Everything about Gorizia And Gradisca totally explained
Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ; ) was a
Habsburg county in
Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of
Italy and
Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers,
Gorizia and
Gradisca d'Isonzo.
History
Province of the Habsburg Empire
The
County of Gorizia became part of the
Habsburg domains in AD 1500 when Count
Leonhard died without heir. Habsburg suzerainty was interrupted briefly by the
Venetians in 1508-1509. In 1647, the nearby town of Gradisca d'Isonzo was made its own county under the counts of
Eggenberg but, in 1754, Gradisca was re-unified with Gorizia creating the
County of Gorizia and Gradisca (
Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca /
Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca /
Contee di Gurize e Gardiscje).
During the
Napoleonic Wars, Gorizia and Gradisca fell under
French rule. In 1805, all of its territories on the right bank of the
Isonzo river (including the town of
Gradisca d'Isonzo and the westernmost suburbs of
Gorizia) were assigned to the
Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. The majority of its territory remained part of the
Austrian Empire until 1809, when it was incorporated into the
Illyrian Provinces under direct domination of the
French Empire. In 1813, Austrian rule was restored. The county was established again in its former borders, including the areas of
Monfalcone and
Grado, which had previously been an enclave of the
Republic of Venice. In 1816, however, the county was included in a wider administrative unit, called
Kingdom of Illyria, with the capital in
Ljubljana. It remained part of it until its dissolution in 1849; the
Austrian Littoral was then formed, comprising the County of Gorizia and Gradisca,
Trieste and
Istria. In 1861, the territory of the County gained autonomy as the
Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (///), a
crown land within
Austria-Hungary. The County had its own provincial parliament and enjoyed a large degree of self-government, although it was formally subjected to an Imperial Governor, who carried out the government supervision for the whole territory of the Austrian Littoral.
In 1915,
Italy entered in
war against Austria-Hungary. The western part of the county was devastated by the
Battles of the Isonzo, fought between the two armies. In 1916, Gorizia was occupied by Italian troops for the first time in its history, but the
Austro-Hungarian Army drew the Italian forces back in the
Battle of Caporetto. In Spring 1918, two mass political movements emerged in the county, demanding larger autonomy within a federalized Habsburg Monarchy: the
Slovenes demanded the union with other
South Slavic peoples into a
sovereign Yugoslav state, while the
Furlans demanded a special autonomy for the western part of the region, where they were the majority. The two movements didn't clash, since they didn't contend the same territories: the only open issue was the town of
Gorizia, claimed by both the Slovenes and the Friulians. With the dissolution of
Austria-Hungary in late October 1918, both autonomist movements became obsolete: the whole county was occupied by the Italian military which suppressed all political movements challenging her claims on the region.
Border region of Italy
In November 1918, the county was officially abolished and incorporated in the provisional administrative region of
Julian March. With the
Treaty of Rapallo of 1920, the whole territory of the county became an integral part of the
Kingdom of Italy. The former Habsburg policy favouring local autonomies was replaced by a strict
centralism. The
Province of Gorizia was established, which had very little self-government compared to the old county. The borders of the new province were also partially changed. The new province included some areas of the former Austrian
Duchy of Carniola that were assigned to Italy by the Peace Treaty (the districts of
Idrija,
Vipava and
Šturje). On the other hand, most of the territory in the
Kras region, which had belonged to the County of Gorizia and Gradisca, was incorporated in the
Province of Trieste, while the district of
Cervignano was included in the
Province of Udine.
In 1924, the Province of Gorizia was abolished and its territory incorporated into the
Province of Friuli, whose capital was
Udine, except for the administrative district of
Monfalcone and the town of
Grado that became part of Province of Trieste. In 1927 the Province of Gorizia was recreated with approximately the same territory, except for the district of
Cervignano del Friuli which remained under the Province of Udine, and the area of Monfalcone and Grado remained part of the Province of Trieste. With the establishment of the
Fascist regime, a violent
Italianization of the area started. This policy was carried out in three stages: first, all public administration was Italianized, with the Slovene and German losing their previous status of
official languages; second, all education (both public and private) was Italianized; third, all visual presence of Slovene and German languages in public was prohibited. The latter included changing names of villages, prohibition to use a language other than Italian in public, prohibition to give Slavic names to children, forcible changes of Slovenian surnames, etc. This policy was accompanied by political persecutions and intimidations. By 1927, all Slovenian organizations were outlawed, including all media, publishing houses, cultural associations, as well as financial and economic companies owned by Slovenian organizations. Only one publishing house, the Catholic
Hermagoras Society, was allowed to publish books in Slovene language, although only religious literature. Most Slovene intellectuals and free professionals were forced to leave the region, many of them settled in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia or emigrated to
Argentina.
