Original scientific paper
The Trogir incident of December 1, 1932 and the Venetian Lion as the symbol of "Italianess" of the Eastern Adriatic
Mario Jareb
Abstract
The author is dealing with the “Trogir incident” of December 1, 1932,
when a group of young Yugoslav nationalists damaged or destroyed eight stone Venetian lions on old public buildings and city walls in Trogir. That incident can be considered as the gravest and best-known event related to the destruction of Venetian lions on the Croatian coast during the 20th century. In fall 1932 it had a strong impact on the public in Croatia/Yugoslavia and in Italy. It additionally aggravated already bad Yugoslav-Italian relations. The perpetrators of that crime did not view Venetian lions as ancient monuments, but rather as actual political symbols of the “Italianess” of the Eastern Adriatic. Namely, Italian nationalists and Fascist propaganda misused the presence of those monuments on the Croatian coast and the fact that Venice once ruled Dalmatia and Istria. It was on that basis that they claimed the entire Eastern Adriatic as Italian. Therefore, the author attempts to reveal when and why some Italian nationalists started to use the Venetian lion as political symbol. Special attention is put on the activities of Gabriele d’Annunzio during the years of the First World War and during his adventure in Rijeka (Fiume). The author explains how Italian fascist propaganda and authorities misused the Venetian lion during the interwar period and especially during the Italian military occupation of Dalmatia from 1941 to 1943.
Keywords
Trogir; Venetian Lion; Italianess; Dalmatia; 1932
Hrčak ID:
19019
URI
Publication date:
16.10.2007.
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