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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Dalmatia... or Croatia?
HISTORY OF DALMATIA
THE ROMAN ORIGINS The history of Ancient Dalmatia, known as "Illiria", began with the first of the eight wars it fought in 156 B.C. against Rome. A senatorial province since 27 B.C., then an imperial province, it integrated into Rome, and gave it emperors such as Probo, Claudius the Gothic, Caro, Carino, and Diocletian, the restorer of the Empire, particularly known for the Roman Baths named after him, and for the palace built as his own residence near the town of Salona, the main Dalmatian town at the time. In the early Middle Ages, the refugees chased by the Avari (nomadic people, translator’s note) took refuge in Diocletian’s Palace, and gave rise to today’s Spalato (Palatium). besides Popes Caio (283-296) and Giovanni IV (640-642), gave the Church the brilliant figure of San Girolamo, author of the "Vulgata" i.e. the translation of the Bible from Greek into Latin. With a fiery and polemical temperament, they say that, in fits of rage, he would indulge in bad language and make amends for it with a now traditional phrase: "Parce mihi Domine, quia Dalmata sum" - "Forgive me Lord, because I am a Dalmatian". Still today Dalmatians tend to use some rude interjections at times. The Roman origins of Dalmatia will be summarized by Gabriele d’Annunzio in one of his famous phrases. "O Dalmati! Amplissima è la civiltа che vi illustra. Siete quasi orlo di toga, ma tutta la toga è romana". ("O Dalmatians! Yours is a large civilization. You are almost a toga’s hem, but the whole toga is Roman"). In 475, Emperor Giulio Nepote took refuge in Dalmatia, while Romolo Augustolo was raised to the purple in Ravenna. In 476 he was deposed by Odoacre and the Western Roman Empire collapsed. But Giulio Nepote kept in Dalmatia the insigna of the Empire and the Roman spirit until 480, when he was killed, in consequence of an internal conspiracy, "haud longe a Salona sua in villa", in one of his villas not far from Salona, i.e. in Diocletian’s Palace. With the barbarian invasions, the Avari (nomadic people, translator’s note) pushed forward the Slavic tribes that penetrated the Balkans and headed towards the Adriatic. The Romans, who had their settlements up to beyond the Sava and Drava rivers, progressively moved to the Adriatic coast, gathering and defending themselves in the fortified towns of Dalmatia. While Slavs were reaching the sea along the Channel of Morlacca north of Zara, and the Littoral south of Spalato, the Roman towns were giving rise to the municipia, with similar characteristics to those in the Italian Peninsula, enlivened by the continuity of the trade with the other shore of the Adriatic. The Slavs, who had settled near the mouth of the Narenta River, started piracy, and the Dalmatian towns asked Venice for help that decided to intervene since its trade itself was under threat. THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC On Ascension Day in the year 1000 - or probably in 998 - a fleet commanded by Doge Orseolo II set sail. In Parenzo (Istria) and in Pola they received the homage of the Istrians. On June the 6th, they had the one of the Dalmatian towns, as well as that of Arbe and Ossero. The Doge, after the defeat of the pirates who had their dens at the mouth of the Narenta River, landed in Cùrzola and Làgosta. Traù was subjected whereas Ragusa spontaneously paid homage. The Doge, back in Venice, received all the honours, and the Senate ordered the celebration of "Lo sposalizio del Mare" (the sea wedding) to take place every year on Ascension Day, with a special ceremony. The Doge, with the Patriarch by his side, poured holy water from the Bucintoro (a particular rowing boat) into the sea and threw a precious ring accompanying the rite with the words: "We marry you, Sea, as our real and perpetual dominion". The ceremony still takes place today with the maximum solemnity on Ascension Day. In the year 1000 the Venetian Republic started being present in Dalmatia and met the resistance of the Hungarians and Croatian squires until 1400. Zara rebelled seven times against the dominion of the "Serenissima" (Venetian Republic). And in 1202, the Venetian fleet brought the crusaders to the East (IV Crusade), stopped in front of Zara, conquered the town, and pulled down its walls. This way Venice was paid off the residual debt the crusaders had run up for the payment of the freight. In 1409, Venice started extending over the Dalmatian territory. It was July 31st when the "veneziani" (Venetians i.e.Venice’s citizens) made their entrance in Zara, and: - the people celebrated and consecrated it as the "Santa Intrada" (the saint entrance) -. The Venetian dominion extended along the whole coast and progressively over the inside, consolidating the victorious opposition of San Marco against the Turks, during the wars of Candia (Karlovitz Peace-1699) and Morea (Passarowitz Peace-1718). The Renaissance brought to Dalmatia and the Peninsula, centuries of prosperity, and thriving literature, arts and customs. The "Serenissima"’s (Venetian Republic) dominion lasted until 1797. Four centuries of intense trade and cultural exchange. The University of Padua welcomed not only the young Dalmatians, but also eleven Chancellors (Presidents - USA) of the legal students, six of the arts students, four professors of philosophy, seven of canon law and dogmatic theology, one of civil law, four of medicine, all coming from Dalmatia. The Dalmatians constituted the vigour of the Venetian overseas troops. At Lepanto they were present with sixteen galleys. Among them we recall that of Traù led by the "Sovracomito" (Commander) Alvise Cippico. In Traù, today, you can still admire the nice Venetian palace of the Cippico family. END OF VENETIAN REPUBLIC As the destiny of the Venetian Republic, faced with the strength of Napoleon, was nearly over, during "Verona’s Easter" (rebellion against Napoleon) of April 1797, a Slavonian unit fought with the insurgent citizens of Verona, and "...the overseas soldiers massacred their adversaries...". The Slavonians garrisoned Vicenza, Padua, Poveglia and defended the fort of Brondolo. In the lagoon, Alvise Viscovich, from Perasto, commanding the schooner "Annetta Bella" sank the French warship "Liberateur d’Italie". On the 6th May 1797, in the uncertainty of the Major Council (Venetian Government), Francesco Pesaro, a public prosecutor from San Marco, shouted at the hesitant Doge Ludovico Manin "Tolè su el Corno, e andè a Zara" (Get the three-cornered hat [the symbol of the doge’s power] and go to Zara). i.e. the Republic must be continued in Zara. On that "tremendo dodese de magio" (terrible 12th May), about twelve thousand Slavonians, embarked along the Riva (shore) that still today is named after them, and with fusillades of gunshots they bade the dying Republic farewell. At the Major Council, gathered in the Doge’s Palace, some of the Members, shocked by the gunshots, shouted "Sia mandata la parte" (let’s vote). And the "da mo’" ("from now", i.e. immediately effective decrees) were approved sanctioning the end of the Venetian Republic. In Zara, on the 1st July of the same year, the flags of San Marco were carried to the Cathedral in Santa Anastasia and laid on the High Altar, with a solemn