Jump to content

Croatisation

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Croatisation or Croatization (Serbo-Croatian: kroatizacija, hrvatizacija, pohrvaćenje; Italian: croatizzazione) is a process of cultural assimilation, and its consequences, in which people or lands ethnically only partially Croatian or non-Croatian become Croatian.

Croatisation of Italians in Dalmatia

Austrian linguistic map from 1896. In green the areas where Slavs were the majority of the population, in orange the areas where Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians were the majority of the population. The boundaries of Venetian Dalmatia in 1797 are delimited with blue dots.

Even with a predominant Croatian majority, Dalmatia retained relatively large Italian-speaking communities in the coastal cities. Many Dalmatian Italians looked with sympathy towards the Risorgimento movement that fought for the unification of Italy.[1][better source needed] However, after 1866, when the Veneto and Friuli regions were ceded by the Austrians to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy, Dalmatia remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic. This triggered the gradual rise of Italian irredentism among many Italians in Dalmatia, who demanded the unification of the Austrian Littoral, Fiume and Dalmatia with Italy. As Italian was the language of administration, education, the press, and the Austrian navy before 1859, people who wished to acquire higher social standing and separate from the Slav peasantry became Italians.[2] In the years after 1866, Italians lost their privileges in Austria-Hungary, their assimilation of the Slavs came to an end, and they found themselves under growing pressure by other rising nations; with the rising Slav tide after 1890, italianized Slavs reverted to being Croats.[2] Austrian rulers found use of the racial antagonism and financed Slav schools and promoted Croatian as the official language, and many Italians chose voluntary exile.[2]

During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria outlined a wide-ranging project aimed at the Germanization or Slavization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:[3]

His Majesty 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, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and Littoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard. His Majesty calls the central offices to the strong duty to proceed in this way to what has been established.

— Franz Joseph I of Austria, Council of the Crown of 12 November 1866[4][5]

Proportion of Dalmatian Italians in districts of Dalmatia in 1910, per the Austro-Hungarian census

Dalmatia, especially its maritime cities, once had a substantial local Italian-speaking population (Dalmatian Italians). According to Austrian censuses, the Italian speakers in Dalmatia formed 12.5% of the population in 1865,[6] but this was reduced to 2.8% in 1910.[7] The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major coastal cities. In the city of Split in 1890 there were 1,971 Dalmatian Italians (9% of the population), in Zadar 7,672 (27%), in Šibenik 1,090 (5%), in Kotor 646 (12%) and in Dubrovnik 356 (3%).[8] In other Dalmatian localities, according to Austrian censuses, Italians experienced a sudden decrease: in the twenty years 1890-1910, in Rab they went from 225 to 151, in Vis from 352 to 92, in Pag from 787 to 23, completely disappearing in almost all inland locations.

There are several reasons for the decrease of the Dalmatian Italian population following the rise of European nationalism in the 19th century:[9]

  • The conflict with the Austrian rulers caused by the Italian "Risorgimento".
  • The emergence of Croatian nationalism and Italian irredentism (see Risorgimento), and the subsequent conflict of the two.
  • The emigration of many Dalmatians toward the growing industrial regions of northern Italy before World War I and North and South America.
  • Multi generational assimilation of anyone who married out of their social class and/or nationality – as perpetuated by similarities in education, religion, dual linguistic distribution, mainstream culture and economical output.
  • De-italianization of previously italianized Slavic people.

While Slavic-speakers made up 80-95% of the Dalmatia populace,[10] only Italian language schools existed until 1848,[11] and due to restrictive voting laws, the Italian-speaking aristocratic minority retained political control of Dalmatia.[12] Only after Austria liberalised elections in 1870, allowing more majority Slavs to vote, did Croatian parties gain control. Croatian finally became an official language in Dalmatia in 1883, along with Italian.[13] Yet minority Italian-speakers continued to wield strong influence, since Austria favoured Italians for government work, thus in the Austrian capital of Dalmatia, Zara, the proportion of Italians continued to grow, making it the only Dalmatian city with an Italian majority.[14]

Both Italian and Croatian were recognized as official languages in Dalmatia until 1909, when Italian lost its official status, thus it could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.[15] After the World War I, Dalmatia was annexed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Italian community underwent a policy of forced Croatisation.[16] The majority of the Italian Dalmatian minority decided to transfer in the Kingdom of Italy.[17]

During the Italian occupation of Dalmatia in World War II, it was caught in the ethnic violence towards non-Italians during fascist repression. What remained of the Italian community in Dalmatia fled the area after World War II during the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus:[18] from 1947, after the war, Dalmatian Italians were subject by Yugoslav authorities to forms of intimidation, such as nationalization, expropriation, and discriminatory taxation,[19] which gave them little option other than emigration.[20][21][22]

In 2001 about 500 Italians were counted in Dalmatia. In particular, according to the official Croatian census of 2011, there are 83 Italians in Split (equal to 0.05% of the total population), 16 in Šibenik (0.03%) and 27 in Dubrovnik (0.06%).[23] According to the official Croatian census of 2021, there are 63 Italians in Zadar (equal to 0.09% of the total population).[24]

