Trieste from 1861 to the First World War

National contrasts
The political events and national struggles of Trieste in the period between 1861 and 1918 have been the subject of a very large series of studies by historians of different nationalities. The interpretations and historiographical visions of this period are not always coincident with each other and the debate remains open, at least under a series of aspects and problems. However, it seems undeniable that it was a sixty year marked by strong tensions.

Ernesto Sestan highlights, in this period, the double defensive action carried out by the Italian-speaking population, both in relation to the Viennese bureaucratic centralism and towards the spread of Slavicism. The two phenomena, in fact, especially during the Taaffe ministry (1879-1893) were sometimes concomitant, since the central government considered the Slav populations more reliable. At the time, the so-called Austroslavism was widespread, a political current through which the Slavic-speaking populations set themselves the achievement of their national objectives within the Habsburg regime and with its own collaboration.

Government policies towards Trieste
The dynamics of the city of Trieste found themselves conditioned in this time frame by the various political lines adopted by the Viennese central power towards local institutions and the national question.

Since February 1861 the imperial government had issued a license which reduced the autonomy of the individual Diets, with the aim of proceeding to a centralization and Germanization of the administration of the empire. The decision provoked reactions in Trieste, from which came the request to guarantee the autonomy of the city, of which the ethnically Italian character was emphasized.

This centralist policy was accompanied, especially following the third war of independence of 1866 and, in general, the process of creation of the Italian state, by a general diffidence or hostility towards the ethnically Italian populations present in the Empire and their loyalty towards the Austrian state and the Habsburg dynasty: "The events of 1866 nevertheless strengthened in many Austrian political circles (among the military leaders, in the conservative aristocracy and in the imperial family) the old suspicion on the infidelity and danger of the Italian and Italophile element for the Empire. [...] After 1866 the distrust of the conservative sectors of the Habsburg ruling class towards the Italians of Austria began to translate into deliberate hostility. "

Emperor Franz Joseph, in his Council of the Crown of 12 November 1866, a few months after the end of the Third Italian War of Independence and its annexation of Veneto and most of Friuli to the Kingdom of Italy, imposed a policy aimed at "[...] Germanize and Slavicize with the utmost energy and without any scruple ..." all the Italian regions still part of his empire: Trentino, Dalmatia, Venezia Giulia. The report reads verbatim: "His Majesty has expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial employees, teachers as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and the coast for the Germanization and Slavicization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard ». The minutes of the Habsburg Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, with the directives to "Germanize and Slavicize", is well known by historians, who have frequently cited it in their works. It is reported by numerous independent essays, carried out by scholars of various nationalities and in different years, who have provided different interpretations on the possible outcomes and applications.

The historian Luciano Monzali writes: «The minutes of the Habsburg Council of Ministers at the end of 1866 show the intensity of the emperor's anti-Italian hostility and the nature of his political directives in this regard. Francesco Giuseppe was fully converted to the idea of ​​the general infidelity of the Italian and Italian-speaking element towards the Habsburg dynasty: in the Council of Ministers, on November 2, 1866, he gave the imperative order to decisively oppose the influence of the Italian element still present in some Kronländer, and to aim at the Germanisation or Slavisation, depending on the circumstances, of the areas in question with all energy and without any regard [...] All the central authorities were ordered to proceed systematically in this direction . These anti-Italian sentiments expressed by the emperor, which would have had heavy political consequences [...] in the following years, were also particularly strong in the army, which had fought many wars in Italy and was eager for revenge: considering the preponderant role of the military [... ], this was extremely dangerous. " The" [...] plan of the conservative Austrian ruling class to undertake a policy of concessions to Slavic nationalities, considered more loyal to the Empire and willing to accept the dominant power of the emperor and the Habsburg aristocracy. "

The loss of most of Friuli and especially of Veneto (with their ports and qualified maritime personnel), further increased the economic and strategic importance of Trieste for the empire, which had its main maritime and commercial outlet in the Julian city. , prompting the central state to pay particular attention to its development and the strengthening of its infrastructures. This policy, inaugurated by Austria immediately after the third war of independence, was inspired by the traditional choices, followed since the beginning of the eighteenth century, to favor the potential inherent in the geographical location of Trieste, located roughly at the meeting point between the lines of communication converging from Italy, Central Europe and the Balkans.