parade through the calli (narrow alleys) of the whole garrison. Sergeant General Antonio Stratico, in tears, kissed the flag. 160 garrison officers, then the people followed him. Lorenzo Licini in his journal recalls: "...so many tears were shed that the flags became as wet as if they had been immersed in water...". At the Bocche di Cattaro (Cattaro’s Mouths), on the 27th Aug., with a similar ceremony, the flags of San Marco were laid in the Cathedral of Perasto, and Count Giuseppe Viscovich delivered his famous speech. "Savarà da nu i nostri fioi e la storia del zorno farà saver a tutta l’ Europa che Perasto ha degnamente sostenudo sin all’ ultimo l’ onor del Veneto Gofalon", (Our children will know and, history will tell the whole of Europe, that Perasto has worthily defended the honour of Venetian Gonfalon [the banner] to the very end). Indeed, as a special concession by the Senate of Venice it was up to an inhabitants guard of Perasto to defend the Gonfalon of San Marco on the flagship, when the fleet went into action. Count Viscovich continued: "Per 377 anni la nostra fede, el nostro valor, l’ha sempre custodio, per terra e per mar... Per 377 anni le nostre sostanze, el nostro sangue, le nostre vite, le stae sempre per ti, o San Marco..Ti con NU, Nu con TI...", ( For 337 years our possessions, our blood, our lives have been devoted to you, San Marco...You will be with Us, We will be with You..). The count, kneeling down before the Altar, addressing his nephew beside him, said: "Inzenocite anca ti, basile, e tienilo a mente per tutta la vita" (Kneel down, kiss them and keep this in mind for ever). FRENCH-AUSTRIAN TIMES After eight years’ Austrian rule, in consequence of the peace of Presburgo that crowned Napoleon’s victory in Austerliz, Dalmatia was passed to the French. It was Feb. 19th 1806 as General Mattieu Dumas, issued the "Proclamation" from Zara: "Dalmatians! Emperor Napoleon, King of Italy, Your King, gives You back to Your Country [...] The Presburgo treaty guarantees the re-union of Dalmatia with the Italian Reign". The "Dalmatian Legion" was constituted, four battalions, that in January 1808 became the "Dalmatian Regiment". They fought during the 1809 and 1810 campaigns against Austria and in 1812 in Russia. Their last combat was fought in Malojaroslavez. On Nov. 28th they passed the river Beresina again. After seventy days’ march they reached the river Vistola. French colonel commander Loriot and two battalions with one scanty company each arrived in Verona. Nine-hundred Dalmatians died. Ten were decorated with the "Iron cross", five with the "Legion of Honour". Only two of them came back from Russia: Leone Zavoreo from Zara, and Nicola Fontana from Castelnuovo di Cattaro. Austria in 1814 annexed Veneto and Venice, but definitively lost them in 1866. It also returned to Dalmatia where it stayed until Nov. 4th 1918, when it was occupied by Italy after Vittorio Veneto. This is how the over a hundred years’ Austrian rule started. In the first decades, in Dalmatia, Vienna kept the regulations and institutions of Venice, progressively adapting them to the new needs. The town life on the coast was going on in memory of Venice, fostered by the nostalgia of the so-called "Marcolini" (named after San Marco, patron saint of Venice). In that apparent apathy the "Carboneria" (secret society formed to achieve liberal statutes and reforms from absolute governments, translator’s note) developed with the two secret societies of the "Greci del silenzio" (Greeks of silence) and the "Guelfi", introduced in Dalmatia in about 1812/13, through the island of Lissa (occupied by the English at the time) and Romagna. Austria in 1822 tried 225 carbonari (members of the "Carboneria"), "presumed" the membership of 26 of them, and found 66 "suspects". Lissa With the awakening of the European nationalities the symbiosis between the Italians in the Dalmatian towns and the Croats in the countryside began deteriorating. In Zagabria, in 1832, Ljudevit Gaj published the paper "Harvatske Novine" that reminded Croats and Slavs of their origins, with a Pan-Slavic interpretation. But, almost at the same time, since Slavs did not have a common language, he sent to press the first Slavic grammar. Croats immediately replied to the recall. This was the beginning of the long struggle against the Italians in Dalmatia that ended with the ethnic cleansing in 1944-1945. The year 1848 shook Austria. Milan, Venice and Vienna were rising up. The Venetian Republic was established. Nicolò Tommaseo from Sebenico, and Leone Graziani from Spalato became the triumvirs that supported it with Daniele Manin and Giovanni Battista Cavedalis. Doge's golden act The Dalmatians rushed to Venice. Mattero Ballovich from Perasto became Superintendent of the new Venetian Navy; don Vincenzo Marinelli from Bol (island of Brazza) chaplain Superior of the land troops; Enrico Germani from Sebenico, transport commander; Demetrio Mircovich from the Bocche di Cattaro (Cattaro’s Mouths), "First Doctor" (Head Physician); Antonio Paulucci delle Roncole, from Zara, became Navy Minister, then Minister of War; Vincenzo Solistro, from Spalato, a member of the Assembly. Luca Antunivich, don Luca Lazzaneo, Pietro Naratovich on Nov. 14th 1848 issued a "Proclamation" for Dalmatians and Istrians. "Come together under the beloved flags of the saint war of Italy []. You will equally contribute to the redemption of Istria and Dalmatia". The "Dalmatian-Istrian Legion" was constituted. Seven died. Among the fourty exiles from Austria sent to the Republic, the Dalmatians: Nicolò Tommaseo, don Luca Lazzaneo, Demetrio Mircovich, Federico Seismit-Doda. You could find Dalmatians even in Rome, after the establishment of the Roman Republic. Giorgio Erzegovaz, was Garibaldi’s aide-de-camp, don Giuseppe Fama, General Antonini’s aide-de-camp. Federico-Seismit Doda, from Ragusa, fought at Porta San Paolo, but he was better known as the author of "La Romana" (The Roman), the hymn of the defenders of Rome. "Citizens, Italy finally // calls up its warriors // the resurrected freedom // thunders death to the foreigners /// New glory or new infamy // Italy can follow two paths now // either death or the Republic // either chains or freedom". In 1848 the Italian revolutionary uprisings directly involved Vienna. The Croats who were part of the Hungarian reign (since 1102) and enjoyed a limited administrative autonomy, asked the Emperor for a new and stronger union of the Dalmatian reign because, according to them Dalmatia was part of the territory granted to the Croatian reign. But the Dalmatians, protesting "against any proposal put forward on behalf of Dalmatia without the intervention of any Dalmatian delegates" turned down the Croatian claims. In March 1860, Vienna established a "Council of the Empire" "reinforced" with regional representatives. And Croats asked for the annexation of Dalmatia to Croatia again, thus meeting the opposition of the Dalmatians. In 1859 the Italians in the towns on the coast could feel the Italian enthusiasms for Garibaldi. Even though it was not possible to constitute a legion like the one in Venice, they were voluntarily present in the countryside in 1859-60. Garibaldi’s name was firing with enthusiasm. In Sicily with him there were Giorgio Caravà from Tenin, Marco Cossovich from Cattaro, who fought at