TheItalian irredentism in Istria was the political movement supporting the unification toItaly, during the 19th and 20th centuries, of the peninsula ofIstria. It is considered closely related to theItalian irredentism inTrieste andRijeka (Fiume), two cities bordering the peninsula.
Istria was a part of the Roman Empire from 177 BC until the arrival of theGoths, who eventually occupied it. Around the beginning of the 7th century, Slavic incursions began happening around Istria and by the middle of the century, they began to settle in the region.[1]
The area came under Venetian rule around the 13th century and remained under it until thefall of the Republic of Venice toNapoleon in 1797.[2] Istria was then aggregated to theNapoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805, and annexed to theIllyrian Provinces in 1809.
WhenNapoleon conquered the territory of Istria, he found that Istria was populated by Italians on the coast and in the main cities, but the interior was populated mainly by Croats and Slovenians: this multi-ethnic population in the same peninsula created a situation of antagonism between Slovenes, Croats and Italians, when started the firstnationalisms after Napoleon's fall. Following 1815, Istria became a part of theAustrian monarchy, andCroats,Slovenians and Italians engaged in a nationalistic feud with each other.[3] Following Napoleon's defeat, Istria became part of theKingdom of Illyria and later theAustrian Littoral as theMargraviate of Istria. A census in 1910 found that 38.1% of the population of Istria was Italian, as opposed to 43.5% Serbo-Croatian and 14.3% Slovene. This census did not count ethnic groups but rather the "language of daily interaction" (Umgangssprache).
As a consequence, Istria was a theater of a nationalistic ethnic struggle between them during the 19th and 20th centuries. Italian irredentism was actively followed by many Italians in Istria, such as the Italian sailor and irredentistNazario Sauro, native toKoper (Capodistria).[4]
Between 1918 and 1947 Istria was part of theKingdom of Italy. Followings its annexation from Austria, the Italian government pursuedItalianisation of the peninsula. Italians from elsewhere, primarily the south, were also resettled to Istria. Due to the efforts of the Italian government ruled by Benito Mussolini, the number of Slovenes and Croats in the Julian March diminished from 466,730 in 1918 to 382,113 in 1936 (a 19% decrease), while the number of Italians rose from 354,908 to 559,553 (a 57% increase).
From 1923 onwards and then under theMussolini government, assimilation of non-Italian people became a national focus. Methods included shutting down Slovene and Croatian schools and public institutions, gerrymandering to reduce the number of Slovene representatives in Rome, pushing Slovene and Croatian priests and teachers from Istria to Yugoslavia or other areas. In 1927, a law was passed that Italianised Slavic names in Istria. In response to these, the anti-Italian nationalist organisation TIGR (a Slovene acronym forTrieste (Trst),Istria (Istra),Gorizia (Gorica) andRijeka (Reka).) was founded.
Following the end of World War II, Istria was divided between the newly createdSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and theFree Territory of Trieste in north-western Istria, which was then divided between Yugoslavia and Italy. Following the division, up to 40,000 Istrian Italians chose to leave the Yugoslav partition.[5] Following World War II, around 350,000 Italians chose to leave Istria and Dalmatia.[6] Many Italian communists also immigrated to Istria, believing that Yugoslavia was the only place where they could build socialism. However, they were accused ofdeviationism by the Yugoslav government and many were sent to concentration camps.[7]
Since the end of World War II, irredentism has largely disappeared in Istria, in most part because of theIstrian exodus.