He took care of the road and railway system that moved from the wide hinterland towards the city and the port, in order to guarantee the circulation of goods and men in the double direction of entry and exit in the best possible way. The attention towards the city by the central government was also expressed in the choice of the imperial lieutenants, who were usually selected among prominent personalities.

The traditional maritime sector, i.e. commercial, was gradually joined by the industrial sector, which received impetus from the naval armament policy promoted by the imperial government starting from the end of the 19th century in competition with the nearby kingdom of Italy and in the perspective of a Balkan expansion . The massive investments intended for naval rearmament by the government favored Trieste itself, which had the material structures and personnel adequate to carry out the planned works. The result was that the Trieste industry, especially in sectors such as steel and shipbuilding in the strict sense, experienced a great expansion. The decision taken by the imperial authorities in 1891 to restrict the traditional customs exemptions (dating back to the distant 1719, the date of the concession of the so-called free port) to the port area only and no longer to the whole city.

Trieste was also an important financial and administrative center, both for the capital that accumulated with trade or that flowed from foreign investors, and because it had already become the seat in 1850 of the institution of the so-called Central Maritime Government. It was a body called upon to regulate and control activities related to trade in its various aspects in the administrative unit of the Austrian Littoral.

An important link between Vienna and Trieste was constituted by Lloyd. In fact, two crucial sectors of the Trieste economy, those of shipping and insurance, had an important point of reference in the Austrian Lloyd, since it represented the company capable of connecting public and private capital, as well as Viennese and Trieste entrepreneurship.

Trieste therefore experienced, in the final decades of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century, a great economic development, favored by a series of conditions: the historical context constituted by the momentum of the European economy and by the intensity of world maritime traffic which, after the opening of the Suez Canal, they lived their golden age; the presence of an active and moderately qualified urban fabric; public investments and close commercial links with an extensive Central European hinterland propitiated by the infrastructure network.

The policy of collaboration with local Serbs, inaugurated by the Tsaratino Ghiglianovich and by the Raguseo Giovanni Avoscani, then allowed the Italians to conquer the municipal administration of Ragusa in 1899. In 1909, however, the Italian language was banned in all public buildings and Italians they were ousted by the municipal administrations. These interference, together with other actions of aiding the Slavic ethnic group considered by the empire most loyal to the crown, exasperated the situation by feeding the most extremist and revolutionary currents.

Tensions and political conflicts, both internal to Trieste and between the Trieste municipality and the central government, arose in the years in which Prince Konrad of Hohenlohe was imperial governor of the region (from 1904 to 1915), since he was a supporter of the so-called trialism and followed a pro-Slavic policy. Trialism was a political project supported by Archduke Francesco Ferdinando d'Asburgo-Este (heir to the designated throne of Franz Joseph and de facto regent at the time, given the late age of the emperor), which aimed to create a third kingdom in the empire, alongside those of Austria and Hungary: the Danube Slavia, which should also have included Trieste and the Austrian coast. It was in fact the will of the Austrian government "[...] to weaken the political and economic powers and strength of the municipality of Trieste controlled by the Italian national-liberals, rightly considering it the heart of national liberalism in Austria and of irredentist tendencies". This also provided for the severing of the "[...] close political, cultural and social relations between the Trieste liberals and Italy."

The school question
One issue that aroused strong interest and sometimes great passions was that of education, since teaching was seen as an essential form of transmission and preservation of national culture. The imperial educational system was rather complex and differentiated, as it was intended for a multiplicity of ethnic groups contained in the same state. Simplifying for the sake of brevity, the following distinction can be presented for the city of Trieste in the period in question: there were primary schools where teaching was held in the familiar language (the paternal or mother tongue) or better in the so-called language of use used usually by students, but who in any case provided for the obligation of German as a second language; then there were secondary schools, which in Trieste had as their teaching language either the one used by the majority of the population and the educated and business class (Italian) or the official and administrative language of the empire (German). The complexity was increased by the existence of state and municipal schools, of institutes with parallel sections with different teaching languages ​​and again by the considerable number of hours dedicated in some institutes to certain languages ​​(Italian, German, Slovenian), but as a subject of learning rather than as a language of instruction.

