the survival rate of females, hypothetically through increased infanticide of baby girls.[37] The abbacy of Santa Maria di Bonarcado contained more central, upland regions where a pastoral economy dominated and women were less economically useful; among children in that region, sex ratios are highly skewed in favour of men. On the other hand, in the region of San Pietro di Silki, less pastoral, child sex ratios are not skewed abnormally.
There were four (historically known) Judicates:Logudoro (or Torres),Cagliari (or Pluminos),Arborea andGallura. Cagliari and Arborea and Logudoro (and perhaps Gallura) were united for a time in the 11th century.
The initiatives of theGregorian reformers led to greater contact between Sardinia and the Italian peninsula, especially through the desires of the judges to establish monasteries with monks from continental monasteries atMontecassino andMarseille. By the 12th century, the Sardinian Judicates, though obscure, are visible through the mists of time. They professed allegiance to theHoly See, which put them under the authority of theArchdiocese of Pisa, superseding the ancient primacy of theArchdiocese of Cagliari on the island.
Often quarreling between one another, the Judicates made a great number of commercial concessions to the Pisans and theGenoese. TheRepubbliche Marinare soon became the true masters of the Sardinian economy.
In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, all four Judicates passed to foreign dynasties and the local families were relegated to minor positions. Arborea passed to theCatalanHouse of Cervera (Cervera-Bas) in 1185, though this was contested for the next few decades. In 1188, Cagliari was conquered by theHouse of Massa from theRepublic of Pisa. Gallura became by marriage – it had been inherited by a woman,Elena – a possession of theHouse of Visconti, another Pisan family, in 1207. Only Logudoro survived to the end under local Sardinian rulers. However, its end was early. It passed to Genoa and to theDoria andMalaspina families in 1259 after the death of its last judge,Adelasia. Only a year before the others Judicates and the Pisans besiegedSanta Igia and deposed the last ruler of CagliariWilliam III. Gallura survived longer, but the enemies of the Visconti in Pisa soon removed the last judge,Nino, a friend ofDante Alighieri, in 1288.
About the same time,Sassari declared itself afree commune allied to Genoa. In the early 14th century, much of Eastern and Southern Sardinia, including Castel di Castro (Cagliari), was under the authority of Pisa and of thedella Gherardesca family, who founded the important mining town ofVilla di Chiesa (now Iglesias). Arborea, however, survived as the only indigenous kingdom until 1420. One of the most remarkable Sardinian figure of the Middle Ages,Eleanor of Arborea, was co-ruler of that region in the late 14th century; she laid the foundations for the laws that remained valid until 1827, theCarta de Logu.
In 1323 an Aragonese army, underAlfonso, son ofKing James II, disembarked near Palma diSulcis, in Southern Sardinia. After thefall of Villa di Chiesa the Pisans were defeated again, both by land and sea, atLucocisterna and in thegulf of Cagliari, and were forced to leave the island, maintaining only Castel di Castro until 1326.[38] The Cagliari area as well as Gallura thus became part of the first nucleus of theKingdom of Sardinia, established nominally byPope Boniface VIII in 1297, that was included in theCrown of Aragon.[38]
In 1353Marianus IV of Arborea, allied with theDoria family, waged war against the Aragonese, occupying much of the island but unable to capture Cagliari. ThePeace of Sanluri (1355) ushered in a period of tranquility, but hostilities were resumed in 1365, with Arborea, led by Marianus IV and then, from 1391, byBrancaleone Doria, initially able to capture much of the Island. However, in 1409 the Aragonese crushed a Genoese fleet coming in support the Sardinians, and destroyed the Judicial army at theBattle of Sanluri.Oristano, the Arborean capital, fell on 29 March 1410.William II of Narbonne, the last Judge of Arborea, sold his remaining territories to the Aragonese in 1420, in exchange for 100,000goldflorins.[39]
In the 1470s an important revolt against the Aragonese was led byLeonardo Alagon,marquess of Oristano, who managed to defeat the viceroyal army but was later crushed at theBattle of Macomer (1478). The island endured attacks fromNorth African pirates and a series of plagues in 1582, 1652 and 1655.
