Professional paper
Summary: Schooling in the Austrian province of Istria from the close of the 19th century to the end of the First World War
Ana Kirinčić
; Krk Historical Society, Krk, Croatia
Abstract
The 19th century was the century of nations, because during it many nations were established which then went on to form their own nation states. National consciousness arose among the many peoples who aspired to have their own states, but they were unable to establish them. After the 1867 Compromise between Austria and Hungary, the Croatian territories were divided into Austrian (the provinces of Istria and Dalmatia) and Hungarian parts (Civil Croatia, Slavonia and the city of Rijeka). In the provinces of Istria and Dalmatia, a struggle broke out. On one side were the Istrian and Dalmatian Italians, who were the fewest in number but who considered themselves genuine Istrians and Dalmatians who did not wear clothing made of coarse homespun fabric and opanci (traditional peasant leather footwear) and who had everything – money, the state and the power granted to them in the Istrian Diet thanks to a law that did not stipulate universal suffrage but rather franchise based on property requirements. They were opposed by the Istrian and Dalmatian commoners, mostly rural inhabitants, Croats and Slovenes who attended mass delivered in Church Slavonic and wrote records in their registers in the Glagolitic script. Irredentism grew among the Italians – first in Italy itself, and then in the provinces of Istria and Dalmatia. Its goal was to assimilate the Croatian and Slovenian populations and to denationalize and annex these territories to the Kingdom of Italy, i.e., to create a Great Italy. All of this was justified by the supposed protection of their countrymen, the Italian minorities in the provinces, and to preserve the supposedly threatened Italian language and culture. A watershed year was 1861, when the Provincial Diet of Istria was established and convened. It would become the focus of conflict between the Italian minority (albeit with a parliamentary majority) and the Slavic majority population (with a parliamentary minority). The national awakening in Istria emerged against this backdrop. The first irredentist programme appeared that same year; it would largely dictate the course of ItalianAustrian relations, as well as Italian-Croatian-Slovenian relations.
Keywords
province of Istria; irredenta; Pro Patria; Lega Nazionale; assimilation; denationalization and identity
Hrčak ID:
284384
URI
Publication date:
11.11.2021.
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