Qui si fa l'Italia o si muore. (Today we'll unite Italy, or die trying). - Giuseppe Garibaldi, May 15, 1860
Many people outside of Italy have never heard of Istria. To most it may sound like a fictional place. Istria is the Mediterranean's largest peninsula, located in the Adriatic sea, east of Venice, at the base of the Julian Alps. It first came under Italian domination after the area was Romanized in 177 BC. It remained either under Italian (via Venice) rule or Italian influence solidly through the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, in which Napoleon (occupier of Italy) ceded it to Austria in exchange for Mediterranean possessions. The period of Austrian rule, roughly from 1797 to 1918, correlated directly with the rise of the Italian unification movement (Italy since the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 had been divided into various entities). The Austrians ruled over areas that were rightfully Italian and thus sought to complicate and block Italian efforts of reuniting the country. One of their most devious efforts was to dilute the Italian population by importing Slovenes and Croats from other parts of their empire.
Charles Upton Clark, in the New York Times December 23, 1917 wrote, "
Austria then, has had just a century in which to win Istrian allegiance; and she has made use of every device known to the Teuton. By wholesale importation she has made the countryside Slav; but Italians still pay five-sixths of the rent tax, four-fifths of the income tax. She gives subventions to some fifty-five Croatian schools-those of Sts. Cyril and Methodius - but that it is purely missionary work is shown by the fact that Istrians contribute only about 10 percent of the receipts; the rest is supplied by the Government and private and clerical contributions from Croatia. Austria has filled Istria with German and Slav civil, military, and naval employees; in Pola, for instance, in the 1912 elections, only 1 per cent of the navy vote was for the Italian candidate. Italians, then, are as justified in feeling sympathy for their Istrian brethren as do the French for the Alsatians."
Clark wrote further, "
Historically, then, Istria is a segment of unredeemed Italy. Geographically, she is as truly Italian. Italy is bounded by the Alps and the three seas; and the Julian Alps swing across the base of Istria, divide it off from the Slav hinterland, and give it, by their protection, a Mediterranean climate, with the olive groves and the vineyards so characteristic of Italy."Finally, at the conclusion of the First World War, Istria was given to Italy. However this would not last long, the short-sighted Italian governments of the postwar era became dominated by the fascists, who sought to undo the Austrian wrong by a forced Italianization of the recent Slav immigrants. It became forbidden to teach, worship, or conduct business in any other language than Italian. At the conclusion of the Second World War, with Italy surrendering to the allies, Istria was first occupied by the British, who handed control over to the Yugoslav Communist partisans. In the ensuing weeks, the partisans rounded up and executed Italians in what became known as the "foibe massacres."
Yugoslav troops remained in control of Istria until the territory was formally awarded to it piecemeal over several treaties.
The population of Istria at the time, largely Italian, began a large-scale exodus to Italy proper, resulting of the peninsula losing approximately 80% of its inhabitants. The new Yugoslav Communist government quickly imported Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, and Albanians to move into the houses and neighborhoods vacated by the native Italians. The situation was so desperate that the evacuating Italians took with them not only their belongings but also their dead. Some notable Istrians include race driver Mario Andretti, actress Alida Valli and Laura Antonelli, singer Sergio Endrigo, and boxer Nino Benvenuti.
Some have said there was a tacit agreement by the postwar Italian government and the new Yugoslav government whereby Italy agreed not to pursue the foibe massacres of Yugoslavia ceased its demand for the extradition of Italian fascist accused of war crimes.
Though ethically questionable, this sort of approach worked reasonably well in keeping Europe largely stable through the post-war era and through the demise of the Cold War. Europe as a whole appears to have deliberately left matters of the past unsettled, waiting for the period's contemporaries to pass, the issues to die, in the hope that a continent permanently (perhaps fatally) compromised and castrated will create itself a new identity.
My question is, will old animosities be reignited when wealthy Italians start buying up inexpensive properties in Istria now that Slovenia is an EU member and Croatia is on the candidate list? Will the Istrian towns once again be called by their proper Italian names?
I've always been a big Joe Biden supporter. He was my candidate during the primaries this year so it goes without saying how excited I am to see him on the ticket with Obama. Here are some quotes from his speech last night that I thought were spot-on:
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