In 1527, during theFranco-Spanish War, a French army of 4000 men led by the ItalianRenzo da Ceri attacked the north of the island, besiegingCastellaragonese and sackingSorso and thenSassari for almost a month.[40]
In 1566 the firsttypography of Sardinia was established in Cagliari, while in 1607 and 1617 were founded theUniversity of Cagliari and theUniversity of Sassari.
In the late 15th and in the early 16th century the Spaniards built watchtowers all along the coast (today called "Spanish towers") to protect the island against Ottoman incursions. In 1637 a French fleet led byHenri, Count of Harcourt sacked Oristano for about a week.
Sardinia was disputed between 1700 and 1720. After theWar of the Spanish Succession it was assigned toEmperor Charles VI in 1714,Philip V of Spain brieflyrecovered the island in 1717, but in 1720 the European powers assigned Sicily to Charles VI and Sardinia to theHouse of Savoy, soVittorio Amedeo II became the King of Sardinia.
In 1793 Sardinians twice defeated theFrench invaders (French expedition to Sardinia). On 23 February 1793,Domenico Millelire, in command of the Sardinian fleet, defeated near theMaddalena archipelago the fleets of the French Republic, which included with the rank of lieutenant, the young and future Emperor of FranceNapoleon Bonaparte. Millelire received the firstGold Medal of Military Valor of theItalian Navy. In the same month, Sardinians stopped the attempted French landing on the beach ofQuartu Sant'Elena, near the Capital ofCagliari. Because of these successes, the representatives of nobility and clergy (Stamenti) formulated five requests addressed to the KingVictor Amadeus III of Sardinia in order to have the same rights as the Italian mainlanders, but they met with a refusal. Because of this discontent, on 28 April 1794, during an uprising inCagliari, two Piedmontese officials were killed. That was the start of a revolt (called the"Moti rivoluzionari sardi" or "Vespri sardi") all over the island, which culminated on 28 April 1794 (commemorated today assa die de sa Sardigna) with the expulsion of the officers for a few days from the capitalCagliari. On 28 December 1795, insurgents inSassari demonstrating against feudalism, mainly from the region ofLogudoro, occupied the city. On 13 February 1796, in order to prevent the spread of the revolt, the viceroy Filippo Vivalda gave to the Sardinian magistrateGiovanni Maria Angioy the role of Alternos, which meant a substitute of the viceroy himself. Angioy moved from Cagliari to Sassari, and during his journey almost all the villages joined the uprising, demanding an end to feudalism and aiming to declare the island to be an independent republic,[41][42][43] but once he was outnumbered byloyalist forces he fled to Paris and sought support from the French to invade Sardinia and make it an independent Republic.[43]
In 1799 KingCharles Emmanuel IV was ousted from Piedmont by theFrench army, and moved his court to Cagliari (his brother and successorVictor Emmanuel I returned toTurin only in 1814).[44] At the end of the 18th century, the Universities ofSassari andCagliari were restored. In 1820, the Savoyards imposed the "Enclosures Act" (editto delle chiudende) on the island, a legislative act which turned the land's traditional collective ownership, a cultural and economic cornerstone of Sardinia since the Nuragic times,[45] into private property. This gave rise to many abuses, as the reform favoured the landholders while excluding the poor Sardinian farmers and shepherds, who witnessed the abolition of the communal rights and the sale of the land. Many local rebellions like theNuoreseSu Connottu ("The Already Known" in Sardinian) riot in 1868,[46][47] all repressed by the King's army, resulted in an attempt to return to the past and reaffirm the right to use the once common land.
In 1847, under KingCharles Albert, all the administrative differences between Sardinia and the Italian mainland were abolished through the so-calledPerfect fusion: this manoveur had been presented as the only possible way to grant equal rights to all inhabitants of the Kingdom, which would become aunitary state and the basic legislation of the future united Italy as well.
New urban plans and new villages (for exampleCarloforte,Calasetta andSanta Teresa di Gallura) were realised between the 18th and the 19th centuries. They often followed the urban model of Turin, which now was the capital of the Reign of Italy. New infrastructures were built under KingCarlo Felice. The main road from the south (Cagliari) to the north (Sassari) was enhanced (the road still exists today and it still bears the name of Carlo Felice). Also, the first ferry route between the island andGenoa was established, usingsteamboats such as theGulnara. The first railway was inaugurated in 1871. By the end of the 19th century theRoyal Railways had received 30 locomotives, 106 passenger cars, and 436 cargo cars.