Croatisation in the NDH

Main article: Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia
Division of Yugoslavia after its invasion by the Axis powers during the World War II.
  Areas annexed by Italy: the area constituting the province of Ljubljana, the area merged with the province of Fiume and the areas making up the Governorate of Dalmatia
  Independent State of Croatia (NDH)
  Area occupied by Nazi Germany
  Areas occupied by Kingdom of Hungary

The Croatisation during Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was aimed primarily towards Serbs, and to a lesser degree, towards Jews and Roma. The Ustaše aim was a "pure Croatia" and the main target was the ethnic Serb population of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ministers of NDH announced the goals and strategies of the Ustaše in May 1941. The same statements and similar or related ones were also repeated in public speeches by single ministers, such as Mile Budak in Gospić and, a month later, by Mladen Lorković.[25]

  • One third of the Serbs (in the Independent State of Croatia) were to be forcibly converted to Catholicism
  • One third of the Serbs were to be expelled (ethnically cleansed)
  • One third of the Serbs were to be killed

A Croatian Orthodox Church was established in order to try and pacify the state as well as to Croatisize the remaining Serb population once the Ustaše realized that the complete eradication of Serbs in the NDH was unattainable.[26]

Notable individuals who voluntarily Croatised

Other

Notable individuals, of Croatian origin, partially Magyarized through intermarriages and then Croatized again, include families:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Trieste, Istria, Fiume e Dalmazia: una terra contesa" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Seton-Watson 1967, pp. 352–357.
  3. ^ Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi, Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971, vol. 2, p. 297. Citazione completa della fonte e traduzione in Luciano Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia. Dal Risorgimento alla Grande Guerra, Le Lettere, Firenze 2004, p. 69.)
  4. ^ Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi, Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971
  5. ^ Jürgen Baurmann, Hartmut Gunther and Ulrich Knoop (1993). Homo scribens : Perspektiven der Schriftlichkeitsforschung (in German). Walter de Gruyter. p. 279. ISBN 3484311347.
  6. ^ Peričić, Šime (19 September 2003). "O broju Talijana/talijanaša u Dalmaciji XIX. stoljeća". Radovi Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru (in Croatian) (45): 342. ISSN 1330-0474.
  7. ^ "Spezialortsrepertorium der österreichischen Länder I-XII, Wien, 1915–1919" (in German). Archived from the original on 29 May 2013.
  8. ^ Perselli, Guerrino (1993). I censimenti della popolazione dell'Istria, con Fiume e Trieste e di alcune città della Dalmazia tra il 1850 e il 1936. Centro di Ricerche Storiche - Rovigno, Unione Italiana - Fiume, Università Popolare di Trieste, Trieste-Rovigno.
  9. ^ Seton-Watson, Christopher (1967). Italy from Liberalism to Fascism, 1870–1925. Methuen. pp. 47–48. ISBN 9780416189407.
  10. ^ Peričić 2003, p. 342.
  11. ^ Peričić 2003, p. 350.
  12. ^ Peričić 2003, p. 338.
  13. ^ "Beč kao magnet". mojahrvatska.vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  14. ^ Peričić 2003, p. 343.
  15. ^ "Dalmazia", Dizionario enciclopedico italiano (in Italian), vol. III, Treccani, 1970, p. 730, Nel 1909 l'uso della lingua italiana viene proibito negli uffici dello Stato. [In 1909 the use of the Italian language was prohibited in the offices of the State]
  16. ^ "Italiani di Dalmazia: 1919-1924" di Luciano Monzali
  17. ^ "Il primo esodo dei Dalmati: 1870, 1880 e 1920 - Secolo Trentino". Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  18. ^ Društvo književnika Hrvatske, Bridge, Volume 1995, Numbers 9–10, Croatian literature series – Ministarstvo kulture, Croatian Writer's Association, 1989
  19. ^ Pamela Ballinger (7 April 2009). Genocide: Truth, Memory, and Representation. Duke University Press. p. 295. ISBN 978-0822392361. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  20. ^ Tesser, L. (14 May 2013). Ethnic Cleansing and the European Union – Page 136, Lynn Tesser. Springer. ISBN 9781137308771.
  21. ^ Ballinger, Pamela (2003). History in Exile: Memory and Identity at the Borders of the Balkans. Princeton University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0691086974.
  22. ^ Anna C. Bramwell, University of Oxford, UK (1988). Refugees in the Age of Total War. pp. 139, 143. ISBN 9780044451945.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Central Bureau of Statistics". Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Central Bureau of Statistics". Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  25. ^ Eric Gobetti, "L' occupazione allegra. Gli italiani in Jugoslavia (1941–1943)", Carocci, 2007, 260 pages; ISBN 88-430-4171-1, ISBN 978-88-430-4171-8, quoting from V. Novak, Sarajevo 1964 and Savez jevrejskih opstina FNR Jugoslavije, Beograd 1952
  26. ^ Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford University Press. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-80477-924-1.
  27. ^ Krapina C

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Croatisation&oldid=1322028164"