The imperial authorities tried to spread teaching in German and, in part, Slovenian as much as possible. The same textbooks were subjected to rigid forms of censorship, with even paradoxical results such as, in some cases, the study of Italian literature on texts translated from German or the prohibition to study the history of Trieste itself, because it was considered "too Italian" . For these reasons, the Italian National League had, among its main objectives, the promotion of scholastic and educational institutions intended for the cultural defense of the Italian ethnic group.

In Trieste, between 10 and 12 July 1868, there were demonstrations in favor of the freedom of teaching following a petition signed by 5,858 citizens and presented to the City Council, asking for the right to use the Italian language in state schools. These demonstrations degenerated into clashes and violence in the main city streets, with local Slovenes enlisted among the Hapsburg soldiers, which resulted in the death of the student Rodolfo Parisi, killed with 26 bayonet shots and of two workers Francesco Sussa and Niccolò Zecchia. As evidence of the heated character assumed by the school question, it should be remembered that there were still other violent clashes. In 1914 there was a modest scuffle at the Pasquale Revoltella Higher School of Commerce between Italian and Slavic students, linked to a linguistic question. The Slovene university society Balcan decided to intervene, in theory as a sign of protest, so that a few days later (March 13, 1914) there were other clashes, of a far greater severity than the previous ones, which resulted in the death of an Italian student who had been hit. from a bullet during a shooting.

Another point of the scholastic question that caused severe conflicts was the request to allow the establishment of an Italian-language university in Trieste. The question had been put forward since 1848 and had become more pressing after 1866, since the Trieste students (and in general the Italians who were subjects of Vienna) now saw the border between them and the Italian University of Padua, where previously he used to go to study. The central Austrian state recognized in principle the legitimacy of the request to set up an Italian university in Trieste, but denied the concession both for fear of displeasing the Slovenian group or of seeing it make a similar request, and because it provided for a cultural center and studies of this type would have ended up strengthening Italian irredentism.

The employment issue
The large urban, industrial and commercial center of Trieste attracted an intense migratory movement from the neighboring regions, both from the empire and from the Italian state. Thus immigrants of many nationalities arrived in the Trieste city, mainly Italians and Southern Slavs. At the time, strong fears arose in the Italian community regarding the possibility that the empire would favor Slavic immigration to Trieste and at the same time disadvantage the Italian one.

However, the Slav migratory movement in the direction of Trieste was primarily determined by socio-economic reasons, since it was due “fundamentally to economic reasons and to the force of attraction exerted on the surrounding area by the expanding city”. Slovenes found work more easily in public employment in a mixed-language area for linguistic reasons and were also often welcomed by Italian employers in sectors ranging from industrial to domestic work. Sestan points out that the imperial authorities' distrust of Italian immigrants was due to the fact that they were citizens of a foreign state.

However, it must be added, as Angelo Ara recognizes, that "there was certainly an imperial interest in strengthening the Slavic-Southern component, considered more loyal and" centripetal "than the Italian one": this attitude was, for example, recognized by the governor himself Hohenlohe in one of his official documents. Sestan also points out for its part how the Austrian authorities favored Slavic immigration from the peasant regions of Slovenia and Croatia and at the same time hindered the migratory movement of Italians from the kingdom. To give a specific example, the Imperial Lieutenancy tried to include Slovenians residing in other municipalities of the Karst and Carniola in the list of dockers in the port of Trieste. The imperial authorities were distrustful of royal immigrants and easily resorted to expulsion measures against them: "the citizenship of the kingdom of Italy [...] was sufficient reason for the Austrian authorities to face up to arms and when they thought it opportune, intervened with measures of forced eviction, with the most futile pretexts; About 35 thousand would have been these expulsions of Italian royals in the decade from 1903 to 1913, that is, up to the famous decrees of the Lieutenant of Trieste Prince Conrad of Hohenlohe ». This contributed to exasperating spirits among the different ethnic groups. In 1913, after another decree by Prince Hohenlohe which provided for the expulsions of Italians, his Slavic nationalists held a public rally against Italy, and then held a demonstration shouting “Viva Hohenlohe! Down with Italy! ”, Then attempting to attack the Italian Consulate itself.

