Original scientific paper
Concerning the Number of Italians/Pro-Italians in Dalmatia in the XIXth Century
Šime Peričić
Abstract
The long submerged aspirations of Italian irredentism regarding the occupation and appropriation of Dalmatia, of Zadar especially, has recently again, even in a muted fashion, come out into the open. This aspiration has always been founded on the supposedly large number of Italians who lived in Dalmatia during the XIXth century. Instigated by these appropriative aspirations the author makes an attempt once again, after Ivo Rubić and Dinko Foretić, to establish the number of Italians/pro-Italians who lived in Dalmatia during the said century or, to be more precise, up to WWI. He relies on extant literature, publications which have not yet been known and on rare archival sources. For the sake of objectivity he approaches the matter from a number of perspectives – from the autonomist/irredentist, the populist and the official perspective – contending that this is the only way to approach at least approximately precise numbers and the true state of affairs. From the available sources it is clear that the pro-Italians, led by their interests, exaggerated the number of Italians living in Dalmatia at the time, confusing national affiliation with those who spoke the Italian language. Many autonomists/pro-Italians hid behind the concept of the Dalmatians thinking this an easier strategy to make the region Italian. The opposing side generally relied on the official Austrian census which showed a gradual decrease of the number of Italians/pro-Italians especially after 1882. Namely, some of the Croats and Serbs who had declared themselves otherwise returned to their root identities while the real Italians moved to Istria, Trieste, the Slovenian coast or found sanctuary in Zadar, the last bastion of the pro-Italian faction in Dalmatia. Proportionately to the decrease in the number of Italians within the region there was a drop in Italian speakers and those who attended their elementary schools so that the contention “Dalmatia is pure Italian land” is without any support. This was the case in the past and such is the situation nowadays.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
12136
URI
Publication date:
19.9.2003.
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