On March 17, 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was born, even though the national unification lacked Veneto, Friuli (which would be annexed 5 years later with the Third War of Independence), Lazio (Breccia di Porta Pio on September 20, 1870), Trentino, Venezia Giulia, Fiume and Dalmatia (for which Italy would enter the First World War). We propose a contribution by Claudio Fragiacomo, councilor of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia of Milan (Anvgd) on the theme of the “March 1848” uprisings. 

by Claudio Fragiacomo – 16/03/2021
Source: Varese In Light

After several decades of dark, hateful Austrian government, which made Count Stadion, governor of Trieste and the coast, admit in a report to Vienna that none of the city government councillors…” not even with a cursory tour of the country, he never took the trouble to detect and examine for himself the places, the relationships, the means” and that all the councilors… “without exception, they know the country only from official documents” the situation changed throughout the Istrian peninsula and a lively concern developed for what was happening throughout Europe and in Italy. Milan had risen up against the Austrians and similar ferments of freedom were noticeable in other states of the peninsula.

Even the most fervent Istrian patriots, members of the liberal-national party, were filled with new hopes for what was happening, particularly in Venice, and their enthusiasm spread to the population. The first tricolour cockades appeared in the squares, obtained by adding green to the Austrian white and red ones; vast classes of the population, especially those strata linked to maritime activities, expressed a separatist tendency rather than an autonomist one, as instead happened in Trieste, where, to quote Pietro Kandler (Italian historian, archaeologist and jurist, 23 May 1804-18 January 1872) ”I am not ashamed of being Austrian and from Trieste”, meaning by this to profess loyalty in belonging to Austria but demanding autonomy in administration and freedom in the use of the Italian language.

In those days, after Milan had risen up and Carlo Alberto, driven by the pressure of events, had granted the Statute, Venice rose up. The insurrection began on March 17, 1848 and on the 22nd the Venetian lawyer Daniele Manin had proclaimed the Provisional Government. Venice played a particular role in the political events in the Istrian peninsula. Professor Giuseppe De Vergottini (the current President of the Federation of Exiles) writes: "For many Italians of the province (Istrian, ed.) it was completely natural to consider the Risorgimento movement as uniting the destiny of Istria with that of the Venetian provinces to which the Istrian peninsula was historically tied up”.

Many Istrian volunteers took part in the Venetian insurrection, which lasted 18 months, precisely because of the spiritual closeness that still tied them to the Republic of San Marco, and who regretted the Venetian period after the dull period of Austrian domination: Nicolò Tommaseo, a Dalmatian from Sebenico, Tommaso and Giuseppe De Vergottini from Parenzo, and many other Istrian patriots rushed to the aid of Daniele Manin.

At the same time, in Istria, the most “restless” cities, such as Piran, Rovinj and Pola itself (the latter due to the presence of almost entirely Venetian navy in the Austrian fleet), were kept under control by the Austrians, and the Austrian fleet cruised between Istria, Trieste and Venice to prevent a possible intervention by the Savoy fleet. Tempers had now flared and, in the hope of being able to imitate what had happened in Venice, the Istrians began to think about a possible detachment from the kingdom of Austria.

The subsequent events, with the defeat of the Savoy army and the request for an armistice by Carlo Alberto, were a cold shower in the hopes of the Julians. The large and rich territory of Lombardy and part of Veneto returned to the Austrians, with which the fate of Venice was also sealed. Subjected to a tight naval blockade, the city of San Marco had to give in and surrender to the Austrians.

It was August 1849. To put these events into historical context, it is appropriate to turn our gaze to the European context. In the summer of 1849, the revolutionary wave that had shaken Europe had ended: in the Austrian Empire, a series of repressive actions had quelled the libertarian impulses, especially Hungarian ones, which had caused the greatest number of victims.

Franz Joseph had ascended to the throne, replacing the mild and irresolute Ferdinand. In the latter part of his reign, Ferdinand, spurred by the Vienna uprisings of March 1848, had granted a constitutional charter, which opened the doors to a constitutional monarchy. But this offer had been rejected by the representatives of the insurgents, as it had been “granted by the sovereign” and not negotiated through a constitutional process.

The constitutional charter of 24 April 1848 had therefore been withdrawn without ever having come into force, and immediately afterwards the electoral assemblies had been called. These were also held in the lands of the Littoral, and in the subsequent elections of the following June four Istrian representatives, belonging to the liberal wing, were elected. They went to Vienna and diligently attended the various sessions of the constituent assembly. They proposed that the Italian language be elected as the official language in Istria and opposed, in the local and international press, the proposal of a delegate who participated in the German constituent assembly in Frankfurt, that Istria be incorporated into the German Confederation.

The Constituent Assembly functioned intermittently and was temporarily suspended in July, only to resume in the autumn, moving from Vienna to a Moravian town (Kremsier), where a new constitution was eventually drafted. Difficulties having arisen, Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph, who withdrew Kremsier's constitutional proposal and promulgated a new one with marked absolutist characteristics in early 1849.

Thus began a decade of restoration of the state in an absolutist sense, which ended in 1860. The events that followed, the proposal to call diets (assemblies), to give voice to local communities, even if still in a form that was anything but democratic, led to the episode of the "Diet of No One", which due to its significance will be the subject of a forthcoming contribution.