The economy was focused mainly on the primary sector (agriculture and sheep husbandry) and on mining. The majority of mining societies operating in Sardinia depended on non-Sardinian capital money. However, in 1848 the Sardinian entrepreneurGiovanni Antonio Sanna achieved the property of the mine ofMontevecchio, thus becoming the 3rd richest man of the Kingdom.
Most Sardinian forests were cut down at this time, in order to provide the Piedmontese with raw materials, like wood, used to make railway sleepers on the mainland. The extension of primary natural forests, praised by every traveller visiting Sardinia, would in fact be reduced to little more than 100,000 hectares at the end of the century.[48]
With theUnification of Italy in 1861, the Kingdom of Sardinia became theKingdom of Italy. Since 1855 the national heroGiuseppe Garibaldi bought most of the island ofCaprera in theMaddalena archipelago, where he moved because of the loss of his home town ofNice. His house, farm and tomb are now the most visited Sardinian museum (Compendio Garibaldino).
In 1883 the first train travelled between Cagliari and Sassari, and in these decades were made all the modern public works: roads, dams, schools, sewers and aqueducts, mainly in the cities.
During theFirst World War the Sardinian soldiers of theBrigata Sassari distinguished themselves, with several being decorated with gold medals and other honours. Following the war, in occasion ofIrish independence the ex-combatants organized themselves into aSardinian nationalist movement, theSardinian Action Party, but was eventually outlawed in 1926. In 1924, the Italian Parliament led byBenito Mussolini passed a bill (calledla legge del miliardo) to establish a budget of one billionlire to develop infrastructure in order to encourage economic development. However, only a portion of the designated funds were ever distributed, and mainly inCagliari.
The writerGrazia Deledda won theNobel Prize for Literature in 1926.
During theFascist period, with the implementation of the policy ofautarky, several swamps around the island were drained and new agrarian communities founded. The main communities were in the area of Oristano, where the village of Mussolinia (now calledArborea), populated by people fromVeneto andFriuli, was located, and in the area adjacent the city of Alghero, within the region ofNurra, whereFertilia was built, settled, after the World War II, byIstrians andDalmatians fromYugoslavia. Also established during that time was the city ofCarbonia, which became the main centre of mining activity. Works to drain the numerous waste lands and the growth of mining activities favoured the arrival of numerous settlers and immigrants from the Mainland.
The repression by the Fascist regime of its opponents within the region was ruthless. Rural Sardinia showed little interest in the Fascist state, while the urban bourgeoisie from the cities, some of which being repopulated by Italian mainlanders, were its staunchest supporters on the island.[49]Antonio Gramsci, one of the founders ofItalian Communist Party, was arrested and died in prison. The anarchistMichele Schirru was executed after a failed assassination plot againstBenito Mussolini.
DuringWorld War IISardinia was a theatre of bombing; from 1940 the Axis used its airfields for attacks across the Mediterranean, while from 1943 the island was under air attack from the Allies and the cities ofCagliari andAlghero were heavily bombed. (Air raids had also been conducted by an aircraft carrier of theRoyal Navy in September 1940, shortly after Italy's entry into the war.) German troops were stationed on Sardinia and Corsica – occupied by the Italians – in 1943. By that July, most airbases in Sardinia had been rendered inoperable by Allied aerial bombing. A number of diversionary raids on Sardinia,Operation Hawthorn, were carried out by the Allies in summer 1943 to distract Axis attention from the upcoming invasion of Sicily,Operation Husky.Operation Mincemeat was an elaborate diversion implemented by the Allies to persuade the Axis's intelligence that their planned invasion of southern Europe would take place in the Balkans and Italy and would feature an invasion of Sardinia. This succeeded in diverting Axis troops from Sicily, the real target of the invasion.The war ended in Sardinia in September 1943, with the withdrawal of theWehrmacht toCorsica following the surrender of Italy to the Allies under theArmistice of Cassibile, and the island, together withSouthern Italy, becamefree. Allied forces landed on Sardinia on 14 September 1943 and the last German troops were expelled on the 18th.[citation needed]
In 1946 more than 60% of Sardinians voted infavour of monarchy, just as much as in Southern Italy, but a few days later Italy became a Republic. In 1948 Sardinia obtained the status of autonomous region which, while being the highest degree ofself-governance since the Judicates era, fell short of many Sardinians' expectations.[50] The first regional elections were held on 8 May 1949. By 1951,malaria was successfully eliminated with the support of theRockefeller Foundation.[50] In the same years theItalian economic miracle led to the birth of Sardiniantourist "boom", mainly focused on beach holidays and luxury tourism, such as inCosta Smeralda. Today about ten million people visit the island every year.