Calatafimi. Francesco Galateo from Cattaro who commanded a company of the "Medici Division", Enrico Matcovich from Spalato who fought during the whole campaign up to Naples. Then Costanzo Cattalini from Spalato, Luigi Milanovich from Cattaro. From Zara Antonio Paulucci delle Roncole and Luigi Seismit-Doda (Federico’s brother) who was head of the General Staff of the "Toscana Division". Carlo Tivaroni from Zara who reached Garibaldi in Naples and fought at Civitella del Tronto. Zanghi Giacomo, from Zara, who was given the sergeant’s stripes during the battle of Milazzo. But one in particular is to be remembered: Corrado Dobraz, from Ragusa, student in Padua, who tried to swim the river Mincio to join the garibaldini (those enlisted in Garibaldi’s army) and drowned. Vienna played the Croatian trump card to keep Istria and Dalmatia in the Empire. On the one hand, it supported the aspirations of Zagabria over Dalmatia, on the other hand it deflected Croats from their contextual aim of becoming the third State of the Empire that, together with the Hungarian one, might have overshadowed the German component of the Austrian reign. Vienna, with the constitutional reform of 1861, constituted the "Regional Diets" and at the first election, the Dalmatian one got a majority of twenty-nine Italians as against eleven Croats, five Italians and one Croat in the "Council of the Empire". Italians qualified as "autonomists", Croats as "annexationists". That was the beginning of the denationalization of Dalmatia, brought about by Vienna with two instruments: the master and the priest. With the third war of Independence (1866), Austria laid siege to the Dalmatian towns, because it felt that those Italians believed in an impending redemption by Italy. In Spalato the tricolours were being prepared, and the town was ready to welcome the Italian ships. On the battlefields there were twenty-eight Dalmatians, some of the maximum grades, such as Giorgio Caravà (who had already been involved in the 1859/60 campaign), General, Commander of the 25th "Ferrara" brigade, then Aide-de-camp of King Umberto I. Among those who had fought, Bucchia Tommaso from Cattaro, Carlo Tivaroni, decorated with the silver medal for Military Valour, and Luigi Seismit-Dosa both from Zara, became Members of the Italian Parliament. Luigi’s brother, Federico Seismit-Doda became Finance Minister in 1886 during the Crispi government. But that of Lissa was a fatal day for the Italians in Dalmatia. The struggle between annexationists and autonomists became fiercer. The eighty-four Italian municipalities in Dalmatia started falling one by one in the hands of the Croats. Croats got the majority at the Dalmatian Diet. The more Austria and Croats pressed on the Italians, the more the latter enhanced the new associative movement. They gave rise to the gymnastic Club, the shooting club, that became the Bersaglieri (Italian light-infantrymen) Society and adopted the uniform of the Italian Bersagliere, the Workers’ mutual aid associations, Charities, culture clubs, Veloci Clubs, Rowing Clubs, where the Italians closed the ranks and nourished their hopes. Zara's Road Runners society In the last decade of the 19th century the struggle between autonomists and annexationists was turned into contrast and antagonism between the Italian and Croatian parties. The "Società Politica Dalmata" ("Dalmatian Political Society") was established, on which the other associations and the various societies with officially less complex programmes depended. Clear was the programme of the "Società degli studenti italiani della Dalmazia" ("Dalmatia’s Italian Students’ Society) that with the brethren from Trentino and Istria got deeply involved in the events of Innsbruck (1904) and Vienna (1908) to achieve the setting up of an Italian University in Trieste. It gave rise to circulating libraries in Dalmatia. It invited distinguished personalities from the Peninsula to hold conferences and give lectures. It became the reference point of any patriotic expression. In November 1890, at the Dalmatian Diet, the Croatian annexationists with the majority, decided to open Croatian schools in Zara. The town protested with a grand demonstration at the "Verdi" Theatre. The citizens had been invited to intervene with public placards. "History is on our side: Slavic schools within the walls of our ducal town have never existed; our ancestors always used the Italian language, both in public and in private places; and as to us, non degenerate heirs of our forefathers, we want to keep this sacred heritage [] and want nobody to violate it. [] We know we are fighting a fierce battle; but, being convinced of the justice of our cause, and united in the shade of that sacred flag of our country made immortal by so many centuries’ glorious history, we hope that our rights will triumph and our enthusiasms will become more vigorous". In memory of that memorable protest, in the hall of the Theatre they laid a stone. "In this temple of Arts / comforted by the general vote and approval/ that of Dalmazia / on Nov. 30th 1890 / two thousand Zara’s citizens / came together / to safeguard the Italic ancestral language and civilization". This stone was destroyed together with the theatre by the 1943-44 allied bombardments. THE EARLY 20th CENTURY The revolver shots by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci that on the 29th July 1900 killed King Umberto in Monza, were painfully felt. Even in Zara a Committee was organized and nine Dalmatian representatives were present at the funeral in Rome. The Austrian Police reported: Mourning on the 8th and 9th of this month. During the first days after the tragic happening, only the Italian Consul [Mr. Silvio Milazzo] hoisted the mourning crepe flag and the Italian subjects covered their dwellings and business places with mourning, but many citizens followed this example on the 8th and 9th. Especially the shopkeepers in the main streets, Calle Larga and Calle Santa Maria, where almost all shop windows were covered with mourning. Shops closed during the funeral Service in the Cathedral on the 9th and during the whole day. On this occasion the local Società Unione Zaratina (Zaratina Union Society) stood out. On the 31st of last month, it hoisted in the social rooms three big black flags and the social flag. This example was then followed by the Workers’ and Bersaglieri (Italian light-infantrymen) Societies. The Imperial Royal Government, with a decree of the 26th April 1909 imposed the use of the Slavic language in the public offices. The Dalmatian employees protested immediately. They sent to the PM, Riccardo Baron de Bienerth the Petition of the officials of the Italian State in Dalmatia. There were 506 signatures, and a note specified that there were also the interpreters of the other colleagues that could not sign for lack of time. Everyone put their name, surname and title. In the meantime in 1891 in Dalmatia the Società Dante Alighieri (Dante Alighieri Society) gave rise to the Lega Nazionale (National League), because, since it could not gain access to the territory of the Austrian Empire, it operated through the League. The Members of the Dante Alighieri Sections in Zara, Sebenico, Spalato, Cattaro, Curzola, Lesina, Almissa, to avoid the strictness of the Austrian police, and to contribute to the Dante Society any