Istria is today primarily populated by Croats in Croatian Istria and Slovenes in Slovenian Istria, but a minority of Istrian Italians still exist. The 2002 census in Slovenia recorded 2,258 Italians[8] while the Croatian Istria County and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County combined recorded 13,220 Italians.[9][10]
After Napoleon the idea of "unification" of all the Italian people in a "united Italy" started to be developed by intellectuals like the Istrian Carlo Combi. As a consequence, theItalian irredentism promoted the unification of those areas not included in the creation of theKingdom of Italy after 1861: Istria was one of those.[11]
The irredentist ideas of the Italian nationalists became stronger after the unification of Italy (1861). The main representatives of these ideas in historical writings are Pacifico Valussi and the Istrians Carlo Combi, Tommaso Luciani and Sigismondo Bonfiglio. Opinion about the Slavs had entirely changed: they were seen as peasant folk unable to build a nation of their own and therefore condemned to be assimilated within an Italian identity. And they already envisaged the frontiers of Italy extending to theOriental Alps and toArsa, some even to Fiume/Rijeka.[12]
Many Italians in Istria supported the ItalianRisorgimento and, because of this, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Slavic communities of Istria.[13] During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, EmperorFranz Joseph I of Austria outlined a wide-ranging project aimed at theGermanisation orSlavicisation of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:[14]
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.
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.[17] 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.[17] 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.[17]
According to the 1910 Austrian census, out of 404,309 inhabitants in the "Margravate of Istria", 168,116 (41.6%) spokeCroatian, 147,416 (36.5%) spokeItalian, 55,365 (13.7%) spokeSlovene, 13,279 (3.3%) spokeGerman, 882 (0.2%) spokeRomanian, 2,116 (0.5%) spoke other languages and 17,135 (4.2%) were non-citizens, which had not been asked for their language of communication.
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Contemporary scholarMatteo Bartoli complained that these census percentages included areas outside Istria (like the island of Veglia/Krk and the city of Castua/Kastav, a mostly Croatian town situated north ofFiume and outside the real Istrian peninsula): in his opinion the peninsula of Istria was still with a majority of Italians during World War I.[18]
In the second half of the 19th century, a clash of new ideological movements, Italian irredentism (which claimed Trieste and Istria) and Slovene and Croatiannationalism (developing individual identities in some quarters whilst seeking to unite in a South Slavic bid in others), resulted in growing ethnic conflict between Italians one side and Slovenes and Croats in opposition. This was intertwined with the class and religious conflict, as inhabitants of towns and western agricultural lands were mostly Italian, whilstCroats orSlovenes largely lived out in the countryside and elsewhere.
Slav priests had an important role (in the ethnic conflict)... they, controlling the official church registration of the names, did many abuses (changing to slav many Italian family names).... In 1877 the Italian deputy to the Vienna Parliament Francesco Sbisà denounced the transformation of Italian names and surnames to Slavic ones.... In 1897 Matteo Bartoli, a linguist from Rovigno, pinpointed that 20,000 names were changed with this forgery, mainly in eastern Istria and even in some Dalmatian islands.[19]
Capodistria was the center ofItalian nationalism in Istria. In it, there was the mainComitato istriano (Istrian Committee for Union to Italy), the meeting place of famous Istrian irredentists like Carlo Combi and Antonio Madonizza. From there, many Istrian italians went to fight for Venice against the Austrians in theLegione Istriano-dalmata.
After 1866, when Venice and theVeneto region were united to Italy, there was widespread support for unification of Istria with Italy as well. Tino Gavardo, Pio Riego Gambini andNazario Sauro where the most renowned between those who promoted the Istrian unification to Italy. Many of them enrolled voluntarily in theItalian Army during World War I against the Austrian Empire. Some, namely Nazario Sauro, were later captured, trialed for treason and executed in Austria.[20]
In 1913 Pio Riego Gambini, Luigi Bilucaglia e Piero Almerigogna created theFascio Giovanile Istriano.[clarification needed][21]
After Istria was united to Italy, following the Italian victory during World War I,[22] some Istrian irredentists reached high levels of importance inside the Italian government, like generalVittorio Italico Zupelli, who was appointed minister.
Italy's participation inWorld War II on the side of theAxis powers resulted in the 1947Treaty of Peace with Italy, which provided for theright of option of nationality, and consequently the country in which people on both sides of the new border would live.[23][24] The ensuingIstrian-Dalmatian exodus led to the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 of local ethnicItalians, choosing to maintain Italian citizenship.[25]
There is a growing[according to whom?] movement in Italy (and Europe) toward asking for the official recognition of "genocide" or evendemocide[26] of the Italians in Istria.[27]
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