Between 1927 and 1943, the Province of Gorizia was an administrative unit of the Fascist regime, governed by a Government-appointed
prefect and the local Fascist hierarchy. All municipal autonomy was abolished and the
podestà, appointed by the prefect, replaced the elected mayors. All legal political activity outside the regime became impossible and most of the
civil society institutions, at least the Slovenian ones, were dismantled.
In 1927, the first
militant anti-fascist organization, known as
TIGR, was established. The organization, founded by local Slovenes (mostly young people of
liberal,
nationalist and
social-democratic orientation) carried out several attacks on Italian military and administrative personnel, which further exacerbated the situations in the region. Several Slovenian cultural and political figures were imprisoned, exiled or killed, with the most famous being
Lojze Bratuž.
World War II and post-war division
In 1941, with the
Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, the situation became even worse. By 1942, the
Yugoslav resistance penetrated in the region from the bordering
Province of Ljubljana. Several important clashes between the resistance and the Italian military happened. After the
Italian armistice in September 1943,
Nazi Germany occupied the region, incorporating it into the
Adriatic Littoral Operation Zone, led by the
Gauleiter Friedrich Rainer.
Already in September 1943, large portions of the region were taken over by the
Communist-led
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People, which established several important bases in the area, including the famous
Franja Partisan Hospital. Fights between the Communist-led resistance and the Nazis were frequent. Soon, German authorities adopted a pragmatic approach regarding the local Slovenian population: public use of Slovenian language was allowed again. The anti-Communist collaborationist militia called
Slovene Home Guard was also allowed to establish some units in the area, although they'd little success in recruiting the locals. At the same time, politically motivated assassinations were carried out by the Communist cells within the resistance movement. Among the victims, there were several
Roman Catholic priests and anti-fascists opposed to the Communist ideology.
After the end of
World War II in 1945, almost the entire region was liberated by the
Yugoslav People's Army, but was forced to withdraw from its western part. During the forty days of Yugoslav occupation, thousands ofItalians were arrested by Communist authorities; most of them were released, but several hundred of them perished in the
Foibe massacres.
For two years, Gorizia and Gradisca was a contested region between Italy and the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, divided by the so-called
Morgan Line. The territory west of the line (including the entire
Soča valley, the lower
Vipava Valley and most of the
Kras plateau) were occupied by British and U.S. forces, while the east remained under Yugoslav military administration. In September 1947, the region was finally divided between the two countries: Yugoslavia got most of the rural territory of the eastern part, while all of the western lowlands and the urban center of
Gorizia were left to Italy. A small portion of the Kras region between
Trieste and
Duino was incorporated into the Zone A of the Allied-administered
Free Territory of Trieste (which became part of Italy in 1954).
Gorizia and Gorizia thus ceased to exist as a unified historical region. Its Yugoslav portion became an integral part of the
Socialist Republic of Slovenia: most of its territory was included in the
Goriška region, except for the Kras plateau which was incorporated into the
Littoral-Kras statistical region. A new urban center, called
Nova Gorica ("New Gorizia") was built between the late 1940s and in the early 1950s. The Italian portion became part of the
Friuli-Venezia Giulia autonomous region, mostly included in the
Province of Gorizia.
Culture
The county of Gorizia and Gradisca enjoyed a multicultural environment, where Slavic, German and Latin people lived together and the government respected the right of minorities; it wasn't uncommon for people in this area to speak three or four language.
Slovene culture
The County of Gorizia and Gradisca emerged as a major center of
Slovene culture in the second half of the 19th century. Already in the early 1860s,
Slovene replaced
German as the major language of education and administration in the Slovene-inhabited parts of the county. Differently from
Styria,
Carinthia and even
Carniola, there was no assimilation pressure against the Slovene culture in most of Gorizia-Gradisca, so the Slovene culture flourished. Since the 1890s, the
State Gymnasium of
Gorizia emerged as one of the most prestigious educational centers in the
Slovene Lands: several prominent figures in Slovenian arts, sciences and politics in the early 20th century received their education in this institution. In 1913, the Gymnasium was divided into three parts, with German, Italian and Slovenian as the language of teaching. The Slovenian section of the Gymnasium of Gorizia thus became the first public high school with Slovene as the primary language of teaching.