The faster growth of the Slavic component in Trieste at the beginning of the twentieth century was therefore due both to socio-economic reasons and to the politics of the empire and of Hohenlohe (sympathizer for the trialistic positions mentioned above). The consequence, however, was that the city of Trieste thus saw its Italian character eroded by the Slavic immigration movement, without being able to grow demographically in a corresponding way on its own. The fears of the Italian community of Trieste were increased at the beginning of the twentieth century by the knowledge of what had happened in Dalmatia, with "the decline of Dalmatian Italianness" which is "perceived dramatically by the other Adriatic people and especially by the Triestines, who attribute it to aggressive expansionism South-Slavic and government intervention ”, so that they see in the Dalmatian situation“ almost the anticipation of what could have happened in Trieste in the future ”.

Irredentism and the Great War
Trieste was, with Trento, the object and at the same time the center of irredentism, a movement that, in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, aspired to an annexation of the city to Italy. The rising bourgeois classes (including the wealthy Jewish colony), whose potential and political aspirations were not fully satisfied within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, fed the Triestine irredentism. For its part, as has already been indicated, the Slovenian ethnic group was in the Trieste city at the beginning of the twentieth century in full demographic, social and economic growth, and, according to the disputed census of 1910, constituted about the fourth part of the entire population. Irredentism therefore took on, in the Julian city, often markedly anti-Slavic characteristics which were embodied by the figure of Ruggero Timeus.

The first exponent of this movement is considered the Trieste Wilhelm Oberdank, then Italianized into Guglielmo Oberdan, who, for having hatched a plot to kill the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph and found in possession of two bear bombs, was tried and hanged in his hometown on December 20, 1882. Close to the Italian irredentist movement and perceived as such by the Austrian authorities, was the aforementioned Lega Nazionale, Trieste's largest private organization of the time, which reached 11,569 members in 1912. On May 23, 1915, at the news of the declaration of war by Italy to Austria-Hungary, the Tonello Palace where the editorial office of the irredentist newspaper "Il Piccolo" and the Triestine Gymnastics building were set on fire by pro-Austrian demonstrators, in addition to the headquarters of the National League. , an irredentist sports association.

At the outbreak of the First World War, 128 Trieste refused to fight under the Austro-Hungarian flags and, immediately after Italy entered the war against the Central Empires, they enlisted in the royal army. Among the volunteers who lost their lives in the course of the conflict, we remember the writers and intellectuals Scipio Slataper, Ruggero Timeus and Carlo Stuparich, brother of the more famous Giani. Particularly active on the front of ideas and propaganda were the exiles from Trieste in Italy and France, where they played a role of primary importance in the foundation, in Rome, of a Central Propaganda Committee of the Upper Adriatic (1916) and, in Paris, of the Italy irredenta association. All the members of the executive bodies of the Committee were from Trieste, with the exception of the Dalmatian Alessandro Dudan. Between 1915 and 1917 the Italian air force bombed the city on numerous occasions, causing numerous casualties among the civilian population.

According to an estimate, however, the citizens of the Austrian Littoral of the Italian language enrolled with the uniform of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were, from 1914 to 1918, about 50,000.

On November 4, 1918, the Italian troops entered Trieste, after waiting for the Austrian troops to leave the city.

Annexation to Italy
In that same month of November (1918), at the end of the First World War, Trieste was occupied by the Royal Army, under the command of General Carlo Petitti of Roreto. The formal annexation of the city and of Venezia Giulia to the Kingdom of Italy, however, took place only on 12 November 1920 with the Treaty of Rapallo. With the annexation, the importance of the Julian metropolis was somewhat reduced: Trieste found itself a border city with a much more limited hinterland than in the past. Its port had also lost the potential catchment area that had determined its development and which consisted of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, a state entity that had definitively dissolved. To at least partially remedy this situation, the Italian state implemented an assisted economy policy towards the city and its province which, initiated by the last government of Giovanni Giolitti (1920-1921), lasted throughout the fascist period ( 1922-1943). The greatest effort was made in the industrial sector, which, in the intentions of the legislators, should have replaced the port and the commercial activities related to it, as a driving force for the Trieste economy.