With the increase in tourism, coal decreased in importance. However, shortly after the Second World War a ponderous industrialization effort was commenced, the so-called "Piani di Rinascita" (Rebirth Plans), with the initiation of major infrastructure projects on the island. This included the realization of new dams and roads, reforestation, agricultural zones on reclaimed marsh land, and large industrial complexes (primarily oil refineries and related petrochemical operations). These efforts to create jobs have largely failed due to the high costs of transportation that could not compensate the cheap labor. In the 1950s and 1960s manySardinians migrated toNorthern andCentral Italy (Lombardy,Piedmont,Liguria,Tuscany andRome) and the rest of Europe (mostly inGermany,France andBelgium) but also from the interior of the island to the coastal cities of Cagliari, Olbia and Sassari. In the early 1960s with the creation of petrochemical industries, thousands of ex-farmers became specialised workers, and some others would commence to work on the newly established military bases,[51] created primarily for theNATO. Even now, around 60% of all Italian and US military installations in Italy are on Sardinia, whose area is less than one-tenth of all the Italian territory and whose population is little more than the 2,5%;[52] furthermore, they comprise over 35.000 hectares used for experimental weapons testing,[53][54] where 80% of the military explosives in Italy are used.[55] Ever since, there has always been a localprotest movement expressing deep concern over theenvironmental degradation the military activities would cause.[56][57]
Nevertheless, since 1973 the international oil crisis caused the firing of thousands of workers employed in thepetrochemical industry. Especially because of the failed industrialization plans, Sardinia is actually the most polluted region in Italy, with over 445,000 hectares of contaminated soil still to be remediated.[58][59]
Among other factors,economic crisis andunemployment aggravated the crime rate, as evidenced by the increasing frequency of phenomena such askidnappings andpolitical subversion of theAnonima sarda: between the 1970s and the early 1980s, somecommunist andnationalist militant groups, the most famous beingBarbagia Rossa and theSardinian Armed Movement (MAS), claimed several terrorist attempts.[60][61][62] In the span of just two years (1987–1988), 224 bombing attacks were reported.[63]
In 1983, for the first time ever a militant of anationalist party, theSardinian Action Party (Partidu Sardu-Partito Sardo d'Azione), was elected president of the regional parliament. Nevertheless, in the 1980s a number of even more radical pro-independence movements were born, some even managing to evolve into parties in the 1990s. In 1999, after a long period of Italian assimilation policies in Sardinia, the languages indigenous to the island were eventually recognized as "historical language minorities" of the Country, and allowed to formally enjoy co-official status alongside Italian.
Also noticeable is the difference between coastal regions and the inland. Coastal regions have always been more open to outside influences. Nowadays Sardinia is most known for its coasts (La Maddalena, Costa Smeralda), the north-western coast near Sassari (Alghero, Stintino, Castelsardo) and Cagliari, because these are easily reachable by ship and by plane.
Today Sardinia is a phasing-inEU region, featured by a diversified economy, mainly focused on tourism and the tertiary. The economic efforts of last twenty years have reduced the supposed handicap of insularity, for example with low cost air companies and information and informatic technologies, thanks to theCRS4 (Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia). The CRS4 developed the first Italianwebsite, and invented thewebmail, in 1995, that brought to the birth of severaltelecommunication companies andinternet service providers based on the island, such asVideo On Line (1993),Tiscali (1998) andAndala UMTS (1999).
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