way, were registered at the section in Udine. The Lega Nazionale, supported by personal donations by the Italians in Dalmatia, opened kindergartens and primary schools to preserve and spread the Italian language. In 1908, in Spalato, the boys’ and girls’ schools were attended by 280 pupils, in Curzola there were 142 students. Similar attendance at the school in Sebenico, and other 200 students in the co-ed three-classed school in Borgo Erizzo, a Zara’s suburb. Most of the teachers came from the Peninsula. The revolver shots shot by Gavrilo Princip Saturday the 28th June 1914 in Sarajevo, were felt also in Dalmatia, where the news came in the afternoon the next day. In Zara, the cycle race for the regional Championship of Dalmatia organized by the Veloce Club Zaratino, was cancelled for the mourning for the death of Archduke Francesco Ferdinando and his wife Countess Sofia Chotek. Francesco Rismondo (President-cyclist of the Veloce Club in Spalato) was among the cyclists lined up at the start banner, who went back to town. He was then beginning to walk along the path that finally led him to martyrdom. THE WORLD WAR I The "zaratini" knew Italy would join the war. The could feel the uncertainty, waiting for Rome’s decisions, during the months of neutrality. The recalls to arms by the Austrian authorities worried them even more. While it was still possible to cross the border those who meant to wear the uniform started fleeing to Italy. From the 24th May 1915 desertion became heroic. Persecutions, internment, arrests, trials for high treason did not have any impact on their unity in the hope and trust. Austria, in Zara, Spalato, Ragusa, Cattaro arrested eighteen representatives of the Italian community and banished thirteen of them. Fourteen were interned, thirteen were charged with high treason and twelve were taken hostage. About 216 young people from Dalmatia took refuge in Italy and volunteered for the Italian Army. Some 39 who could not cross the border, once they had enlisted in the Austrian Army, took any possible chance to desert, and became part of the Italian army. Antonio Marussi, in the attempt to pass from the Austrian to the Italian trenches round Peuma (Gorizia) was shot dead by the Austrian sentries. The ensign Matteo Tolja and Giacomo Salvi, both from Zara, brought with them the plans of the defences of Gorizia and of the tunnel mouths. The Italian commands used them for the seizure of the town. Extraordinary is the adventure of seven Dalmatians who deserted the Galizia front in 1916 and were brought by the Russians to a refugee camp. But, in wait of being invited to Italy, they got involved in the Soviet revolution. Left to themselves, crossing Siberia with emergency vehicles, they reached Harbin in Manciuria. They continued across China and on June the 18th 1918 they arrived in Peking. Here they joined the Italian troops that garrisoned the Italian Legation. After a couple of weeks they were moved to Tien-Tsin where the "Italian Far East Expeditionary Force" (C.I.E.O) was landing. On Sept. the 15th 1918 they took an oath of allegiance to the King of Italy. With the end of the war in Europe they fought the Bolsheviks on the Siberian front until June 1919. They landed in Zara again on Feb. the 8th 1920. Twenty Dalmatians died during the Great War. They were given the Gold medal for Military Valour, the one awarded to Francesco Rismondo, president-cyclist from the cycling Club in Spalato. In April 1915 he had passed the border in Trieste. On June the 16th he had enlisted in the Italian army. After much insistence he had succeeded in being sent to the front with the VIII Cyclists Battalion of the VIII Bersaglieri (Italian light infantrymen) Regiment positioned opposite to the Austrian trenches at Peak nr. 4 on Mount San Michele. After conquering the peak, he was counter-attacked by the Austrians on July the 21st. Since then, nobody had known what had happened to him for years, he simply disappeared. Gabriele d’Annunzio named him "L'Assunto di Dalmazia" (The Dalmatian taken up to Heaven). Acknowledged by the Austrians as an irredentist deserter, he had been executed on Aug. the 10th 1915. He preceded Fabio Filzi, Nazario Sauro and Cesare Battisti on the way to martyrdom. War memorial Ten were decorated with the silver medal for Military Valour, nine with the bronze one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Italy had gone to war on May the 24th 1915 after signing a pact on April the 26th, named "London Pact", with France, England, and Russia, defining the territorial annexations it was entitled to at the end of a victorious war. In Trentino: the Alto Adige, then the share of Istria surrounded by the Giulie Alps, and along the Adriatic Littoral: Northern Dalmatia from the Channel of Morlacca to Punta Planca (west of Traù) with a maximum territory depth of fourty kilometres as the crow flies. The pact provided for no annexation of Fiume or Spalato. Instead the islands in front of the Italian stretch of coast and, down south, the group of the Curzolari islands with Lissa were to be annexed. The Pact was secret. But Nikola Pasic, PM of the Serbian Reign, found out about it by the end of that year or early in 1916 thanks to some "leakages" of the English diplomacy. He warned his minister in Paris Miloard Vesnic (Serb) who, in his turn, informed Ante Trumbic (Croat). The latter organized the Yugoslavian Committees abroad to carry out an intense propagandist campaign at the Chancelleries and Foreign Offices in London, Paris and the States in favour of that new Yugoslavian State that was to emerge with the disintegration of the Austrian empire. The Bolsheviks, at the end of 1917, published the secret treaties signed by the Tsarist Government, and on Feb. the 13th 1918, MP Giuseppe Bevione informed the Chamber of Deputies about the terms of the London Pact, even though approximately. On Feb. the 16th, the Dalmatians resident in Rome, in view of the limited share of Dalmatia that was to be given to Italy, protested publicly. "The return of Dalmatia to Italy, necessary for the safety of its sea - because this shore, those islands, our National heritage, constitute its natural maritime bulwarks - is above all a historical-national need, a right Italy has to assert and firmly defend". And, prophetically, he added: "Renouncing it Italy would fail in its national mission; thus abandoning such a noble part of itself to extreme sacrifice; it would see its traditions, its language, its civilization disappear from the eastern Adriatic shore". ITALIAN ZARA On Nov. the 4th 1918, torpedo-boat AS 55 landed the first Italian unit in Zara: two platoons from the 225th Infantry Regiment of the Arezzo Brigade. Some more ships reached the islands of Lissa, Làgosta, Mèleda and Cùrzola on the same day. On Nov. the 6th Sebenico and then the islands in front of it. On Nov. the 15th Italian troops landed in Lèsina and on the 21st on the island of Pago. The occupied territories were entrusted to the military administration of vice-admiral Enrico Millo di Casalgiate, appointed Governor of Dalmatia. In Paris on Jan. the 18th 1919 the Peace Conference began. But the allies and, above all, the US took no account of the London Pact. The 680,000 deaths did not seem to be weighty. Wilson, Clemenceau, Lord George would not recognize the rights of Italy over the