The most prominent figures of
Slovene culture from the County of Gorizia and Gradisca were: the poets
Simon Gregorčič,
Alojz Gradnik,
Joža Lovrenčič,
Srečko Kosovel,
Igo Gruden,
Stanko Vuk,
Matej Bor and
Ciril Zlobec, writers
Ivan Pregelj,
Julius Kugy,
Danilo Lokar,
Ciril Kosmač,
France Bevk,
Igor Torkar, theologians
Vladimir Truhlar,
Anton Mahnič and
Josip Srebrnič, philosopher
Klement Jug, composers
Lojze Bratuž and
Stanko Premrl, historians
Simon Rutar and
Milko Kos, painters
Jožef Tominc,
Gojmir Anton Kos,
Veno Pilon,
Zoran Mušič,
Luigi Spazzapan, and
Saša Šantel, architect
Max Fabiani, sculptors
Zdenko Kalin and
Boris Kalin, art historian
Vojeslav Mole, actress
Ita Rina, stage director
Ferdo Delak, philologist
Karel Štrekelj, literary historians
Anton Ocvirk,
Avgust Žigon and
Avgust Pirjevec. Other prominent Slovenes from Gorizia-Gradisca included politicians
Engelbert Besednjak,
Virgil Šček,
Drago Marušič,
Josip Ferfolja,
Jože Srebrnič and
Marko Natlačen, activist
Janko Kralj, admiral
Anton Haus, general
Leon Rupnik, military hero
Sergej Mašera,
anti-fascist activists
Albert Rejec and
Andrej Uršič,
partisan hero
Janko Premrl Vojko, Roman Catholic
archbishop Frančišek Borgia Sedej, religious leader
Filip Terčelj, and the pioneer pilot
Edvard Rusjan. Prominent Slovenes who settled in the province from other regions included politician and author
Henrik Tuma, historian
Franc Kos, linguist
Stanislav Škrabec and jurist, historian and politician
Bogumil Vošnjak.
Friulian culture
During the 19th century Gorizia was an important and lively center for the
Friulian language. Throughout the century, many old books were republished, new works were composed, and several political and cultural association promoting Friulian culture were founded in the region. This was also thanks to the fact that even the nobility would normally use the language, while for example in
Udine and in other towns of central
Friulian higher classes rather used the
Venetian language, because Friulian was seen as the language of peasants. Nevertheless, the variant of Gorizia was always considered less 'pure' and too influenced by Italian and German by scholars, therefore the town has never been considered completely part of Friulian-speaking lands. It's interesting to note that still today the same dialect of Friulian is spoken in the whole area of the old county, even in those villages around
Cervignano that haven't belonged to the
Province of Gorizia since
World War I.
The County of Gorizia and Gradisca was also important for the Friulian language because it's the only territory in which an official census on speakers of Friulian has been carried out: in 1857, the official
Austrian census showed 48.841 Friulians, 130.748 Slovenians, 15.134 Italians and 2.150 Germans in the County. A second census in 1921, carried out shortly after the annexation to
Italy gave similar results.
Throughout the 19th century, most educated Friulians gravitated towards the
Italian culture. A distinct Friulian identity existed, but was weak and not well articulated. One of the most prominent Friulian poets from Gorizia-Gradisca in the 19th century,
Carlo Favetti, was for example also a fervent
Italian irredentist. Others, such as the conservative leader and political author
Luigi Faidutti, favoured an autonomous development of Friulian culture within a multicultural framework of the
Habsburg Empire. Between 1890 and 1918, the autonomist movement gained widespread support in the countryside, but remained marginal in the urban areas.
Among the most important Friulan authors who worked in the Gorizia-Gradisca area were
Pieri Çorut (a.k.a. Piero Zorutti) and
Franco de Gironcoli.
Pier Paolo Pasolini also spent part of his childhood in the region.
Italian culture
During the 19th century, the town of Gorizia was the only major center of Italian culture in the region. In the 17th century, Italian emerged as a second language of culture in the town, next to German. Throughout the 18th and early 19th century, Italian culture flourished in the whole region. Italian was used as a language of education and culture by many noble families, as well as in Slovene and German
bourgeoise families. Several renowned artists, such as architect
Nicolò Pacassi, painters
Jožef Tominc and
Franz Caucig,
Garibaldin general
Ignazio Francesco Scodnik, architect
Max Fabiani and author
Julius Kugy were educated in a predominantly Italian cultural environment.
The emergence of the
Slovene National Awakening in the second half of the 19th century meant a significant setback for the Italian culture in the region. Most families that would previously educate their children in an Italian cultural environment, switched to Slovenian. Another reason for the decrease of Italian cultural influence was the unification of
Lombardy-Venetia with the
Kingdom of Italy in 1866, which radically reduced the influence of Italian culture within the
Austrian Empire and cut off the free cultural exchange between Gorizia-Gradisca and
Northern Italy.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Italian language lost is previous function as the
lingua franca in the region. Gorizia remained the only important center of Italian culture in the County, although the percentage of Italian speakers in the town was in constant decrease and dropped under 50% in 1910.
