Izvorni znanstveni članak
Dragovan Šepić
Sažetak
This paper attempts to trace the transformation undergone by Irredentism from the Risorgimento to the present, and to explain the conditions which influenced it. The author ernphasizes that Irredentism was initially a democratic and liberation movement which, inspired by the ideas of G. Mazzini, envisioned a united Italy in a Europe of free nations and viewed the South Slavs as allies in the battle against Austria. At that time the progressive bourgeois was the bearer of Irredentism, the majority of which were republicans by inclination, but official circles headed by the Savoy dynasty accepted the Irredentist program in the struggle for Italian unification, so that already some of the Irredentists were sympathetic to the monarchy and supported its policies. Irredentism became organized as a movement at the time of the Eastern crisis created by the Bosno-Hercegovian rebellion and hoped that the crisis would bring into the fore the issue of Italian "terre irredente". But the Irredentists were greatly disappointed, for this question was not even discussed at the Berlin Congress of 1878. Further development of Irredentism was hindered in 1882 when Italy entered the Tripartite Alliance with Austro-Hungary and Germany; following this the Italian government led Irredentism into a serious crisis by opposing it and aggravating activities by their societies, making it impossible for them to work. The Irredentists reacted sharply to the policies of the Italian government, but became more and more isolated and formed small republican groups. The Italian government, meanwhile, did not abandon the idea of "terre irredente", and secretly supported the activities of Italian national societies in Tirol and in the Austrian Littoral (Istria, Trieste, and Goriška) in an effort to conserve Italianism in these areas. The Italian National Liberal Party in the Austrian Littoral adopted policies in harmony with the new Italian line towards Austria and cooperated with the government in Vienna. It carried on a battle against the popular movement of the Slovenes and Croatians in these areas, and eventually began to view the South Slavs and not Austria as the greatest threat to Italianism in the Adriatic. From a fear of "Slavic danger", the Italian bourgeois in those regions opposed any basic state reorganization of the Habsburg monarchy which would lead to the breaking up of dualism and to the introduction of federation, and it vas against democratic reforms which would weaken the privileged position they enjoyed because of Austria's conservative and undemocratic system.
At the turn of the century Irredentism was revived, and in Italy much more attention was devoted to the position of the Italians in Tirol, the Austrian Littoral, and Dalmatia. After the great victory of the Slovenes and Croatians in the first general elections for the Viennese Parliament in 1907, the Italian Liberal Party again became sympathetic to Irredentism and brought its anti-Slav conceptions into the movement. Among the Irredentists also became influential the ideas of the Italian nationalistic movement which advocated the necessity for a struggle of Italian expansion in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, so that the Irredentist program gradually fitted into Italy's imperialistic plan of expansion. Among Irredentists there were still groups inspired by Mazzini's ideas, but they constituted too small a number to direct it in a democratic direction when the first World War broke out. During the period of Italy's neutrality Irredentism became increasingly identified with the ideas of nationalism and imperialism and became the most vocal advocate for maximum territorial pretensions in the Adriatic. Italian Irredentists tried to influence formulation of Italian demands which found expression in the London Treaty of 1915, and after Italy's entry into the war they stressed the need for a systematic policy of Italianization in new regions which were expected to be annexed by Italy. Besides this national-imperialistic oriented Irredentism, a democratically oriented Irredentism which championed an agreement with the South Slavs was also active in Italy, but those who opposed South Slav unification, and were against the Italian-Yugoslav Agreement on the basis of the "Adriatic Compromise" dominated. A temporary change in orientation took place when Orlando's government, after Caporetto, adopted, formally at least, the so-called "politics of nationalities" and made an agreement with the South Slavs. However, after a victory at Piave in June, 1918, national-imperialistic tendencies were again strengthened.
After the Italian occupation of the eastern coast of the Adriatic, the Italian Irredentists together with the nationalists and fascists advocated a policy for the destruction of Yugoslavia and for the realization of a maximum imperialistic program in the Adriatic, and for the persecution of Slovenes and Croatians in the occupied areas under the pretext that the Country must be defended against a "Slav-bolshevik danger". They also opposed the border agreement between Italy and the Kingdom of Serbia and Croatia. Following fascism's ascent to power they favored forced denationalization of Slovenes and Croatians and the colonization of the Julian Region for the purpose of "ethnic melioration" in those areas. In Italy, a campaign for Dalmatia and plans for the destruction of Yugoslavia enjoyed support. With regard to these Italian fascist policies, the Irredentists cooperated and identified themselves completely with fascism and its expansionist plans.
The fascists realized the maximal Irredentist program after their attack on Yugoslavia in April, 1941, when Italy annexed the major part of the Adriatic's eastern coast. They continued their policy of forced assimilation in annexed areas, on the model carried out in the Julian Region. But with the downfall of fascism and the capitulation of Italy in 1943, all of these plans collapsed and Italy was again confronted with the question of borders in the Adriatic. After the liberation of Istria and the Slovenian Littoral, large numbers of Italians left these areas and moved to Italy where they formed emigre societies which, as part of their program, advocated "liberation" of these areas. These Irredentist societies carried on a campaign against New Yugoslavia, and joined the "cold war" being waged against it, and they raised the issue of Dalmatia as well as Istria. For some time they referred to the democratic ideals of the Risorgimento in their propaganda, but fascist national-imperialistic ideas gained more and more strength in their circles, so that it is not surprising that they collaborate with neo-fascists. After the signing of the London Memorandum, the Irredentists used the issue of the former Zone B in the Free Territory of Trieste, in the hope that it would again serve the Italian expansion process which with the fall of fascism had been decisively halted.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
216329
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.4.1975.
Posjeta: 2.455 *