eastern shore of the Adriatic, and the engagements agreed upon in London three years earlier. A remissive attitude was spreading over Italy, worn out after four years’ war. The Italians in Spalato - where English, American, French and Italian ships were lying at anchor - uncertain about their fate, appealed to the Four Powers in March 1919. "Our souls oppressed by a new distress, burst out toward You with a strength that in its voice bears the tearing sound of our dead and the anguish of the living, in one word of invocation, incitement and hope; we hope that our faithful town, for its Roman and Italic traditions, will finally see the dawn of its redemption rise from our own sea, and, by making the most fervent vows, unite its own with the glorious fortunes of Italy". On Sept. the 3rd 1919, in Versailles, the Peace Treaty with Austria-Hungary was signed, but it was not possible to define the eastern borders of Italy with the new State of Serbs-Croats-Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), born out of the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and that wanted the borderline to be at the river Isonzo. Thus, Italy had to face directly the Yugoslavian representatives, and sign the Treaty of Rapallo on Nov. the 13th 1919. Of the whole Dalmatian territories the allies had guaranteed Italy, Rome hardly managed to obtain the town of Zara (51 square kilometres with 17,065 inhabitants) on the coast and the island of Lagosta with some adjacent islets (53 square kilometres and 1710 inhabitants) toward the lower Adriatic. Once again the Dalmatians protested "against the Government that had renounced the whole of Dalmatia for the benefit of the other State embodying the interests of a people with which the Italians-Dalmatians fought titanic battles in the name of Italy". And they concluded "the vow that destiny, wiser and fairer than man, may set the great, generous, magnificent Italian Nation, superior to any ruler, free from the terrible threat perpetually posed by now somebody else’s Adriatic". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zara became a province under the royal decree of Jan. the 18th 1923 n. 54. It became a pledge and a reference-point for the residual Italian communities of the other towns now subjected to Yugoslavia, and from which, in consequence of the Treaty of Rapallo, about ten thousand people were exiled to Italy. The town coped with that anomalous - also territorial - situation with determination and fulfilled the task of defending the name of Italy. After the fierce days of the "Passione Adriatica" ("Adriatic Passion"), that had troubled Italy during the Peace negotiations, the name of Zara was still on the mouths of the Italians. This time because of the victories of the eight "Diadora" Rowers. The "Diadora", that had joined the Italian Rowing Club (the Federation), in 1911 had entered the Italian Championships, and in Como it had won the title of Champion of Italy in the eight yawl. But the title was not recognized, because the rowers were ... Austrian-Hungarian citizens. After the redemption of Zara, the "Diadora" in 1920, in 1921 and 1922 won the Italian championship in the eight yawl and in 1923 in the eight outrigger. In the same year it won for Italy the title of Champion of Europe. At the 1924 Olympics in Paris it defended the colours of Italy in the eight outrigger. The rowboat, up to the 1200 metres, had the lead. But an accident to the car made them lose it. But in the end they finished after the US and Canada. Between the two world wars, other athletes from Zara defended the name of the town in the Peninsula, and imposed that of Italy in the international contests. Nine athletes - Ausonio Alacevich in rugby, Lucio Benevenia in basketball, Gabre Gabric in the discus, Ottavio Missoni (today’s designer) in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles, Antonio Sarovich in the pole vault, Bruno Testa and Antonio Vukasina in the javelin, Gino Treleani e Gino Nadali in sailing - altogether wore fifty-seven times the blue shirt. Between 1920 and 1940 Zara, four times, in proportion with the number of its inhabitants contributed more than the other Italian provinces to the anti-tubercular annual campaigns of the "Fiore e della doppia Croce" ("Flower and double Cross"). Cruiser "Zara" On June the 5th 1932 the women in Zara gave the Colours to the new 10,000-ton cruiser, the "Zara". On its bow, in very large bronze letters the ship read the motto "Tenaciously". An adverb that summarized the Dalmatians’ will, devotion and moral courage. As, in 1936, for the war in Ethiopia, it was necessary to oppose the economic sanctions imposed on Italy by the other States, once again Zara was the province that, in proportion with the number of its inhabitants, gave the Country more gold than the other provinces. Zara felt the war in Ethiopia as a duty. A duty towards those 680,000 dead men who, twenty-years earlier, had sacrificed their youth to redeem it. Now, for the first time after that war, Italy was calling up. And the Dalmatians voluntarily replied. Six of them fell. Four were awarded the silver medal for Military Valour, five the bronze ones. Zara, given its position as an isolated eastward bridgehead, felt the ideological opposition breaking out on the Spanish fields as a crusade for the defence of the European civilization. It was the West to be threatened in the Mediterranean by the new monster, communism. The young "zaratini" (Zara’s citizens) replied to the new appeal, and once again they fought to defend the Latin civilization. Six of them fell on the Spanish fields. Five silver medals for Military Valour and two bronze ones. THE WORLD WAR II With the declaration of war on June the 10th 1940, the zaratini (Zara’s citizens) found themselves in the front line. As the hostilities with Yugoslavia appeared imminent, they prepared for confrontation. After evacuating elderly people, women and children by April the 6th they faced the siege. Zara was the only town in Italy to be besieged during world war II. Those zaratini (Zara’s citizens) who had not been recalled, voluntarily reported to the Garrison’s Command and formed a special company. Others wore the uniforms of the National Security Volunteer Troops (M.V.S.N.). Then, on April the 12th, they broke through the siege and crossed the border. That was the short season of the second Redemption. It was the revenge over the London Pact of 1915, and the Rapallo Treaty of 1920. The Dalmatian lands - under the Royal decree - May 18th 1941-XIX, n. 42 act - were annexed to Italy. Spalato and Cattaro became new Italian provinces. The province of Zara extended its territory. The Dalmatian Governorship was constituted, governed by Giuseppe Bastianini and then by Francesco Giunta. During the 1940-1945 war, about 3,700 zaratini (Zara’s citizens) and Dalmatians - volunteer, recalled, call-up classes - fought on all land, sea and air fronts. 324 of them died. With the casualties up to the 8.75 per cent of the enlisted, with 8 gold medals for Military Valour, 42 silver medals, 52 bronze medals, 115 Military Crosses for Military Valour, they had - once again - shown their devotion to the Country. 
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
A part of the Kingdom of Croatia according to a convention entered into between Croatia and Hungary. ....