Nevertheless, important figures emerged from the small Italian-speaking milieu of Gorizia, such as the prominent philologist
Graziadio Isaia Ascoli and philosopher
Carlo Michelstaedter, both of whom were of
Jewish descent. Composer
Rodolfo Lipizer and painters
Italico Brass and
Vittorio Bolaffio also came from this community. Other minor Italian cultural centres were the towns of
Grado and
Monfalcone, where a dialect of the
Venetian language was spoken. The poet
Biagio Marin was the most important representative of this local Italian culture.
German culture
The German-speaking community represented only a very small portion of the population. They were mostly concentrated in the town of Gorizia, where they represented some 10% of the overall population of the city center. Nevertheless, other factors increased the importance of the German culture in the region. Until the end of
World War I, the German language continued to enjoy the prestige acquired in previous centuries, when the great majority of the
high culture in the region was linked to the German cultural sphere. Most of the local aristocracy was multilingual, but they spoke mostly German among themselves. Several important noble families resided in the County, and they were often important contributors of arts and literature. They included the
Thurn und Taxis, the
Lanthieri, the
Attems Petzenstein, the
Windischgraetz, the
Coronini Cronberg and the
Strassoldo. Furthermore, German had served as a
lingua franca for the communication between the single ethnic groups. Until 1913, most of the high education was available only in German.
Among the most prominent members of the German-speaking community of Gorizia and Gradisca were the chemist
Johannes Christian Brunnich and explorer and natural sceintist
Karl von Scherzer.
In the 1850s, Gorizia and Gradisca also emerged as a tourist destination for the Central European elite. Towns such as Gorizia,
Grado,
Aquileia,
Duino,
Nabrežina and
Most na Soči became important tourist centers in the so-called
Austrian Riviera. Many prominent figures, belonging to the German cultural milieu, frequented these places, making an important contribution to the survival of the local German culture. These include the ethnographer and linguist
Karl von Czoering, poet
Rainer Maria Rilke who wrote his famous
Duino Elegies while visiting the region, and the renowned chemist
Ludwig Boltzmann.
Religion
The vast majority of the population of the County was of
Roman Catholic denomination. Gorizia was one of the most important centers of the Catholic Church in Austria, since it was the seats of the
Archbishops of Görz, who were one of the three legal descentants of the
Patriarchate of Aquileia (along with the
Patriarchate of Venice and the
Archdiocese of Udine). Gorizia was thus the center of a
Metropolitan bishopric that comprised the Dioceses of
Ljubljana,
Trieste,
Poreč-Pula and
Krk. Several important religious figures lived and worked in Gorizia, including cardinal
Jakob Missia, bishop
Frančišek Borgia Sedej, theologians
Anton Mahnič and
Josip Srebrnič, and
Franciscan monk and philologian
Stanislav Škrabec. There were many important Roman Catholic sacral buildings in the area, among them the sancturies of
Sveta Gora ("Holy Mountain") and
Barbana, and the monastery of
Kostanjevica. Most of the County was included into the Archbidiocese of Gorizia, with the exception of the south-western portion of the
Kras plateau (around
Sežana), which was included in the Diocese of Trieste.
According to the census of 1910, there were around 1,400 members of non-Catholic denominations in the County, which ammounted to only around 0,5% of the overall population. Among them, around 750 belonged to various
Protestant denominations (mostly
Lutherans), around 340 were of
Jewish faith, around 180
Greek Orthodox and around 130 were
Greek Catholic.
Area and population
According to the data of the last official census in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1910, the County had an area of 2918 km² and 260,721 inhabitants, of which around 20% lived in urban areas (Gorizia, Gradisca,
Monfalcone,
Cormons,
Cervignano,
Ronchi,
Grado), around 15% in semi-urban settlements (
Solkan,
Duino,
Ajdovščina,
Bovec,
Kobarid,
Tolmin,
Sežana,
Kanal ob Soči) and around 65% in rural areas. The historical demography of the region was the following one:
| Census |
Ethnical structure |
| Year |
Population of
Gorizia-Gradisca |
Slovenes |
% |
Italians and Friulians |
% |
Germans |
% |
| 1818 |
144,008 |
n.a. |
|
n.a. |
|
n.a. |
|
| 1857 |
196,279 |
130,748 |
66,6% |
62,975 |
32,1% |
2,320 |
1,2% |
| 1890 |
222,000 |
145,000 |
65,3% |
73,000 |
32,9% |
3,000 |
1,4% |
| 1910 |
260,721 |
154,564 |
59,3% |
90,119 |
34,6% |
4,486 |
1,7% |
Subdivisions
The County was divided into five administrative or "political" districts (
Kreise), which were in turn subdivided into judicial districts. The town of Gorizia had a status of an administrative district.
Administrative districts
Judicial districts
Administrative district of Gorizia:
A.d. of Gradisca:
A.d. of Monfalcone:
A.d. of Sežana:
A.d. of Tolmin:
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