Croatisation

Thumb — 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 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. The Italians in Dalmatia supported the Italian Risorgimento: as a consequence, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Croatian communities of Dalmatia.^[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^[2]^[4]

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,^[5] but this was reduced to 2.8% in 1910.^[6] The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major cities. In the city of Split in 1890 there were 1,969 Italians (12.5% of the population), in Zadar 7,423 (64.6%), in Šibenik 1,018 (14.5%) and in Dubrovnik 331 (4.6%).^[7] 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 the inland locations.

There are several reasons for the decrease of the Dalmatian Italian population following the rise of European nationalism in the 19th century:^[8]

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.

In 1909 the Italian language lost its status as the official language of Dalmatia in favor of Croatian only (previously both languages were recognized): thus Italian could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.^[9] After the World War I, Dalmatia was annexed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Italian community underwent a policy of forced Croatisation.^[10] The majority of the Italian Dalmatian minority decided to transfer in the Kingdom of Italy.^[11]

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:^[12] from 1947, after the war, Dalmatian Italians were subject by Yugoslav authorities to forms of intimidation, such as nationalization, expropriation, and discriminatory taxation,^[13] which gave them little option other than emigration.^[14]^[15]^[16]

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%).^[17] According to the official Croatian census of 2021, there are 63 Italians in Zadar (equal to 0.09% of the total population).^[18]

Dimitrija Demeter, a playwright who was the author of the first modern Croatian drama, was from a Greek family.
Vatroslav Lisinski, a composer, was originally named Ignaz Fuchs. His Croatian name is a literal translation.
Bogoslav Šulek, a lexicographer and inventor of many Croatian scientific terms, was originally Bohuslav Šulek from Slovakia.
Stanko Vraz, a poet and the first professional writer in Croatia, was originally Jakob Frass from Slovenia.
August Šenoa, a Croatian novelist, poet and writer, is of German descent. His parents never learned the Croatian language, even when they lived in Zagreb.
Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger, a geologist, palaeontologist and archaeologist who discovered Krapina man^[21] (Krapinski pračovjek), was of German descent. He added his second name, Gorjanović, to be adopted as a Croatian.
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala was an inventor of Dutch/Polish origins. He added the name Slavoljub in order to Croatise.
Lovro Monti, Croatian politician, mayor of Knin. One of the leaders of the Croatian national movement in Dalmatia, he was of Italian roots.
Adolfo Veber Tkalčević, linguist of German descent
Ivan Zajc (born Giovanni von Seitz) a music composer was of German descent

Other

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

Croatisation of Italians in Dalmatia

Croatisation in the NDH

Notable individuals who voluntarily Croatised

Other

See also

Notes

Bibliography

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