The meaning of the name Dalmatia or Delmatia, which is of Arnautic origin, is "land of shepherds" (delminium — pasture for sheep). The earliest mention of the name occurs at the time of the fall of the southern Illyric kingdom, 167 B.C. The people who dwelt near the rivers Neretva and Krka formed a league against the advancing Romans. Their principal town was Delminium, on the present plain of Sinj, or possibly Duvno in Herzegovina, and after that city the tribes called themselves Delmati, or Dalmati, 170 B.C. The islands were peopled by the Greeks; but the mainland by the Illyrians. The Dalmatian league soon came into conflict with the Romans. In 153 B.C. the Roman Senate sent envoys to negotiate with the Dalmatians, but they returned complaining that they were received in an unfriendly manner, and that they would have been killed if they had not secretly escaped. During the next year war broke out. Finally Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica conquered the land and demolished the city of Delminium. The Romans' success was incomplete; they must subdue the neighbouring Illyrians and Celts if they wished to retain the whole of Dalmatia. The two new consuls had to march from Gaul to Illyrium and occupy the city of Segestica, now Sisak, thence to invade Dalmatia and capture the city of Salona. The consul Metellus carried out this plan, defeated the enemy in 118 B.C., and celebrated a triumph at Rome, receiving the title Dalmaticus (117). The Roman Senate now created the large province of Illyricum, extending southward to the River Drim, northward as far as the Julian Alps and the River Sava. The principal strategic point and fortress in this new province was the city of Salona (Solin). But the Dalmatians did not patiently bear the Roman yoke and tribute. Many uprisings broke out until the time of Octavian, who came to Illyricum in 40 B.C., and subjugated all the tribes; he made the rivers Drava and Danube the northern boundaries of the Roman possessions and sailed on them in his triremes. Later, when emporer, he broke the power of the Dalmatian and Pannonian tribes who tried again to throw off the Roman rule. The insurrection started in the year 6 B.C. and ended in A.D. 9. The power of the rebels was crushed and their country devastated. Since the Punic wars Rome had not been in as critical a situation as during this insurrection suppressed by Tiberius. From this date begins the Romanizing of Illyricum. This province now received the name of Dalmatia and comprised all the land south of the River Sava, within which were many famous watering places, such as Aquæ Jassæ (the Varazdinske toplice of today), Aquæ Balissæ (Lipik in Croatia), and much mineral wealth exploited by them, as appears from their remains today. The Roman rule in Dalmatia ended with the entry of Christianity and the invasion of the northern nations. The Romans persecuted the Christians in Dalmatia and Pannonia, but they flourished nevertheless. St. Paul sent his disciple Titus to Dalmatia, who founded the first Christian see in the city of Salona and consecrated it with his blood A.D. 65. St. Peter sent St. Domnius. Salona became the centre from which Christianity spread. In Pannonia St. Andronicus founded the See of Syrmium (Mitrovica) and later those of Siscia and Mursia. The cruel persecution under Diocletian, who was a Dalmatian by birth, left numerous traces in Old Dalmatia and Pannonia. St. Quirinus, Bishop of Siscia, died a martyr A.D. 303. St. Jerome was born in Strido, a city on the border of Pannonia and Dalmatia. After the fall of the Western Empire in 476, peace never came to Dalmatia. She successively fell into the power of Odoacer, Theodoric, and Justinian. The Goths were Arians, but they did not persecute the Catholics. Two provincial church councils were held at Salona — 530 and 532. The Western Empire was succeeded by the Ostro-Goths, after whose fall in 555 Dalmatia came under Byzantine power. In A.D. 598 the khan of the Avars advanced from Syrmium through Bosnia, devastated Dalmatia, and demolished forty cities. In A.D. 600 appeared the Slavs, who entered Dalmatia. Pope Gregory the Great wrote to Maxim, Archbishop of Salona: "Et de Slavorum gente, quæ vobis valde imminet, affligor vehementer et conturbor. Affligor in his, quæ iam in vobis patior; conturbor quia per Istriæ aditum iam Italiam intrare coeperunt". In the seventh century Dalmatia received the dominant element of its present population, the Croats. In the ninth century we find the Croatian influence at its height, and the Croatian princes recognized as Kings of Dalmatia. At the time of Thomislav there were held two councils at Spljet for the whole of Dalmatia and Croatia. The legates of the Holy See, John, Bishop of Ancona and Leo, Bishop of Præneste, were present. Pope John X wrote a letter to Thomislav, King of the Croats and all the people of Dalmatia. In this he reminded the king of the Anglo-Saxons, to whom Gregory I sent not only Christianity, but also culture and education. The council met in 925 to decide the question of the primacy of the Sees of Nin and Spljet; to re-establish rules of discipline, to settle administrative questions arising from disputes about the boundaries of dioceses, and finally to show the reason for using the Old Croatian language at Mass. On this occasion Bishop Grgur Ninski energetically defended the right of the Croatians to use that language. Pope Leo VI decreed by his Bull that the primate of Dalmatia and Croatia should be the Archbishop of Spljet. All the decisions of the councils were sent to Rome for confirmation. The See of Nin was suppressed in 928, when the See of Spljet renounced the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople and submitted to the Holy See. At the next council, held 1059-60 at Spljet, permission was given to use the Greek and Latin languages at Mass. The use of the old Croatian language was often forbidden, but never abolished. During the following centuries the history of Dalmatia is closely connected with that of Croatia. In the course of time, however, Venice extended her authority over Dalmatia. Venice never gained the affection of the Dalmatian people. By the treaty of Campo Formio in 1797 she lost Dalmatia, which came under Austrian rule, under which is has continued to the present time with the exception of Napoleonic times (1805-1814). The feeling towards Austria was not friendly, as the outbreak in 1869 shows. This was put down by force of arms in February of the next year. Influential patriots, the members of the home Diet, and the delegates in the Reichstag at Vienna are working to carry out the provisions of the fundamental law requiring the union of Dalmatia with the mother-country, Croatia, which the king promised in a solemn oath at his coronation. The literature of Dalmatia from its beginning in the eleventh century was inspired by the Catholic Church and remained so until the rise of Humanism. Numerous private and public libraries existed, containing thousands of volumes (1520). The art of printing found its way to Dalmatia as early as the end of the fifteenth century. The first Humanists such as Mencetic, Bobali, Pucic, Gucetic, Marulic wrote in Latin and Croatian and produced many varieties of literature: the drama, lyrics, epics, bucolics, comedies, religious, and gypsy poetry. Dalmatia has in fact been called the cradle of Croatian literature. The city of Dubrovnik was spoken of as another Athens. Architecture flourished greatly, as is proved by the existing monuments. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04606b.htm
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Riferimento: Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
