Venetia (region)
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
Venetia is a name used mostly in a historical context for the area of Northeast Italy, corresponding approximately to the present-day Italian administrative regions of the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The region is named after the Veneti, one of the Iron Age peoples of Italy.
Contents |
[edit] Austrian Era
Venetia formed for a long time the eastern part of the land portion (Domini di Terraferma, or Land Dominions) of the Republic of Venice, including current Veneto and Friuli; while Gorizia and Trieste were always under Austrian emperors' rule but for a few years in the early 16th century. The nearby Istria was part of the Republic of Venice, and it was and is strongly linked to Venetia, but it is not usually included in this region.
In 1797, the Republic ended with Napoleon's invasion and formation of the Napoleonic Empire, and was ceded to the Austrian Empire (exchanging it for Austrian Belgium). Then in 1805–1806, it was conquered by Napoleon's armies and included in the Kingdom of Italy.
During 1809, the region revolted against the French-Italian rule[1], supporting the advancing Austrian troops during the War of the Fifth Coalition. It was mainly a peasant revolt, less organised than the nearby Andreas Hofer's revolt, while hurban national guard troops fought on the French-Italian side.
After the Congress of Vienna, 1814–1815, Venetia was the eastern half of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a separate kingdom of the Austrian Empire.
During the 1848 First Italian War of Independence, Venetia rose against the central Austrian government, forming the Republic of San Marco, which lasted 17 months. It asked to be annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia to form an Italian confederation against Austria, then using the Italian tricolour in its flag, but, after the other Italian states left the war (May 1848) and Sardinia surrendered (August 1848, then March 1849), Venetia stood alone. It surrendered on 24 August 1849, when the Siege of Venice ended.
The Austrian imperial government was unpopular among upper and middle classes because of Metternich's anti-liberal politics, turned by Emperor Franz Joseph into neo-absolutism after 1848, and for not granting Lombardo–Venetia any real autonomy (it was considered less than a puppet state). At the same time, it was appreciated for the efficient and honest administration, especially among lower classes, and long-standing strong cultural ties linked Venetia and Austria even after it was ceded to Italy. Despite this, after 1848–1849 there was no revolt against the Austrian rule.
[edit] Italian Era
Venetia remained under Austrian control until the Austro-Prussian war in 1866, when the Kingdom of Italy joined on the Prussian side as it was promised Venetia in exchange for its assistance. Austria offered to sell Venetia to Italy, but the Italians refused, seeing it as a dishonourable act. This caused another southern front for Austria, the Third Italian War of Independence.
Once the wars ended, the Treaty of Vienna ceded the region to neutral France, but left the fortresses under Austrian control for a time. Following protests, the Austrians left and the French ceded it to Italy on 20 October. A controversial referendum – where only 30% of the adult population voted, and did so under heavy Italian pressure[2] there was a 99.99% majority for Italy[3][4] – was held on 21–22 October and ratified the handover.
Since Venetia has been a part of Italy except for Friuli and Eastern Veneto during Austrian occupation in World War I and under the Fascist Italian Social Republic from September 1943 to April 1945, when Belluno province and Udine–Gorizia–Trieste provinces were administrated by Nazi Germany even if they formally belonged to the Social Republic.[clarification needed]
During 1945–1946, Yugoslav Partisan brigades occupied part of Gorizia and for a month Trieste. The eastern part of the town of Gorizia, together with the upper Isonzo valley and the main part of Carso, were ceded to Yugoslavia in 1947, while Trieste formed the Free Territory of Trieste, only annexed back by Italy in 1954.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ettore Beggiato, 1809: l'insorgenza veneta - La lotta contro Napoleone nella Terra di san Marco, Il Cerchio, 2009
- ^ Genova Giovanni Thaon di Revel, La cessione del Veneto. Ricordi di un commissario piemontese incaricato alle trattative, Lumachi, Florence 1906
- ^ Ettore Beggiato, 1866: la grande truffa, Editoria Universitaria, 1999
- ^ Gabriele Riondato, Storia del Veneto, 2000