ETHNIC CLEANSING
During the days following Sept. the 8th 1943, in Cattaro the "Emilia" division fought against the Germans for three days. The Germans entered Ragusa on the 10th after some battles. The partisans preceded the Germans in Spalato and stayed there from the 10th to the 27th. The partisans preceded the Germans also in Sebenico, but they withdrew the next day. The Germans entered Zara on the 10th and the partisans did not set foot in it until Oct. the 31st 1944. The "titini" (Tito’s partisans) stayed in Spalato for seventeen days. On Sept. the 18th, with posters stuck on the town’s walls they announced that the Military Court had condemned to death and executed twenty-two people. On Sept. 23rd the shooting of seven more people was announced. The Germans defeated the partisans’ resistance on the 27th, and on Oct. the 1st in Treglia (Trlj) they decimated the officers from the "Bergamo" division because they had dealt with the partisans and had given them weapons and warehouses. Fourty-seven were shot. On Oct. 9th, Maria Pasquinelli, a teacher in Spalato, was allowed by the German Garrison’s HQ to exhume and identify the bodies of the condemned by the partisan Military Court. In the first grave, that was reported to contain twenty-two corpses, they found thirty-nine bodies. In the second grave, instead of the seven corpses, they exhumed twenty-four. In a third grave, nobody had known of, they found the bodies of fourty-two condemned. There were a hundred and fifteen corpses altogether. It was not possible to tell the number of those whose bodies were never found. The Private secretary of the Prefect in Spalato, Mr. Scrivano, maintained he had seen people overnight take out of the prison he was detained in, at least two-hundred-fifty people. An investigation, carried out after the war, identified the names of 53 civilians and 43 policemen killed by the partisans in the Spalato - Traщ area. But even before Sept. the 8th, 6 policemen, 10 "carabinieri" (Italian MP), and 15 Customs officers had died. In the localities in Dalmatia, other than Zara, Spalato and Traщ, they identified the names of 44 civilians, 18 policemen, 16 Customs officers, and 30 "carabinieri" (Italian MP) killed by the "titini" (Tito’s partisans). THE DESTRUCTION OF ZARA So far nobody is aware of the military reasons and motives that led the allies to destroy with 54 bombardments the town of Zara, a slightly over one square km objective, on which they released at least 584 tons of bombs, equal to 54 kilograms of explosives every 100 square metres (10 x 10 metres). Zara was no provision base for the German Divisions operating in Yugoslavia. The town had no railway connection. Its port was mainly a tourist port. The wharves could not bear more than two docked steamships sized not over 2,500 tons at a time. And yet, it was destroyed. Tito, with the help of the allies, had taken off from the Yugoslavian side that Italian thorn, that had opposed the Croatian advance on the eastern shore of the Adriatic. The number of deaths under the bombing of Zara is uncertain. The first bombardment on the 2nd Nov. 1943 caused about 200 victims and the second on the 28th Nov. caused as many. A large though uncertain number of people were wounded. A trench After the second bombardment the people abandoned the town and took refuge in the countryside, in the nearby villages. The registry offices stopped working, deaths were not recorded at the Provincial Hospital any more. The corpses were buried in mass graves. And Head of the Province Vincenzo Serrentino, after the third bombardment (16th Dec. 1943) could only approximately report that there had been about sixty deaths. Considering that the 54 bombardments lasted up to the 31st Oct. 1944, thinking of the people who were thrown into the sea by the explosions, those who died in the localities around Zara, the machine-gunned boats, the sunk ones, those who were running away from the fire in town and ended up being blown up by incendiaries, we can reasonably believe that around 2,000 people were dead. The ethnic cleansing in Dalmatia, beginning with the exodus of about ten thousand Dalmatians after the signature of the Rapallo Treaty, had been bloodily completed. In Zara, among the few thousands of survivors out of about 22,000 inhabitants, after the entrance of Tito’s partisans (31st Oct. 1944) and after the air-bombardments, 180 people were killed "by their names". Among those killed by Tito’s partisans, there were also two prefects from Zara. Vezio Orazi, who died on the 26th May 1942 in an ambush near the town. Together with him "Carabinieri" captain Umberto Buonassisi, Artillery lieutenant Giacinto Trupiano, a police warrant-officer and seven Artillery men. The other prefect, Vincenzo Serrentino, appointed Head of the Province by the authorities of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (R.S.I. Italian Social Republic, the fascist government) on the 2nd Nov. 1943, had to suffer the last thirteen months of Italian Zara. On the orders of the Ministry of the Interior in Salò he abandoned the town on the 30th Oct. 1944, and fled to Trieste. On the 5th May 1945 he was captured by Tito’s partisans who had occupied the Julian town. He was brought to Sebenico and, after two years’ imprisonment, he was put to death. He was executed on the 15th May 1947. DIASPORA When the weapons ceased firing, in Zara and Dalmatia sacrifice went on. "Zaratini" and Dalmatians, uprooted from their town took refuge and salvation in Italy. Those who managed to survive, in the torment of hope, waited for the "option" application for the preservation of their Italian citizenship - submitted as their last desperate act of pride - to be approved by Tito’s authorities. But even those who succeeded in finding refuge in the Peninsula, even though they were Italian-born, combatants, mutilated or decorated, had to apply for keeping their Italian citizenship to the Yugoslavian consular authorities, rather than the Italian ones. During those years, Italy was in the position to offer its overseas children, exiles in their own Country, the mere support of the refugee camps. Exiles took no offence. They did, instead, and rebelled, when the Ministry of the Interior filed them into the police records and fingerprinted them. In any way and as early as possible, even doing the humblest jobs, they tried to be integrated in the reconstruction process of Italy. Many managed by displaying adaptability, will-power and capability. Others chose to go to Australia and America, far-off lands where being Italian or Dalmatian was no crime. The history of the Istrians who accompanied them in this diaspora will be dealt with later. They made a name for themselves wherever they stopped, preserving in their Country and abroad their faith, devotion and creed. Thus on the 5th Nov. 1953 the G.M.A. (Allied Military Government) Police in Trieste shot Pierino Addobbati, the sixteen-year-old son of a doctor in Zara, during a demonstration for the handing back over of the town to Italy. On the 13th July 1972, terrorists killed in Rome "Carabinieri" lieutenant colonel Antonio Varisco, from Zara. The Government awarded his memory the golden medal for Civil Bravery. In the same year, Captain Enrico Barisone, son of a "zaratina" and born in Zara, was seriously wounded around Nuoro in the struggle against banditry. He was decorated with the Golden medal for Military Valour.
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Re: Riferimento: Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
Execution of war criminals and facsists can hardly be called "ethnic cleansing".
 Italianization Italianization is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something non-Italian is made to become Italian. In the context of twentieth century history, Italianization is the process by which the government of Benito Mussolini forced Slavic populations, Germans, francophone populations and Greeks living within the borders of Italy to assume Italian culture. This program of Italianization, aimed to the suppress native Slovenian and Croatian populations of Istria, Dalmatia and other parts of the former Austrian Littoral region, German-speakers living in South Tyrol, Trento and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Francoprovençal-speaking peoples living in the Aosta Valley. Under this program, these ethnic groups were forced to adopt Italian names, attend Italian language schools and churches and speak only the Italian language in public. Slovenian and Croatian institutions, such as the Narodni dom (Slovene National Club) in Trieste, were vandalized and German traditional institutions as well. Slav, German and French toponyms were systematically translated and immigration of Italians from other regions of Italy was also encouraged. A few Slovenians and Croatians willingly accepted Italianization as a compromise required in order to gain full status as Italian citizens. Most, however, found little reason to change their cultural identity to accommodate the new government in Rome, which they saw as a recent interloper in the affairs of the eastern Adriatic. .... In 1939 Hitler and Mussolini reached an agreement on the status of Germans living in South Tyrol: they could emigrate to Germany (or its new territories) or stay in Italy and accept their complete Italianization. As a consequence, South Tyrolen society was deeply riven. Those who wanted to stay ("Dableiber"), were condemned as traitors, those who left ("Optanten") were defamed as Nazis. Because of the outbreak of the World War II, this agreement was never fully accomplished. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italianization Foibe/Fojbe Foibe are often referred to in the context of mass killings in which the majority of victims were ethnic Italians. Such mass killings were committed after the capitulation of Italy on September 8, 1943 and in 1945, when Yugoslav partisans under Tito's command entered Istria and parts of Venezia Giulia, and recaptured the Slovene ethnic territory. The Yugoslav army (IX Corpus) met with the British forces on the river Soča/Isonzo on May 3, 1945, so that the city of Trieste and the surroundings came, not without controversy, under Yugoslav military administration. The number of victims is still unknown, difficult to establish and matter of much controversy. Estimates range from as low as 2,000 to as high as 20,000. According to data gathered by a mixed Slovene-Italian historical commission established in 1993, the number of people missing from the region (believed to have been thrown in the foibe), range from 1,300 to 1,600, but this estimate does not include those killed in current Croatian territory. Some prominent historians like Raoul Pupo or Roberto Spazzali estimated the total number of victims at about 5,000. Most of them were court-martialed fascists or enemy soldiers, but civilians were also killed. Actual body-count may be different, as no reliable records exist of executed German soldiers and participants of various Quisling formations. The killings of 1943 were mostly spontaneous and were a reaction to the Italian pre-war and war crimes, such as concentration camps (among them the Rab and Gonars camps), political repression, forceful italianization and nationalistic repression of Slavs exercised by Italian fascist regime in the previous decades. The episodes of 1945 occurred partly under conditions of guerrilla fighting of Slovenian, Croatian and Italian partisans with the Germans, the Italian Social Republic's forces and their Slavic collaborators, and partially after the occupation of the territory by the army formations of Yugoslavia. Killings may have included war crimes as well as civilian crimes of private or political retaliation. The main motive of the mass killings seems to be a plan of "political cleansing", that is to say, elimination of potential enemies of the communist Yugoslav rule, including members of German and Italian fascist units, Italian officials, Italian, Slovenian and Croatian anti-communists and that part of the Italian elites that supported non-fascist and non-communist Italy. Some Italian sources claim that ethnic cleansing was another motive, but many historians disagree with that statement. However, a big part of the Slavic population had a very negative attitude towards Italians stereotyped as Fascist oppressors (and a big part of the Italian population had a very negative attitude towards Slavs stereotyped as barbarian communists), so ethnic tensions could have played some role as far as individual motivations are concerned. Quote from the report of the mixed Italian-Slovenian commission succinctly describes the circumstances of the 1945 killings: "14. These events were triggered by the atmosphere of settling accounts with the fascist violence; but, as it seems, they mostly proceeded from a preliminary plan which included several tendencies: endeavours to remove persons and structures who were in one way or another (regardless of their personal responsibility) linked with Fascism, with the Nazi supremacy, with collaboration and with the Italian state, and endeavours to carry out preventive cleansing of real, potential or only alleged opponents of the communist regime, and the annexation of Venezia Giulia to the new Yugoslavia. The initial impulse was instigated by the revolutionary movement which was changed into a political regime, and transformed the charge of national and ideological intolerance between the partisans into violence at the national level." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foibe_massacres
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Re: Riferimento: Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
Population of Dalmatia and Istria end of 19th/begining of 20th century:
Küstenland Gefürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca: Slowenen 154 564 = 58% Italiener 90 119 = 36% Deutsche 4 486 = 2% Markgrafschaft Istrien: Kroaten 168 184 = 43,5% Italiener 147 417 = 38,1% Slowenen 55 134 =14.26% Deutsche 12 735 = 3,3% [Slavs 223 318 = 57,76%] Königreich Dalmatien: Kroaten und Serben 565 000 Italiener 15 000 Deutsche 2 300 Religion: römisch Katholisch (größter Teil) Orthodox ca. 100 000 If we take that all Orthodox were Serbs and all catholic Croats we get the next numbers: 465 000 Croats = 73% ca. 100 000 Serbs = 15% 15 000 Italian = 2% 2 300 Germans = 0,4% The sources and numbers can be found here => http://www.donaumonarchie.com/ ************************************* More... City of Rijeka/Fiume/Sankt Veit am Flaum in 1918. 22 488 Italians 13 351 Croats Neighbouring town(actually suburb of Rijeka) Sušak(eng. Sushak) 1500 Italians 11 000 Croats Conclusion: Italians 23 988 = 49.5% Croats 24 351 = 50,5% ************************************* Ethnic map of Austria-Hungary in 1911. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ngary_1911.jpg Observe the Italians in Dalmatia  Last edited by Zrinski; Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 at 20:25.
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
Great numbers of Italians in Istria and Dalmatia are partially result of migration of Calabrian and Sicilian peasantry into the regions.
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Riferimento: Re: Riferimento: Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
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Why am I insisting? In this world there are two kinds of people: the prince people and the space-occupating people, the first gave civilization through Roman culture and the Renaissance and laid the bases for Fascism, the second occupied empty spaces and multiplied themselves like rabbits, removing the ancient and glorious culture before them.
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Re: Riferimento: Re: Riferimento: Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
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 What a stupid and ridiculous statement...."prince people"? In Dalmatia no one ocuppied anything....one name replaced the other, one language replaced the other. Instead of people calling themselves Liburni, Delmatae or Illyrians and Romans they call themsleves Croats. Instead of speaking Dalmatian romance language they today speak Croatian language. It's those same people.
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
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Riferimento: Re: Riferimento: Re: Riferimento: Re: Dalmatia... or Croatia?
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